Build wealth with intention. Start a financial journey that reflects who you are and who you want to become.

Meet Emma

At 29, Emma had achieved what many would consider early career success. Her role in sustainable technology was both well-paid and meaningful, aligning with her passion for environmental impact. But when it came to her finances, that same intentionality was missing.

She was investing in her pension and had money sitting in savings, but she felt like she was following generic advice rather than building something that reflected her values. Should she buy property in London’s expensive market, or invest differently? How could she balance her desire to support environmental causes with building long-term wealth? And how could she ensure her financial choices today would support the life she was still figuring out?

Emma wanted to be smart with money, but she also wanted her financial decisions to feel authentically hers—not just a copy of what successful people “should” do.

The Challenge You Might Recognise

You’re earning well but not sure if you’re building wealth intentionally. You’ve got the basics covered—pension, emergency fund, maybe some investments—but it feels like you’re following a template rather than creating something that fits your actual life and values. You want to be strategic, but not at the expense of living authentically.

You’re balancing multiple competing priorities with limited clarity. Property vs investments, present enjoyment vs future security, supporting causes you care about vs maximising returns. Everyone has an opinion about what you should prioritise, but you’re the one who has to live with the consequences of these choices.

You want financial advice that grows with you, not boxes you in. Your career is evolving, your values are deepening, and your life goals are still taking shape. You need a financial strategy that’s flexible enough to adapt while being structured enough to build real wealth over time.

A Different Conversation

When Emma came to us, we didn’t start with her salary or her risk tolerance questionnaire. We started with her vision: What kind of life was she trying to build? What impact did she want to have? How did she want to feel about her money decisions in 10 years?

We discovered that Emma valued flexibility above all—the ability to take career risks, support causes she believed in and potentially start her own venture someday. We built a strategy around that vision: tax-efficient investing that aligned with her environmental values, a property decision based on her actual lifestyle rather than market expectations, and a flexible savings structure that could adapt as her goals evolved.

Most importantly, we gave her a framework for making future financial decisions that would always reflect her values, even as those values and circumstances changed.

Your Path Forward

If you’re succeeding professionally but feel like your financial strategy is on autopilot, you’re not alone. Building wealth in your twenties and thirties is about more than just maximising returns—it’s about creating options for the person you’re becoming.

You deserve a financial approach that evolves with your ambitions, not against them. When your money strategy reflects your values from the start, every decision builds toward a life that feels authentically yours.

Your financial journey is just beginning, and it should be intentional from day one. Let’s create a plan that honours who you are now while building toward who you want to become.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds you select and the value can therefore go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.

Although this case study relates to a real-life example, where we have helped our client by providing solutions to their financial problems, the name has been changed for confidentiality purposes.

The advice given was provided after a full evaluation of their specific needs, circumstances and requirements. The solutions provided may not be suitable for everyone and the information provided here does not constitute advice.