IFA Quote

Jimmithecat

Brilliant thanks dunstonh - I appreciate your quick response:beer:

DancingBadger

An update:

After further discussion and a few clarifications with the first IFA, we decided to go with him. Whatever he lacks in social niceties, he seems to make up for in his depth of knowledge and ability to get us thinking clearly and objectively about our finances. Obviously, it's early days and the proof of the pudding is yet to be revealed, but so far we do trust him.

With regard to the ongoing fees, his firm operates a transparent sliding scale of charges ranging from a one to a five star service based on the perceived ability of the client to manage their own affairs. Initially he has placed us in the middle of the scale and made it clear that there is no commitment - we can at any time opt for a cheaper service or none at all.

We're still very much finding our feet in this whole new world of financial planning, but what I think we've discovered is unctuous charm doesn't always equate to sound advice at a sensible price.

Now a moral question: Should we tell the friends who recommended the other two very expensive IFAs they could be being overcharged, or do we let sleeping dogs lie? :think:

gadgetmind

DancingBadger wrote: »

his firm operates a transparent sliding scale of charges ranging from a one to a five star service based on the perceived ability of the client to manage their own affairs.

Sounds sensible.

Now a moral question: Should we tell the friends who recommended the other two very expensive IFAs they could be being overcharged, or do we let sleeping dogs lie? :think:

I'd wait to see if they ask.

saver861

DancingBadger wrote: »

An update:

Now a moral question: Should we tell the friends who recommended the other two very expensive IFAs they could be being overcharged, or do we let sleeping dogs lie? :think:

Well you might want to wait to get further in depth with your new man. If you are still happy with the service and no hidden costs appear etc then you might consider discussing your findings with your friends.

At least by then you will either have a satisfactory service and something to compare - or, you will know you made the wrong decision (hopefully not!!).

saver861

DancingBadger wrote: »

An update:

We're still very much finding our feet in this whole new world of financial planning, but what I think we've discovered is unctuous charm doesn't always equate to sound advice at a sensible price.

Out of interest - did this work out for you, so far at least?

DancingBadger wrote: »

Now a moral question: Should we tell the friends who recommended the other two very expensive IFAs they could be being overcharged, or do we let sleeping dogs lie? :think:

Out of interest again - how did you go on with the moral's bit?

mania112

You went with the one who was rude, expensive, and didn't know the rules on income recycling?

TH1878

gadgetmind wrote: »

Here is the contents of one cell in my PIP "what if" spreadsheet. This little beauty works out how much carry forwards is lost under the three year rule, and clearly I want to optimise this to be zero, while avoiding overpayments and also dodging any nasty tax brackets (both now an in future years.)

=-IF(E22<0,0,IF(F23>E25,0,IF(F23<C22,IF(G23<D22,IF(H23>E22,0,E22-H23),IF(G23>(D22+E22),0,IF((D22+E22)<(G23+H23),0,(D22+E22)-(G23+H23)))),IF(F23<D22+E22,IF(G23<D22-(F23-C22),IF(H23>E22,0,E22-H23),IF(G23>E25-F23,0,IF(H23>E25-F23-G23,0,E25-F23-G23-H23))),IF(G23>E25-F23,0,IF(H23>E25-F23-G23,0,E25-F23-G23-H23))))))

Oh, and I understand that PIPs came in with pensions "simplification".

Completely irrelevant to this thread but that's awful Excel syntax! Far too many nested IF statements! I do have OCD when it comes to Excel though so don't take it personally!

berbatov10

What about investing in and reading some good financial books, take a subscription to investors chronicle or similar and read Monevator. Try and see how you go unless you go mad you wont lose the lot and may find you enjoy managing it yourself

DancingBadger

Originally Posted by DancingBadger
An update:

We're still very much finding our feet in this whole new world of financial planning, but what I think we've discovered is unctuous charm doesn't always equate to sound advice at a sensible price.

Out of interest - did this work out for you, so far at least?

It's early days, but I think we've made the right choice. The chap is Chartered (in fact, all the IFAs in his firm are Chartered) and certainly seems to know his onions. Even taking into account his ongoing fee, (which we can opt out of at any time) plus the additional costs of investing, he is still thousands cheaper than the other two, who weren't nearly as well qualified.

Originally Posted by DancingBadger
Now a moral question: Should we tell the friends who recommended the other two very expensive IFAs they could be being overcharged, or do we let sleeping dogs lie? :think:

Out of interest again - how did you go on with the moral's bit?

Good question. We decided to let sleeping dogs lie unless the subject is raised by the "recommenders".

I do wonder, though, if encouraging people to ask for IFA recommendations is a good thing. By doing so, you are making the assumption the people you are asking are reasonably financially savvy and did in fact do their own research before appointing someone. Specifically, I'm thinking of the friends who recommended the most expensive man, who turned out to be an FA, not an IFA.:( These friends are a little older than us and probably started their relationship with him in the days before the Internet and the readily-available information it provides.

However, it appears it's working for them and they trust him - which is just as well as they live 10 months of the year in Greece...but that's another story. :cool:

There's a wealth of information out there now and I think I'd be encouraging people to DYOR - obviously while exercising caution. My knowledge, such as it is, has been garnered through hanging out on this site, TMF, and various other financial sites, as well as reading online publications - and I intend to keep learning until such time as I feel confident enough to restrict the amount of advice I need to bi-annual IFA reviews rather than constant handholding. I just think at this point in time it would be expensive and arrogant to assume otherwise.

If the subject does come up when they're back in the UK in the summer, we'll certainly be looking for ways to tactfully suggest they might like to DTOR. They're very IT literate and not fools; it just might not have occurred to them they could be being overcharged. (If it ain't broke, don't fix it.) We have no way of knowing what he charges them and it could be he was trying it on with us in the hope of an inflated fee, but I'd hate to think they've bought into expensive financial complacency.