Financial Advisor

nig3d

Hi,

I never spoke with one of them, I'd like to know how to look for one and what I should expect from them. Also is it usually a free service to have advices or is normally a paid consultation?

I live in Portsmouth and I'd like to talk about pension and savings.

System

Check out monevator blog and you won't need to pay an advisor...

nig3d

thanks, that's good to keep informed, but I have some personal questions and I'd like to talk to someone face to face.

macca1974

There is a website called unbiased.com I think that is a directory of advisers and you can find a local one in there. Or if you speak to your friends / family, they might be able to refer you to an adviser. Usually, the first meeting is free and this is where you explain what you want to discuss and the adviser can also explain how they work and judge whether the can offer you any help. After the first meeting, any costs will be down to how the adviser does business and what it is that you are trying to achieve. Advisers charge fees now, but your first port of call should really be to find a local firm and arrange a meeting with them.

Alternatively, you could explain what it is that you are trying to achieve on here and I'm sure someone might be able to suggest whether an IFA would be able to help you.

xylophone

https://directory.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en

might help.

dunstonh

You should avoid speaking to an FA. You whould look for an IFA. I standing for independent. FAs are restricted. Sometimes the restrictions can be low but most of the time it is significant. They usually have restrictions on product range and provider and they have an employer/principal that puts pressure on them to use certain products/funds etc.

Also is it usually a free service to have advices or is normally a paid consultation?

It is not a free service. How would they earn a living if they gave it for free? The first meeting with an IFA is free but you won't get much out of that. It is more a case of seeing if there are areas where the IFA can be of use to you or not. If so, you take it further. If not, then say your farewells.

System

Is it worth asking on here in case?
For my pension I have a reliable DB one and a more adventurous SIPP where I choose to track an index of smaller companies

For my isa I'm primarily using Vanguard Lifestrategy 20 to build a wedding fund for a few years time

And stooze a little cash for emergency liquidity

nig3d

thank you a lot for your help. I would like to talk about ways to invest money, pension can be one, although I have never been a believer. The problem I got with the pension is that, since I am now 40, I have to take to the fund a lot of money per month, as my company pension contribution is very minimal (the minimum for the law). Currently my company use NEST, but I have not much experience with funds in general. I want to talk about how much should I pay per month as net income (after taxes) to have a decent pension and alternative options if available.

AnotherJoe

nig3d wrote: »

thank you a lot for your help. I would like to talk about ways to invest money, pension can be one, although I have never been a believer. The problem I got with the pension is that, since I am now 40, I have to take to the fund a lot of money per month, as my company pension contribution is very minimal (the minimum for the law). Currently my company use NEST, but I have not much experience with funds in general. I want to talk about how much should I pay per month as net income (after taxes) to have a decent pension and alternative options if available.

How much do you want to SPEND, per month, when retired? That guides how much you should save when working. FWIW as rough guidance, if you dont really have a pension yet, since you are 40, you should save 20% of your salary. Had you started at 30, it would be 15%.

Thats irrespective of it being a pension, though there are many tax benefits, but even without that, it should be obvious that if you dont invest enough when working you wont have much when retired.

xylophone

See post 5 - you could consult an IFA.

Otherwise, you might choose to open a personal pension to run alongside the NEST pension, or you could choose to make additional contributions to the NEST pension.

https://www.cavendishonline.co.uk/pensions/

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/saving-into-a-pension/pensions-and-tax/tax-relief-and-contributions

LHW99

If the OP has a DB, then that plus state pension gives a basic income. The SIPP and NEST pensions will add to it, so maybe not quite as bad as it could be.