Choosing an IFA and fees

TBC15

What sort of money are we talking about?

Missed a post.

I’ll get my coat.

Bianchiintenso

Ok to those suggesting a DIY approach, I like the idea but don't have the knowledge, where do I start, is it simply a matter of googling? are there specialist forums for people doing this?
Any links on where to get started?
thanks in advance

dunstonh

DIY vs IFA is no different to anything else you do in life where you can either DIY or use someone. If you DIY well, you can save money. If you DIY badly it can cost you money.

Don't assume everything available via DIY is better or cheaper. There is a guy on the investment section over the last week who went with a DIY provider and is paying about a third more in charges than an IFA and the investments he selected are naff.

BLB53

Any links on where to get started?

A couple of free websites I recommend...
DIY Investor
http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.co.uk/p/pension.html and book 'DIY Pensions'
Monevator
http://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

Also Hale's 'Smarter Investing' is worth a read.

As I say, as you have a bit of time it would not do any harm to read up a bit and see how far you get before signing up for the professional route.

TheTracker

dunstonh wrote: »

DIY vs IFA is no different to anything else you do in life where you can either DIY or use someone. If you DIY well, you can save money. If you DIY badly it can cost you money.

Don't assume everything available via DIY is better or cheaper. There is a guy on the investment section over the last week who went with a DIY provider and is paying about a third more in charges than an IFA and the investments he selected are naff.

IFA vs DIY is no different to anything else you do in life where you can either DIY or use someone. If you IFA well, you can make money. If you IFA badly it can cost you money.

Don't assume everything available via IFA is better or cheaper. There is a guy on the investment section over the last week who went with a an IFA and is paying about a third more in charges than DIY and the investments he selected are naff.

Bianchiintenso

Appreciate both those replies, I'll start researching and make a decision after a month or so of research, I'll post back onto here with how I get on, which may give a small insight to other people in the same boat - thanks again

dunstonh

There is a guy on the investment section over the last week who went with a an IFA and is paying about a third more in charges than DIY and the investments he selected are naff.

Where is that thread so we can take a look at it?

The thread I was referring was the guy that used Best invest and their own in-house funds.

Bianchiintenso

Another quick question before i go on the research path if you don't mind. Would it be silly, negligent, less risky, a valid option, lazy or prudent even, just to leave the pension with Zurich where it seems to have been performing OK? in other words if it aint broke don't fix it. Or am I paying more in fees than I need to?

bostonerimus

Without knowing the details of your Zurich pension it's impossible to compare it to other options, but I would bet that you can reduce your costs by DIYing. Basically you need to understand how much retirement income you'll need and then how you'll generate that. So your first priority should be to do a detailed budget and then see iff you can sensibly organize your assets to give you that income.

I would recommend a US site to get you up to speed on the basics of DIY investing. You'll probably need to google some terminology, but it's a good resource for the principles espoused by the Jack Bogle the founder of Vanguard Funds.

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Main_Page

Also here is a very recent BBC program about investing styles that might be informative

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csw8g8

You need to combine some fairly simple investing strategies with a solid retirement plan

Linton

TheTracker wrote: »

IFA vs DIY is no different to anything else you do in life where you can either DIY or use someone. If you IFA well, you can make money. If you IFA badly it can cost you money.

Don't assume everything available via IFA is better or cheaper. There is a guy on the investment section over the last week who went with a an IFA and is paying about a third more in charges than DIY and the investments he selected are naff.

I call "Fake News" unless you can give a link. If the facts dont fit your case, change the facts.