The True Value of Financial Planning In One Formula

As an experienced advisor with three decades of experience, I have heard many questions in my time. Two of the most common are…

“What does a financial planner actually do?”

and

“Why should I pay for advice?”

Let’s explain…

VFP

It may sound simple, but in reality it isn’t.

How do you explain the Value of financial planning (Vfp) to someone who doesn’t know what it is, why it matters, and why it’s worth paying for?

Formula

Financial planning, at its heart, helps you use your money to live a better life, especially when you stop working. But explaining its worth to someone who’s never experienced it, is harder than it sounds.

After years of trying to capture that value in a single, simple way, I landed on this formula.

Vfp = (Ka + O + Bm)ʳ

It may look like mathemetics, but it’s not – it’s meaning.

Ka = Knowledge, applied.

You already know a lot. But you don’t live in the world of pensions, tax wrappers, or efficient portfolio theory.

We do.

Our job isn’t to show off what we know – it’s to use that knowledge for your benefit.

O = Organisation.

You don’t just need advice. You need order.
When your finances are scattered and unclear, it’s hard to move forward.
We bring structure – and with it, calm.

Bm = Behaviour management.

Markets move. Emotions rise.
You’re tempted to act.
We’re here to keep you steady – to help you make decisions from clarity, not panic.

And then comes the multiplier:

ʳ = The Relationship.

Because when trust is high, everything else compounds.

Advice lands.
Decisions get easier.
You breathe again.

That’s the real formula for the value of planning:

Knowledge + Organisation + Behaviour – all raised to the power of Relationship.

You can’t plug it into a calculator. But you can feel it.

That’s the difference between managing money… and using it to live better.