The Poreia Clarity Framework

I know exactly
how trapped you feel.

I'm a qualified accountant and former management consultant. I spent years advising major financial institutions. And then I built a business from nothing, and spent a decade fighting to keep it alive.

There were moments I was genuinely frightened. Creditors calling. Cash running out. Lying awake at three in the morning wondering if everything I'd worked for was about to collapse. And through all of it, I had no real picture of my financial position. No plan. Just survival mode.

The hardest part wasn't the money. It was the shame. The feeling that I should know better. That someone with my background and experience shouldn't be in this position. That I was somehow a failure.

"I wasn't a failure. I just hadn't built the right framework yet. When I finally did, everything changed."

I eventually sold the business. And in the months that followed, I built the most comprehensive personal financial plan I'd ever created, for myself. It took the full weight of my professional experience and applied it to my own life. The result was complete clarity about where I was, what I had, and exactly what to do next.

This framework is that process, built for you. If you've built something but feel like you're not making the most of it, if you're tired of not having a clear picture, you're in exactly the right place.

You are not alone. You are not a failure. You just need a framework. Let's build yours.

Not financial advice. A thinking framework built from lived experience.
20–30 minutes
6 guided areas
Your personal Clarity Plan
Before we begin

Here's how this works

This isn't a quiz, a sales funnel, or a judgement. It's a structured thinking tool. Work through it honestly, nobody sees your answers except you, and the output is only as useful as the honesty you bring to it. There are no wrong answers here.

01
Your current picture
An honest snapshot of where you actually are, and what's really been holding you back.
02
What you've built
Most people underestimate what they've accumulated. We pull it together into one picture.
03
What your money is doing
Pensions in default funds. Cash sitting idle. This is where most people find the biggest gaps.
04
Your extraction strategy
How money moves from where it is to where you need it, and how much tax you pay along the way.
05
Your freedom number
You can't build toward a destination you haven't named. We name it.
06
Keeping the plan alive
A plan that doesn't evolve becomes wrong. This section makes sure yours doesn't.
Your Clarity Plan
Everything above feeds into one document: your complete picture, your freedom number, and your priority actions.
Allow 20–30 minutes. You can pause and return at any point.
Section 1 of 6

Your current picture

No judgement here. The starting point is an honest look at where you actually are. Most people have never done this properly, and the act of doing it is itself the first step forward.

Which of these best describes where you are right now?
Running my own business, but feeling stuck, limited, or like it's running me rather than the other way around
In a career or role that no longer fits who I am or what I want from life
Recently exited a business or role and genuinely unsure what comes next
Planning an exit or major change in the next 1–3 years and need to prepare properly
67%
of business owners say they feel trapped by their own business
Not because they failed, because the business they built no longer fits the life they want. If that's you, you're not alone. You're in the majority.
✓ Recognising this is the first step to changing it
When you think about your financial position honestly, which feels closest?
I have assets but I've never properly taken stock of them, it's all a bit vague
I have a rough idea but no clear, structured plan tying it all together
I have something that resembles a plan but I'm not confident it's the right one
I genuinely have no plan and I know, and have known for a while, that I need one
What's really been holding you back? Be honest with yourself here.
This question matters more than it might look. The answer shapes the plan we build for you.
I genuinely don't know where to start, the whole picture feels too big and complex
I'm too consumed by day-to-day demands to step back and think about this properly
Lack of confidence, I sometimes feel like I should know more than I do, or be further along than I am
Imposter syndrome, a nagging feeling that my success isn't quite real, or that I'll be found out
Fear of confirming I've made mistakes, that looking honestly at my position will feel like facing failure
I'm doing this completely alone, no trusted person to think it through with
You just did something most people never do
Most people never name what's actually holding them back. They feel it, but they don't say it. You just did. That's not a small thing, it's how this starts to change. Whatever you selected up there, I've felt it too. Every single one of those things. And I found a way through. So can you.
Section 2 of 6

What you've actually built

Most people significantly underestimate what they've accumulated over a career. We're going to pull it together. Approximate figures are fine, we're building a picture, not filing accounts.

Do you own property with meaningful equity?
Yes, significant equity (£200k+)
Yes, moderate equity (£50k–£200k)
Yes, modest equity (under £50k)
No property ownership currently
Do you have pension(s) from employment or self-employment?
Be honest here, many people have pots scattered across old employers they haven't thought about in years.
Yes, I have a reasonable sense of what I have (£200k+ combined estimate)
Yes, I have some pensions but only a vague idea of their value or how they're managed
I know I have pots from old employers but honestly have no idea where they are, who runs them, or what they're worth
Little or no pension provision, this is an area I've neglected
£26bn
in lost or unclaimed pension pots in the UK
The average lost pension pot is worth over £9,000. Many people have several from different employers, and have simply lost track of them over a career.
✓ The Government Pension Tracing Service can locate all of yours
Do you have investments, ISAs, or cash savings outside pensions and property?
Yes, meaningful investments or ISAs (£25k+) with some structure
Mainly cash savings, sitting in accounts but not properly invested
Not yet, this is an area I know I need to address
Do you have business equity, value locked inside a company you own or part-own?
Yes, and I have a reasonable sense of what it might be worth
Possibly, but I've never formally valued the business or thought about an exit
No current business equity, I'm employed or have exited already
You probably have more than you think
The most common reaction at this stage is surprise. Property equity, pension pots people had forgotten about, business value they'd never quantified. The picture is usually better than the anxiety suggested. Knowing what you have is the foundation of everything that follows.
Section 3 of 6

What is your money actually doing?

Having assets is one thing. Whether they're working hard for you is another. This is the section where most people discover they've been quietly losing ground for years, through no particular bad decision, just inaction.

Your pension funds, when did you last actively choose where they're invested?
Within the last 12 months, I actively manage this
1–5 years ago
More than 5 years ago, or I've simply never changed whatever defaults I was put into
Not applicable, I have little or no pension
⚡ The cost of your default fund, calculated
Typical default lifestyle fund charge
1.2–1.5% per year
Low-cost global equity index fund charge
0.15–0.22% per year
Annual performance drag (default vs index)
~1–2% per year
On a £150,000 pension pot over 10 years
~£32,000–£47,000 lost
~£40,000
This is the approximate cost of leaving pensions in default funds for a decade. Not from a bad decision, from no decision. This is fixable this week, within your current provider, with no financial adviser required.
72%
of UK pension savers have never changed their default fund
Default lifestyle funds automatically de-risk into bonds and cash as you approach a target retirement date. At 45 or 50 with decades ahead, this is drag, not protection.
✓ Switching funds takes 20 minutes online. No adviser needed.
Is your wealth spread across multiple accounts and providers with no overall strategy?
Yes, it's completely fragmented and I've never pulled it into a single coherent picture
Partly, I have some structure but nothing deliberately designed
No, I have a clear, deliberate approach across everything
If you have significant cash sitting in accounts, do you have a plan for deploying it?
Yes, I have a clear strategy for what cash is for and where it goes
Partially, I have some idea but it's not formalised or deliberate
No, cash is sitting there and I know in my gut it should be working much harder
Section 4 of 6

Your extraction strategy

How money moves from where it is to where you need it, and how much tax you pay along the way, can make a difference of tens of thousands of pounds over time. Most people have never properly thought about this.

First, are you primarily a business owner, employed professional, or somewhere in between?
Business owner, I run my own company or am a significant shareholder
Employed professional, I work for an organisation and receive a salary
Both, I have employment income and business interests
Recently exited, I've sold or left my business and am managing the proceeds
How do you currently pay yourself from your business?
Salary plus dividends, and I understand the tax rationale behind this split
Mainly salary, I haven't optimised the dividend angle
Ad hoc, I take what I need when I need it without a structured approach
Have you ever properly modelled the most tax-efficient way to move money from your business or career into your personal wealth?
Yes, I have a clear model and I follow it deliberately with regular review
Partially, I've thought about parts of it but never the whole interconnected picture
No, this is an area where I know there's money being left on the table
£8,000
average annual tax saving from a structured extraction strategy
The difference between an ad hoc approach and a deliberate salary-dividend-pension strategy. That's £80,000 over a decade, not from clever schemes, just from using allowances correctly.
✓ This is structurally legal and the primary job of good financial planning
Does your accountant proactively bring you ideas about tax-efficient wealth planning?
Yes, they bring structured ideas and strategies to me regularly
They're good at what I ask them, but they wait for me to ask
I don't have an accountant I trust to think at this level
Section 5 of 6

Your freedom number

Financial freedom means different things to different people. The common thread is this: it's the point at which you choose how you spend your time, rather than money choosing for you. You cannot build toward a destination you haven't named.

Do you have a clear figure in mind that represents financial freedom for you?
Yes, I have a specific number and a rough sense of how to reach it
Roughly, I have a sense of the scale but it's never been calculated properly
No, I've never sat down and defined what financial freedom actually means for me
78%
of UK adults over 40 have never calculated their financial freedom number
Not because they don't want financial freedom, because nobody ever showed them how to think about it. The number isn't complicated to calculate. It just requires someone to ask the right questions.
✓ That's what we're doing right now
How do you want your money to work for you? What matters most?
Select everything that applies, this isn't about picking one thing.
Reliable monthly income that covers my life without me having to trade time for it
Long-term growth, building a pot that compounds and grows significantly over time
Security, knowing I could handle any financial shock without it derailing everything
Legacy, leaving something meaningful for my children or causes I care about
Pure time freedom, being able to choose exactly how I spend my days
If nothing changes in the next five years, how do you honestly feel about where you'll be?
Confident, things are broadly on track and I feel good about the direction
Uncertain, I'm not sure the current path leads where I want to go
Worried, I sense I'm not making the most of what I've built
I've been avoiding thinking about it, which is itself the answer
Describe your life five years from now, on your terms. What does it look like?
A few words is enough. This goes into your Clarity Plan and makes it personal to you.
The point of naming it
When I finally wrote down what I actually wanted, not what I thought I should want, not what sounded responsible, everything got simpler. Every financial decision became easier because I had a filter. Does this take me closer to or further from that? You now have that filter.
Section 6 of 6

Keeping the plan alive

The most common mistake with financial plans is building one and then filing it away. Circumstances change. Markets move. Life happens. A plan that doesn't evolve becomes wrong. This section makes sure yours doesn't.

How often do you currently review your overall financial position in any structured way?
Quarterly or more, I treat this like I would any important business review
Annually, usually prompted by tax time or something external
Rarely, only when something forces the issue
Never in any meaningful, structured way
Which of these would genuinely help you keep your financial plan on track? Select all that apply.
A quarterly review prompt with the right questions to ask myself
A clear list of life events that should trigger a plan update
A quick-update framework so I'm not starting from scratch each time
Access to someone to think it through with, not a salesperson, just clear thinking
Almost there
You've just worked through more structured financial thinking than most people do in a decade. That's not an exaggeration. The Clarity Plan you're about to receive is the beginning of something, not a one-time document. Treat it like a living thing. Revisit it. Update it as things change. The plan that evolves with you is the one that actually works.
Your Clarity Plan is ready

One step left

You've done the honest work. Enter your email and your personalised Clarity Plan unlocks immediately, yours to keep, completely free.

What unlocks
Your Clarity Score, gap analysis, three priority actions, and your five-year vision statement, all built from your own answers and kept in an appendix so it's genuinely useful.

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