Writing about money without giving advice or saying nothing

Aug 29
3 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

Introduction

A firm wants to publish something useful. Every draft is reviewed, softened, qualified and softened again, until what remains is a paragraph saying that everybody's circumstances are different and they should seek advice.

That article helps nobody, attracts nobody and distinguishes the firm from no competitor. The constraint is real — regulated firms genuinely cannot give personal recommendations to an unknown audience — but the space between a recommendation and saying nothing is enormous, and most firms never occupy it. The result is a sector whose content is indistinguishable firm to firm.

1. Writing about money without giving advice means explaining, not recommending

Find the actual line.

A recommendation tells a specific person what to do. Explaining how something works, what the options generally are, what the trade-offs typically involve and what questions to ask is information rather than advice.

2. Establish precisely what your rules permit

Rather than defaulting to caution.

The boundary between guidance and advice, what triggers a financial promotion, and what warnings are required. This differs by jurisdiction and permission, and firms operating on general nervousness publish far less than they are allowed to.

3. Write about process, not about products

Where most of the freedom is.

How a decision is usually approached, what information is needed, what the sequence of steps is, and what commonly goes wrong. This is genuinely useful and rarely engages the restrictions that product content does. It is also what people are actually searching for when they start looking.

4. Answer the questions clients actually ask

The best possible source of subjects.

Every question that arrives repeatedly is a subject somebody is searching for. Answering it in general terms serves the reader and demonstrates competence far better than anything written to a content plan. Your own inbox is a better content plan than anything a consultant will sell you.

5. Use scenarios carefully

Effective and requiring attention.

Describing a general situation, clearly framed as illustrative rather than as a recommendation, is more useful than abstraction. Check how your rules treat examples, since the framing and the warnings matter.

6. Include the necessary warnings properly

Prominent rather than buried.

Where risk warnings or a statement that this is not advice are required, they need to be visible and near the relevant content. A line in the footer may not meet the requirement.

7. Be specific about what you do not cover

Both protective and helpful.

Saying plainly that a subject depends on individual circumstances, and naming which circumstances change the answer, is more useful than a general disclaimer. It also shows the reader why advice exists.

8. Get it reviewed as part of writing

Not as a final gate.

Involving the reviewer while the piece is being planned produces something both useful and approvable. Writing freely and submitting at the end produces rejection cycles that eventually stop anybody writing at all.

9. Keep records and review it periodically

An obligation with a practical benefit.

What was published, when, who approved it and whether it remains accurate. Rules and figures change, and content written three years ago is still working on your behalf whether or not it is still correct.

Remember that the strongest content in this sector is frequently about behaviour rather than products: what people commonly get wrong, when to review something, what a decision costs emotionally. That material is genuinely useful, engages the fewest restrictions, and is where a firm can sound like itself.

Conclusion

Occupy the space between a recommendation and silence, because it is considerably larger than most firms assume.

Establish exactly what your rules permit rather than defaulting to caution, write about process rather than products, answer the questions clients actually ask, use clearly framed illustrative scenarios, place required warnings prominently, be specific about which circumstances change the answer, involve your reviewer at the planning stage, and keep records and review published material as rules and figures change.