The Cost of Conscience: My Journey Through the Pension Maze
- Steve Conley
- May 20
- 3 min read
On 20/05/2025 Gary wrote:
Hi Steve,
Thank you for taking the time and effort to produce the article. It is a relief to finally have the support of people that care and understand. I lost my only source of income, resulting in the loss of my family home as I had no choice other than to sell at a huge loss just to get me through to the luxury of a state pension........whoopee!
Do you mind if I forward your article to my own MP? I want to highlight that my case is not going to disappear and ask for her support again with regards the great work you are all doing.
I know we have all experienced both physical and mental stress from the events surrounding our own cases. At night the darkest corners become the deepest black and looking into the void on sleepless nights is a daily event. My partner could see the stress building and begged me to seek support from the UK. I contacted the organizations and support groups we all see being advertised regularly and got told the same at each turn..........you are not in the UK. Sounds familiar?
Thank you all for the kindness shown and your huge efforts to attain justice.
WE WILL PREVAIL
Gary
My reply:
Hi Gary,
Let me tell you a story—my story. It’s not just about pensions or money, but about choices, consequences, and holding onto your conscience even when it costs you everything.
I’ve spent my entire working life as a pensions expert. You and I are about the same age—64 this year—and like you, I’m staring down the barrel of a future with only the basic State Pension waiting for me at 67.
But it didn’t start that way.
I was once part of a Final Salary pension scheme for 18 years, back when I was Head of Pensions at what’s now Royal London. It felt secure, reliable—like I’d done everything right. But then came the great upheaval: the home service advisers were all let go, and I found myself moving through the banking giants—Abbey National (now Santander), RBS, then HSBC—heading their pension strategies and joining their DC schemes along the way.
It all looked so promising on paper. But life isn’t lived on spreadsheets.
I prioritised work—always work. I moved house, moved cities, chased promotions. My marriage came last. At 40, I was divorced. My ex had no savings, so we shared mine. Half my pension—gone.
But the lesson didn’t land. Not really.
I remarried. Then, just as I turned 50, the banks began axing their advisers. The culture shifted. The ethics no longer sat right with me. I looked around at my peers and realised—I couldn’t keep going with a clean conscience.
So I walked away.
I became a consumer advocate, started working for myself, earning a fraction of what I used to. But the price of integrity? It’s steep. Finances became tight, tensions rose, and two years later, I found myself divorced again. My second wife—again, no savings. So once more, we split what was left of mine.
By then, my financial foundation was crumbling. I had just a quarter of my life savings left in a pension. I accessed it at 55, took the tax hit, and invested the remainder—this time not in markets, but in myself. In my mission. That act, I've since learned, is called human capital development.
And that’s what I teach now: how to survive—how to thrive—by investing in your own skills, your own energy, your own purpose. I help people recover from the damage done by the old way—by bad financial capital strategies—and show them the new way: building wealth through themselves.
Last year, I remarried again—to Jessica. We don’t live a life of luxury. Far from it. Like many campaigners, I struggle. But we get by. And I’ve found that faith in doing the right thing has a strange way of carrying us through.
I wanted to share all this with you not just to connect, but to offer you hope and direction. I’ve gathered a collection of articles on surviving retirement without a pension—based on lived experience and human capital strategies.
I hope they help. And more than that, I hope they remind you: you are not alone.
Warmly,
Steve
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