What should I ask at fnancial review?

Inonowt

I've thought this the best section for this, but did think of putting it in the savings & investments section. Move if you feel it belongs there mods!
I've been invited by my local buildng society for a financial review, with the way the money word has gone of late I thought I'd take them up on it. What should I be asking & looking for? Mabye more importantly what should I be hearing & finding from them?

I hold current, instant access savings & ISA accounts with them, the ISA has about 18,500 & is full for this year. Should this be moved elsewhere to gain better interest? What about a stocks & shares ISA?
My basic wage is 17,500 before tax, I'm living at home with my parents & saving toward getting my own place & with house prices coming down have been thinking I should be ready to act should something suitable become available.

On the other hand I'm in a fairly new relationship which although going well is a long way from us wanting to move in together so had considered if somewhere suitable comes up & prices look like they've bottomed out should I buy to get my foot on the ladder & rent out? That's a question for a different section really but thought I'd mention it here as it's relavent to my situation.

Thanks for any advice.

Lokolo

A financial review is going to be a sales pitch, nothing more. I wouldn't bother.

All they will do is trying to get you to invest your money into low rated investments which are unlikely to give you a decent return.

456789

1) The building society will try to sell you their own products probably - which one is it?

Don't sign upto anything on the day ask for the leaflets and tell them you will think about it

2) Have a look at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/tables/bespoke/SavingsAccount to see rates for instant access

3) You should be able to transfer your ISA to another account if your building society offers a lower rate - see: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=401374

As for the house purchase have a read through http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=16

Whoever you talk to will involve a certain amount of bias - it is best to try and do as much research of your own as possible

Inonowt

.Trying to sell me something?!! Bias?!! Do you think? surely not, not with me!

Yeah, I was guessing as much & was'nt going to be signing up to anything with out a good look through first. But on the other hand they know more about the job than me & am going to find out what they have to say.
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Lokolo

Only problem is the employees are based on comission so they're going to try and convince you to sign up there and then rather than let you have a night to think about it.

Pretty much heres what you need to know;

Savings are shorterm, investments are long term (ie 5-10 years as a minimum). If you are wanting to save it for a house deposit or something then you really want to stick with savings.

Most people on here realise that banks no longer reward loyal customers, so the best thing to do is to move your money to those that give the best returns, rather than staying with the one bank because you've been with them since you were 5.

jem16

Inonowt wrote: »

But on the other hand they know more about the job than me

Not necessarily.

Inonowt

Jem16: you could well be right, we'll see!

The savings v investment thing is something I've been pondering, 20,000 would be a fair deposit for a house & more than many first time buyers will manage to find. I've wondered if I should look at investing a bit for a longer return like the 5+ years suggested now I've got a decent lump for a deposit. Or is it just the bigger the better with a deposit so I can get a better motgage deal? Anyway, that is definately something for another section, I'll away & have a read through some of the stuff on that.

456789

Inonowt wrote: »

But on the other hand they know more about the job than me & am going to find out what they have to say.
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Some of them don't have a clue tbh :rolleyes:

Lokolo

Inonowt wrote: »

Jem16: you could well be right, we'll see!

The savings v investment thing is something I've been pondering, 20,000 would be a fair deposit for a house & more than many first time buyers will manage to find. I've wondered if I should look at investing a bit for a longer return like the 5+ years suggested now I've got a decent lump for a deposit. Or is it just the bigger the better with a deposit so I can get a better motgage deal? Anyway, that is definately something for another section, I'll away & have a read through some of the stuff on that.

The bigger the deposit the better mortgage deal you can get. Aim for 40%.

willo65

Inonowt wrote: »

.Trying to sell me something?!! Bias?!! Do you think? surely not, not with me!

Yeah, I was guessing as much & was'nt going to be signing up to anything with out a good look through first. But on the other hand they know more about the job than me & am going to find out what they have to say.
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Good to hear that you will go and see what they have to say and are open minded and don't think you know it all like a lot of others on the forum. To be honest they shouldn't give you the hard sell. I know at the bank I work for they won't try and MAKE you buy anything, at the end of the day this will just put people off. But you may find there is something simple they could change that will help you, like an alternate savings account and I strongly believe that you will get the best now and in the future because you are prepared to listen to suggestions.

Inactive

Big sell, as most others that don't work for a bank have suggested.