In this episode, I look at why our internal sense of time is so unreliable — why the years speed up as we get older, why the future always feels blurrier and more distant than it actually is, and why the things that matter most (a parent, a child, a friendship) so easily lose out to things with a deadline attached, purely because they don't have one.

Then the numbers: real UK life expectancy at different ages, the often-overlooked gap between lifespan and healthspan, and a set of simple exercises — how many visits are actually left with an ageing parent, how much of your time with your kids has already happened before they're even a teenager — that turn a vague future into a countable one. The episode closes with what this should actually change about how you spend money and time, drawing on George Kinder's Three Questions and the life-planning work this podcast keeps

Mentioned in this episode:

• ONS National Life Tables — look up life expectancy by your own age and sex: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/datasets/nationallifetablesunitedkingdomreferencetables
• Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman — on the average human lifespan, laid out in weeks, and what it means to take that limit seriously
• The Kinder Institute's Three Questions (George Kinder) — the life-planning exercise referenced in the episode's close https://www.lifeplanningforyou.com/main/homepage/?i=0

In this episode, I cover some of the basics and how we can gain more understanding and control of the system and the tax we pay.

A money script is an unconscious, deeply held belief about money that is typically formed in childhood. First coined by financial psychologist Dr. Brad Klontz, these ingrained scripts run on autopilot and directly dictate your adult financial habits, spending, saving, and wealth management.

This episode I discuss the 4 main types, things that go along with these and what we can do to understand and turnaround these scripts that have been downloaded to our own operating systems.

Take the free test below:

https://www.bradklontz.com/moneyscriptstest

You are a money-making machine, with unlimited upside potential, and this needs to be taken care of.

Please like and subscribe or get in touch with me, at adrian@eqfinancialplanning.com

Here I introduce another exercise that can provide you with an operating system on how you can make all kinds of life decisions, not just money ones.

The Values List:

https://brenebrown.com/resources/dare-to-lead-list-of-values/

I did actually do my own in December but this was fun too and could be useful for people if they are interested in reflection. I've actually just checked my 2026 plans to see if I am on track or not, so even though its 5 months late, it has been worth an hour of my time for sure.

Here is the link for the template: https://chriswillx.com/review/

I prefer the term spending plan, as for me, it creates real agency on how we allocate our financial resources.

So many tools out there, if you are old school (like me), I prefer writing or keying my data. The best spreadsheet I have seen is this one:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/budget-planning/

I like this version from a Canadian firm on the Financial Planning Triangle and how it can tie-in with Maslow's work on needs.

https://www.valleyfirst.com/simple-advice/wealth/building-a-financial-pyramid#steps

What are some of the golden rules we need to think about when investing?