Investment advice who to trust?

bigfreddiel

brasso wrote: »

You can keep pace with inflation in a standard bank savings account.
.

i'm still looking for this bank

fj

btw i'm glad to see that everyone took my original advice - trust no one but yourself - as soon as anyone gets the slightest whiff of advising on £800k+ IFA or non IFA the dollar signs will light up in their eyes (like the old comics) and their money grabbing little mitts will be all over you like a rash - with the amount you have you have time to read a few books learn a bit and do it yourself- if you really have hundreds of thousands then you had the brains to do that - you have the brains to invest it - you dont need an ifa

good luck

fj

Icecold_2

dunstonh wrote: »

why most stressful? IFAs account for the majority of regulated advice activity but only account for 1% of complaints at the FOS. Most of those are rejected. Its generally a very reliable method of getting advice. Cost is really the main issue as there can be greedy ones.

________________________

Thank you for this it does give perspective....I guess for me as an inexperienced investor it's that I don't know if I am receiving good advice or not.....I suppose I am reasonably knowlegable in my day to day life but I feel very de skilled where investing is concerned ...

Icecold_2

bigfreddiel wrote: »

i'm still looking for this bank

fj

btw i'm glad to see that everyone took my original advice - trust no one but yourself - as soon as anyone gets the slightest whiff of advising on £800k+ IFA or non IFA the dollar signs will light up in their eyes (like the old comics) and their money grabbing little mitts will be all over you like a rash - with the amount you have you have time to read a few books learn a bit and do it yourself- if you really have hundreds of thousands then you had the brains to do that - you have the brains to invest it - you dont need an ifa

good luck

fj

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Lol I am attempting to use said brains to sort the rubbish advice from the good given by the bank and the constant phone calls from their FA ....I want to be armed with enough knowledge to know if I am listening to a load of old rubbish I will learn to do it myself and the replies here have given me confidence that it is the right thing to do with a bit of guidance.

Annisele

Investing is just like plumbing (or any other skill). You can certainly learn to do it yourself - but lots of people prefer to pay somebody else who has already acquired those skills.

If the bank can see you've got lots of money, it'll probably just keep calling you. It's probably worth asking them to stop making marketing calls to you - and opening some temporary accounts to take yourself below the FSCS limits.

I'm not an IFA, but I do work in the financial services industry. Some of the worst advice I've seen has been from advisers who tried to bamboozle their clients - you'll know if that's happening to you. I remember one suitability letter that was over 300 pages long and came in a lever arch file; I doubt even Dunstonh could have worked out what was being recommended, let alone why the adviser thought it was suitable.

If you make sure you're actually seeing an IFA (i.e. not a tied financial adviser), you're not afraid to ask questions, and you walk if you don't understand the answers, then you should hopefully find an adviser helpful.

Rymo_2

As mentioned earlier, you can beat inflation with cash, over the longer term that has been the case.

I know this will be slated but its true. Over the longer term the best and most reasonable savings accounts have given returns that beat inflation.

If you want no risk this is the way to go, within an ISA obviously better.

There have been plenty of occasions when equities have done poorly returning very little or negative return (then add costs of ownership / advice) but this always seems to be ignored.

Cash isn't always the terrible option that it's stated to be.

Thrugelmir

Icecold wrote: »

We have absolutely no clue about investing,, stock/shares/bonds etc etc so are easy prey for bad advice

Don't invest in what you don't understand. All investments carry a risk.

No one in the investment world is ever 100% correct. Or agrees on what to sell and what to buy.

With a large sum. Drip feed it into a wide range of "investments" over an extended period of time.

westy22

bigfreddiel wrote: »

if you really have hundreds of thousands then you had the brains to do that

good luck

fj

I thought the OP inherited this money?