In the year since I spoke with nominees at the West Country Women’s Awards in the fabulous Saunton Sands Hotel, much has changed. I have completed my exams, and my Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning, launching my own business as a self-employed, Financial Planning Consultant with Quilter Financial Advisers.
I have also been on a very challenging personal journey with my parents, my my father had a fall in early January 2026, and following a lengthy stay in hospital, is now in a care home. His dementia, not diagnosed, is too advanced for him to safely be at home. However, the call that stayed with me was from the social worker in the hospital who asked who managed the finances in my parents’ home – to which I replied “loosely my father, my mother’s hairdresser looks after hers”. The social worker replied with your Dad cannot remember who he banks with – and everyone has looked somewhat bemused at the hairdresser response.
But that is what I have spent 2026 trying to help resolve – my parents had refused to put their Powers of Attorney in place, despite my sister and my repeated begging them to do so. Dad was declared to have no capacity to manage his health or his finances whilst in hospital, which means I am now applying for his Deputyship via the Courts, and that as a family the decisions over Dad’s health or his finances are no longer ours to make.
My mother did agree to sign her Power of Attorney, which is now through, yet the situation with the inheritance from her mother, advised by her hairdresser where to invest has yet to be fully resolved. I have not found the Boots bag which apparently contains all the statements of where the six figure sum resides. My Mum’s notebook has not been updated of where the money is, all I know from Mum is “it isn’t making any money”.
And whilst you always think these things will happen to other people, it is bewildering how as a family, with two professional parents, we have ended up in a predicament of the State currently paying my father’s care home fees as we cannot access his assets.
For this all to happen whilst I was studying becoming a financial adviser has been a sultry lesson, and inspired me to share my family’s misfortune to avoid others ending up in the same financial predicament. As far too many women end up in a similar position to my mother – financial planning for many is a man’s job along with the bins and the like – whereas post divorce, or in old age often we find ourselves with an unexpected challenge.
As a divorcee myself, and not in the first flush of youth (I drew my pension whilst doing my pension exam, which again I learnt a huge amount about from my personal experiences) being a financial adviser is a fantastic career option – and I cannot recommend the Quilter Academy more highly if you are looking for a career change, particularly for women, as the flexibility it gives dovetails with so many other responsibilities that traditionally fall on a woman’s shoulders.
What is financial advice? And do I need it? Financial advice is when you pay a professionally qualified person to help plan and manage your finances. A financial adviser can help you in many areas of your financial life. They can help you to build up your money through tax-efficient savings and help you to invest your money in the right way for you. As well as advising on protection so you and your family can have peace of mind in case something unexpected happens. They can help you to understand your pension and to plan for the retirement you want. And they can also help you with ways you can pass on your wealth to your loved ones.
Most of us manage a fairly regular health check of some sort – but when was the last time you reviewed your financial plans?
