MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Are indipendant financial advisers worth talking to ? got some savings, pension, ISA's that kind of thing, will they do better than myself on money supermarket / picking funds etc ?
cheers.
They were talking about this on Moneybox on R4 the other day, as there is a change to the law coming where financial advisors will no longer be able to be paid by the commissions from the products they sell, and will have to be paid for by the person seeking the advice...
The general opinion was that unless you are already rich and want to do something more creative with your money, or are in a more unusual situation, then it's not worth it as it'll cost a couple of hundred quid to see an IFA.
simonm - where are you ? I can recommend a good one in the NW.
It depends on how good they are. It takes a lot of work to keep up with the markets and investment options. If they aren't that good you'd be as much good yourself. There can be a large portion of luck involved. What is really useful is to know what type of investment to make. Cash, Commodity, Property, Shares (Growth, income) etc. etc.
Some of that may be as much a tax decision as anything else.
Many products are only available through IFA's, so you may [i]have[/i] to use one. I have never found one which as been any good. The ones I have delt with are scum sucking pondlife. I'd love to find a decent one, they have a role to play, but I reality, I've found them overpaid slimeballs who promise much and deliver less then nothing.
We used one for our mortgage and Mrs LMTTM used the same firm for her pension/investment advice.
Total transparency on the part of the IFA.
Worked out well for us - so in my opinion yes it is worth it.
Finding a good one however .......
Would possibly recommend one for a mortgage - we got a good one who showed us a few options and some good information on what to look for (exit fees etc. rahter than joining fees).
For ISAs and general savings a quick internet search will probably give you the best deals.
I'm not sure a FA would suggest, say, paying money into a current account to get their £5 month bonus then transferring somewhere else for example. They might actually be tied to certain firms too.
To be honest if I had to pay for their services I wouldn't even consider them. I can live with them getting a 'cut' of the mortgage/pension etc. from the finnace company if it doesn't cost me anything. Up front fees will kill them stone dead in my opinion.
The one thing I'm maybe considering there worth is for Pensions, I mean if they can pick better funds, or monitor them regually, than I do.. That said, I bet they still only review once per year.
Im in The Northwest TOD.
Educate yourself in financial matters and become your own advisor. IFAs are really sales people - ever heard of a Double Glazing Advisor?
he one thing I'm maybe considering there worth is for Pensions,
I don't think you don't have a choice, I think you have to use an IFA for a pension (I think FSA rules mean you can't buy one direct). Our IFA set up a pension promising annual reviews, and did nothing. His advice on what funds to pick was poor (he suggested putting everything into property 3 years ago...luckily my wife suggested that was not a good idea!), the pension provider he advised has been abysmal.
When the economy hit the fan 2 years ago, he did nothing.
He phoned today and basically said that if we want annual reviews we have to pay 1% of the fund value per annum.....suffice to say we had a fairly frank exchange of views about what he had promised and what he had delivered. When I asked why he had done nothing to protect the find when the biggest postwar financial crisis hit, he said that clients with large funds took priority, and they were too busy to get to plebs like me until a year later.
So overall...not too impressed w/IFA's right now 🙁