This does my head in!

Cacran

My OH thinks all FA's are liars and cheats. I can see why as we have had some bad advice. The problem is that we have quite a bit saved. I am finding it very hard working out where to keep the money without risk and with a good return. My OH never helps, just says he does not understand it all. I have to do the hard task of finding somewhere to invest, and I get earache all the time. Wonder if It would be safer in property, what do you think?

zppp

Cacran wrote: »

My OH thinks all FA's are liars and cheats. I can see why as we have had some bad advice. The problem is that we have quite a bit saved. I am finding it very hard working out where to keep the money without risk and with a good return. My OH never helps, just says he does not understand it all. I have to do the hard task of finding somewhere to invest, and I get earache all the time. Wonder if It would be safer in property, what do you think?

I would just tell him that either he tells you where to put the funds, or you will get advice from an IFA - seems reasonable to me. (Which is completely the correct advice)

lisyloo

Do you have a company that advises you on your pension at work?
I have always found this is a good option, because they will not want to hack off an employee where they have a major account.
The FA I have dealt with in this scenario have been willing to operate for low charges or put some time in on an uneconomic basis, because they value the goodwill at the employer site.

leahciM

From what I've researched, property is due to go down in price so hold out on investing in that for now.

-I have a similar deal with my OH, but because she can't (won't?) learn how to invest/save/make most of money, she trusts my opinions-in your case it would be to get an FA.

stator

Everyone wants a high return without the risk, but it's not possible. You have to go for one or the other.

I would suggest you stick to cash and bonds if you want your money to be safe. Property is no longer as "safe as houses". The stock market always has a risk. If you are willing to lock your money away for a few years then you can get pretty respectable rates, stick with them.

manic_saver

Finiancial advisors are only their to advise, there is some good ones out there and bad. Unfortunately we have lost a lot of money by seeing one about 4 years ago.

£500 fee for seeing the finiancial advisor
£6800 we would of had if we took out a flexi mortgage
£1300 lost in stocks and shares

We were told to go for a fixed mortgage, even though we both wanted a flexible one, which ties in with the BOE base rate. Had some money in stocks and shares, now have lost about 1/4 of that.

It makes me wonder if i can trust finiancial advisors after all of this. :sad:

property.advert

manic_saver wrote: »

Finiancial advisors are only their to advise, there is some good ones out there and bad. Unfortunately we have lost a lot of money by seeing one about 4 years ago.

£500 fee for seeing the finiancial advisor
£6800 we would of had if we took out a flexi mortgage
£1300 lost in stocks and shares

We were told to go for a fixed mortgage, even though we both wanted a flexible one, which ties in with the BOE base rate. Had some money in stocks and shares, now have lost about 1/4 of that.

It makes me wonder if i can trust finiancial advisors after all of this. :sad:

I don't understand how a financial advisor can make you take out a product which you know you do not want (your fixed rate mortgage).

The maths when you borrow money is straightforward and the risks easy to understand. Investing in equities is a different matter of course and no-one has a crystal ball.

manic_saver

property.advert wrote: »

I don't understand how a financial advisor can make you take out a product which you know you do not want (your fixed rate mortgage).

The maths when you borrow money is straightforward and the risks easy to understand. Investing in equities is a different matter of course and no-one has a crystal ball.

Before the recession it was best advised to take out a fixed, as he thought rates would rise with in the coming years of 2006/07, of which he was right.

But we were not forced to take the products out and we did suggest to him we would be happy going for a flexi mortgage. But he told us that in the long term (a 5 year mortgage deal) that the fixed would be the best deal and he shown us how much we would save over the 5 years if rates decided to go up.

I am not blaming him for his mistakes, but if a finiancial advisor is meant to be a professional job, its not very professional losing money in both areas. As said above the recession had partly to blame for some of the mess.

I think next time i'll see mystic meg.