When we think about financial advice, we often think about growth: assets under management, investment returns, and reaching retirement with enough.
But in this episode of It’s Never About Money, I speak with Mark Hedderman about a different measure of success – one centred on health, longevity and purpose.
Mark is President of the LIA, Ireland’s leading professional education body for more than 12,000 financial professionals. He also serves on the board of the Financial Planners of Ireland and is a CFP practitioner and CEO of Hedderman Financial Solutions, the second-generation family firm founded by his parents in 2007.
But despite his roots in traditional financial planning, Mark believes the profession’s definition of success is too narrow.
Beyond wealth accumulation
A turning point for Mark came when his father was diagnosed with stomach cancer just four months after retiring. It forced him to confront a difficult question: if financial advice is designed to create security, why do so many people reach retirement depleted or unwell?
Today, Mark argues that money should be the vehicle, not the outcome. While advisers are highly skilled at helping clients climb the “Everest” of wealth, far less attention is given to what happens next – the 25 to 35 years of retirement where purpose, health and connection matter most.
In his own practice, that shift is practical. The team is intentionally reducing the time spent talking about money in meetings and expanding conversations around wellbeing and life goals – as well as exploring preventative health initiatives and creating opportunities for clients to build community and maintain purpose in later life.
A holistic approach to financial advice
Mark suggests that the financial component may only represent a small part of true wealth. Loss of purpose, loneliness and anxiety can undermine even the most well-funded retirement.
Hence the unusual questions he asks his clients: What did you want to be as a child? What passions were set aside because they didn’t “make money”? And how can your financial plan now support those pursuits?
For Mark, the future of advice lies in high-quality questions, listening and a genuine commitment to client wellbeing.
To hear the full conversation with Mark Hedderman, listen to this episode of It’s Never About Money.
Because when advice is about living well, money becomes the vehicle for the life you’ve always imagined.
