non the wiser– a fancy term for a gamble, rather back a horse
Sounds like good pension planning 🙂
It’s really not that difficult or misleading. It’s just a term used to capture the numerous types/ways to own assets (or debt, since a loan agreement, for example, is a financial instrument). The thing that financial instruments tend to have in common (compared to other assets) is that they are easily tradable.
In essence, all financial planning is a gamble to a certain extent. However, not planning is an even bigger gamble.
To be fair, if your FA was unable to explain what a financial instrument is, you defo need a new FA. My mum could probably explain it.