People rarely come to us saying they want peace of mind. But that’s often what they need most.
They talk about pensions, returns, inflation.
We listen.
And we listen to what isn’t said. That they’re afraid. That they’ve reached the top of the ladder and can’t work out why it feels hollow. That they’ve lost someone, or something, and aren’t sure how to move forward.
Money is rarely the thing they’re really asking about. It’s what sits underneath: purpose, confidence, meaning.
We don’t start with spreadsheets. We start with silence. And questions like: How can I help? And Why is that important to you?
Usually, you don’t get the real answer until the third or fourth “why.”
That’s when things open up.
That’s when someone tells you they’re scared of retirement because they don’t know who they’ll be without their job. Or that they’ve never actually believed they were safe, no matter how big the number on the screen.
We’ve sat with widows who didn’t know if they were still allowed to spend the money they’d saved for two.
We’ve helped children and grandchildren pick up the thread where a parent left off.
And we’ve watched people who felt paralysed finally start moving again - not because we changed the numbers, but because something inside them shifted.
You can’t fast-track that process. But you can make space for it.
You can show up, ask good questions, and really hear the answers.
Financial planning at its best isn’t transactional. It’s transformational. And that starts with listening.