Financial advice From qualification to conversation: how DipFA shaped one mum’s approach to money

Jessica comes to financial advising with a unique perspective. Having previously worked in the financial sector and recently completing her DipFA qualification, she's also a working mother of two teenagers. Her professional journey was partly inspired by a desire to create a better financial future for her family.

"I'd previously worked in the financial sector, and developed a passion for financial advice through working in a building society and as an Independent Financial Advisor (IFA) advocate," Jessica explains

One of the most valuable aspects of Jessica's DipFA education has been applying it to real-life situations with her children:

"I quite often find myself talking to my children about financial matters. My eldest child is 17. He's just gone out into the working world and he wants to set up his own contracting business in the future. So we've had a number of conversations about how he can plan for that, how he can invest his money, and how he can start to grow and develop that business."

Her younger son has also benefited from these conversations:

"I've also managed to have multiple conversations with my youngest son who is 15. He is quite financially wise already and we've had conversations about investments."

Jessica recalls a particularly effective teaching moment when she could translate complex financial news into understandable terms for her children:

"I think the most key conversation that I've had with my children that's resonated well with them is when the inheritance tax laws for farmers changed. It was something that I was able to understand and put in a way that they could understand themselves when just reading about it in the news wasn't quite cutting it for them."

Jessica identifies three key financial concepts from her DipFA studies that she's most eager to teach her children:

"The top thing that I've learned through my diploma for financial advisers that I am excited to pass on to my children is the necessity to plan for their pensions and their retirement, because I think so many people overlook that until it's too late."

Additionally, she emphasises investment education and protection:

"I would also quite like to teach them how to invest and start thinking about investing in a way that will help them meet their goals. And also I want them to have the knowledge to be able to protect their financial health, with things such as, for example, my son who wants to be a contractor, he'll be self-employed. So making sure that he understands that it would be really good to have unemployment insurance."

The DipFA has transformed how Jessica discusses money in her household, elevating conversations from basic advice to strategic planning:

"I think studying the DipFA has taken the conversations that would've been routine but at a basic level of, 'okay, children, you need to make sure that you put some of your money away in savings' to, 'okay, children, you need to put some of your money away in savings. But why? What is the goal here? What are you saving for? And ultimately, are you going to just save in a deposit account or are you gonna think strategically and plan for that future accordingly?' So it's become much more of an active conversation in our household rather than just a passive one."

Jessica strongly believes that parents can benefit from financial education even if they don't plan to become financial advisers:

"Absolutely, even if a parent doesn't want to become a financial adviser, actually studying the diploma, it is not a demanding course that you're gonna have to give up so much of your time to do. It is very flexible, very achievable, and it gives you so much knowledge and understanding of the financial world, that you probably didn't even know."

She sees the long-term benefits for both parents and children:

"Studying it as a parent does mean that you will have key knowledge and understanding to pass on to your children so that ultimately they can live better, healthier, happier lives and achieve all of their goals, which ultimately is what we want as parents."