Do You Need Financial Advice? When To Get It, When Not To Get It Discussion Area

dunstonh

Looking at IFA websites, which ask what sort of investment you're interested in, I'm not really sure that I want to invest as such.

it isnt for you to decide anyway. If you knew, then you wouldnt need an IFA.

It is possible that you are looking at IFA websites that have a trading portal plugin to allow you to trade yourself via them.

Is an IFA what I need?

If you cant DIY then use an IFA. If you can DIY and do a good job then dont use an IFA.

Your value is at the lower end of the scale and you may find many IFAs price themselves as a passive blocker for using them (i.e. they will be expensive for you). So, doing a bit of research on what you want may be a good idea.

jademaid

Thanks for the speedy reply. Yes, I thought the amounts might seem a bit small!

Sharkssword

Hi all,

Many apologies if this is posted in the incorrect forum!!

I have a savings pot of around £60K currently doing nothing.

I also have a property I rent out with a mortgage of £78K.

The fixed rate on the property ended in Feb this Year and it is now on the default rate of 2.74% above base.

The property is worth around £170K

I'm looking for the best advice regarding how to utilise the money/capital in the property. Is it a simple case of knocking down the mortgage? - The monthly costs of the mortgage is around £180 and the rent I get is £725 so perhaps keeping it like this but using a remortgage to free up some money is a good idea??

Apologies for the dumb questions, but as you see I'm in desperate need for the best advice!!

Many thanks for your time
Stuart

dunstonh

Many apologies if this is posted in the incorrect forum!!

Not the wrong forum but the wrong thread. Its best to create your own thread rather than tagging your message on to an existing thread and one that isnt on the same topic either.

When you repost, also supply more info as there isnt much to go on with what you have posted so far.

Sharkssword

Hi,

Many thanks for the update.

I will get a new thread created.

What additional information do you require so that I can ensure it is all in the one thread.

Many thanks
Stuart

grey_squirrel_2

SylviaC I am in the same position as you were in 2008 and would like to know whether you used Blevins Franks. They proposed an offshore trust fund for me and although their many charges were listed in their literature they were not very transparent. I approached another company who gave me illustrations of the amount of all charges over a range of years if my fund grew at 2%, 5%, 7%, 10%etc. which was very helpful. I am not happy with Blevins Franks high pressure sales tactics, not sure whether I can trust them.

darkpool

grey_squirrel wrote: »

SylviaC I am in the same position as you were in 2008 and would like to know whether you used Blevins Franks. They proposed an offshore trust fund for me and although their many charges were listed in their literature they were not very transparent. I approached another company who gave me illustrations of the amount of all charges over a range of years if my fund grew at 2%, 5%, 7%, 10%etc. which was very helpful. I am not happy with Blevins Franks high pressure sales tactics, not sure whether I can trust them.

tbh you have to expect heavy handed sales tactics when you go to a salesman. forget all thoughts about IFAs being an impartial adviser, they are salesmen, they make their living by selling things.

magpiecottage

darkpool wrote: »

tbh you have to expect heavy handed sales tactics when you go to a salesman. forget all thoughts about IFAs being an impartial adviser, they are salesmen, they make their living by selling things.

That is not necessarily true.

There are still one or two about (for the next 364 days) but as has been said by other posters, you can elect to pay for a fee for the advice and no commission.

This means, on the plus side, there will be no bias but you may find that you pay the fee and the adviser recommends you do nothing. That does not mean you have wasted your money, simply that you are making a positive decision to do nothing because that is the best bet rather than a negative "better the devil you know" one.

mattbell

Hi,

We own a property which we let on a buy to let basis, purely because its not viable to sell currenlty. We have relocated and are renting ourselves until we can afford to buy.

We could really use some proffessional advice on the best approach, i.e. how long do we keep banking money for until we take the plunge? If it worth holding out for a bigger deposit? Should we look to buy somewhere cheaper that we could afford now? How exposed would we be if interest rates rise etc etc

Its a bit of a minefield to us.

Can you tell me who we can speak to about this? Is it an IFA or are they just there to sell us mortgages?

Thanks

Matt

dunstonh

Is it an IFA or are they just there to sell us mortgages?

Most IFAs dont do mortgage advice. They leave that to the mortgage advisers. IFAs are financial planners. Whilst you may have a bit of short term planning, I am not sure that it will really be cost effective to employ an IFA just to provide you that advice.