Financial Planning

bunnybass

I have been fortunate enough to be able to retire early with a decent lump sum. I need help to make the money work for me both income until my pension kicks in and a sum I can invest for growth. I have had a discussion with Barclays Financial Services. Does anyone have any experience of them or could suggest an alternative?

dunstonh

I have had a discussion with Barclays Financial Services. Does anyone have any experience of them or could suggest an alternative?

Avoid like the plague. Never ever get your advice from a salesforce. If you have seen the tied arm of Barclays, then they only offer in house products and L&G and the L&G products are more expensive or have less favourable terms than the IFA version. Plus tied agents are not allowed to recommend investment funds. You may be given the impression they can but thats sales spin. It will be documented that you chose the funds.

If its Barclays independent arm, then they make charges on top of the normal charges making it very very very expensive.

Your choices really are do it yourself or get an IFA to do it for you. Dont use a bank.

Jake'sGran

bunnybass wrote:

I have been fortunate enough to be able to retire early with a decent lump sum. I need help to make the money work for me both income until my pension kicks in and a sum I can invest for growth. I have had a discussion with Barclays Financial Services. Does anyone have any experience of them or could suggest an alternative?

I have never used them but am not mad about Barclays anyway as a result of the way some friends have been treated by them. I make my own financial decisions and in your case, with regard to having some of your money invested for income, I would go for equity income unit trusts/OEICS. Have a look at the lists on any of the good web sites such as Citywire, iii,
Standard & Poors - there are lots of them. You could also see the best funds on these sites with regard to growth. If you choose wisely, taking into account performance over 5 years, you should do well. Also, if you go down this route please do use a discount broker so that the initial charge are much reduced or completely given back in extra units. Some people invest in solid shares that have good dividends, arranging it so that the dividends are spread throughout the year so the income comes into your bank account every month.

Geoffo_M

Avoid all banks/tied agents. They don't have your best interests at heart, and will only give advice that maximise their own profits. If you have a large sum or are not financially-savvy, seek out a fee-based IFA.

You might pay out a £100/£200, but it will be money well spent.

EdInvestor

It's quite easy really. Let's say you have a lump sum of 400k. What often suits people like yourself is a 50/25/25 split, with 50% into lower risk "equity income" funds, 25% into commercial property funds which also pay an income and 25% into cash, which pays interest.

Have a look around the Hargreaves Landown site, they have a lot of useful info on good funds. There are other good discount brokers as well which will rebate fund charges.

https://www.hargreaveslansdown.co.uk

Warning: if you are a basic rate taxpayer you should avoid "investment bonds."Almost certainly this is the first thing that Barclays will try to sell you -you can almost see the $$$ signs in the eyes when a punter walks in with a decent lump sum to invest .

These bonds impose taxes and charges which you would not pay outside the bond and are very complex and opaque priducts which are difficult to understand.Do not be deluded by the 5% "tax free income" which actually comes from capital.Steer well clear or these products which will drain your wealth.

It would be a useful test of any advisor to make it clear you don't want one of these and see what he comes up with instead.A bit of a test of his real investment knowledge

dunstonh

Warning: if you are a basic rate taxpayer you should avoid "investment bonds."Almost certainly this is the first thing that Barclays will try to sell you -you can almost see the $$$ signs in the eyes when a punter walks in with a decent lump sum to invest .

These bonds impose taxes and charges which you would not pay outside the bond and are very complex and opaque priducts which are difficult to understand.Do not be deluded by the 5% "tax free income" which actually comes from capital.Steer well clear or these products which will drain your wealth.

Warning: Ed doesnt understand taxation of investments as has been proven on recent threads. So take any "advice" from Ed on this subject with care because it could cost you money.

For example, Ed has not taken into consideration that from the age of 65, if you earn more than £20,100, you start to lose your age allowance. Dividends/income distributions and interest go towards that. An investment bond doesnt, even it was to provide regular withdrawals.

Some capital into an investment bond may be suitable to keep you below that £20,100. However, we dont know your circumstances.

What often suits people like yourself is a 50/25/25 split, with 50% into lower risk "equity income" funds, 25% into commercial property funds which also pay an income and 25% into cash, which pays interest.

Equity income funds are not lower risk. That is highly misleading. They "can" be at the lower end of the UK all companies sector but that still places them above medium risk.

We know nothing of your risk profile, so it is not appropriate to discuss areas like this which could be totally unsuitable for you.

It would be a useful test of any advisor to make it clear you don't want one of these and see what he comes up with instead.A bit of a test of his real investment knowledge

Here we have Ed giving you advice on where and how you should invest without knowing your risk profile, your tax status, your requirements and goals for this money. If she was an adviser doing that, it would be a mis-sale.

Getting advice from Barclays is wrong. Getting your advice from this forum is worse.