A Framework for Financially Inclusive Practice
NeuroFinance proposes that financial decision-making is shaped by cognitive environment, emotional state, brain profile, and system design: not by knowledge deficit. Forty years of financial literacy evidence supports a different model.
"The intervention is clarity, not information. The mechanism is system design, not instruction. The measure of success is reduced financial friction, not increased financial knowledge."
NeuroFinance is a practitioner framework and research programme founded by David Devine. It addresses the documented failure of information-transfer approaches to financial literacy and builds the evidence base to support an alternative: a complete advisory architecture designed for the full spectrum of cognitive profiles.
The Framework
Each component of the NeuroFinance framework performs a specific function. Together they form a complete advisory and educational architecture: sequence, decision structure, practice framework, communication standard, and measurement concept.
A five-pillar practitioner framework for neuro-inclusive financial clarity: Needs-Based Clarity, Executive Function Support, Unique Mindset Mapping, Resilience and Risk Framing, and Outcomes-Driven Action.
Practice FrameworkSafety before Needs before Resources. A non-negotiable sequencing principle that counters the product-first orientation of conventional advice, which produces overwhelm and disengagement in neurodivergent clients.
Sequence LogicA decision architecture that inverts the conventional planning sequence. Rather than mapping the distance from present to goal, CRB begins at the desired outcome and identifies the minimum viable next action.
Decision ArchitectureA communication framework that replaces deficit-coded, jargon-heavy financial language with empowering and accessible language, reducing the cognitive and emotional friction conventional terminology creates.
Communication StandardThe central organising and measurement concept: the cognitive, emotional, and administrative resistance that disrupts financial decision-making. Its reduction is the primary goal of every NeuroFinance-aligned intervention.
Measurement ConceptResearch Programme
The Financial Friction Index is a formal measurement instrument in active doctoral development. It operationalises four measurable dimensions of the resistance that prevents financial intention from becoming financial action.
The gap between intention and action: measurable as time-to-implementation across equivalent financial decisions in matched cohorts.
The point at which a financial task is started but not completed: trackable through structured task-completion monitoring within the advisory process.
The cognitive and procedural load of financial management tasks: measurable through self-report scales calibrated against objective task complexity.
Withdrawal from financial engagement driven by shame, anxiety, or overwhelm: assessed through validated emotional avoidance instruments adapted for financial contexts.
The research is practice-based doctoral work in inclusive design and financial behaviour, conducted at University College Dublin. The NeuroFinance framework is simultaneously being developed into a professional certification programme for financial advisers and coaches. The claim is not that NeuroFinance is proven at scale. The claim is that the existing model is insufficient, that a better model is needed, and that this is what that model looks like in its early institutional form.
Professional Certification
The NeuroFinance certification programme is in active development for financial advisers, coaches, and mental health professionals. It delivers the framework as a formal professional qualification with CPD accreditation.
What the programme delivers
Programme launches subject to completion of accreditation and faculty development. Register interest to receive updates and priority access.
Register Interest
This form is for educators, researchers, institutional buyers, advisers, coaches, and mental health professionals. If you are a practitioner or institutional reader seeking engagement with the NeuroFinance framework, use this form to register your interest or enquiry.