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Barbecue summer over and pasty skin returning for autumn excitement. It is good to see that the Met Office staff got record bonuses for the great jobs that they have done. The bankers can justifiably feel aggrieved at they have been put under the microscope for their earnings compared to the rubbish that we get from the weather forecasters. Financial Planning by comparison is incredibly straight forward and with the right support individuals can or should be planning for the future with confidence.

Financial Planning Week (www.financialplanningweek.org.uk) is upon us and it is so exciting to see more and more media sources expressing interest and wishing to play a role. Most exciting this week was to be on the front page of the Cosmo site with our top tips and who know what will happen next week.

The Skills Council have launched their consultation on the core units for the new QCA level 4 examinations. Why not have a look and provide some feedback http://fssc.org.uk/696_14.html?i=1. It won’t take long and it is important to have practitioner views and not just those of people who work in Education. Later this year the IFP will be doing a job analysis review of the Financial Planner role with CFP professionals. This will accurately show us what planners are doing so that appropriate tests can be set to help them do their job better. This will also enable new entrants to establish a career path that makes sense.

This week I spoke about regulation at a mortgage conference at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland. Three things that I would never have expected to hear me saying (regulation, mortgage conference, Sunderland) at all, let alone in the same sentence. It was the first time I had flown to Newcastle (home of stag and hen weekends) although have always seen people at the airport flying that way. Normally the passengers are dressed as Buzz Lightyear or Superman, the Incredible Hulk or Nurses. I was therefore surprised to arrive and find that most were dressed normally which meant that I stood out a little in my Captain Fantastic outfit.

Luckily I had a change of clothing and managed to escape the stares of the other passengers. There were over 230 delegates at the conference which surprised me although as somebody said, they probably didn’t have much else to do which was possibly a little harsh. I resisted the temptation to do Michael McIntyre impersonations (countdown for Geordies and the fact that all the vowels sound the same) and the event went very well. I have to say that the transportation system was fantastic and I was sat down in the stadium of light, 2 hours after leaving Bristol airport for anybody interested in going to the North East.

Tim Harford (the undercover Economist) is one of the key note speakers at our conference (www.ifpconference.org.uk) and he writes some great stuff. Much of his writing can be tracked by using www.linkedin.com and joining the IFP group. If you are registering, why not link into me as well. If his speaking is half as good as his writing, we are in for a treat.

Anyway school sports matches already this weekend and then Financial Planning Week and the New Model Adviser retreat in Brighton to look forward to next week. Have a good one!