affinity connect .

alfiemurphy

Went to a pre-retirement course last year run by affinity connect .
Apparently they do this for council workers , police and a few others .
Course was fine but they phoned me up to see if I wanted to make appointment to invest my pension pot . I told them I was going to work another year so I am on their phone back list .
Is this company classed as an independent financial advisor and if so has anyone had any dealings with them .
Basically are they any good .

Malthusian

They are part of Wealth at Work. They are not independent.

You may not find anyone who has had substantial dealings with them as most regulars on this forum either DIY or use an independent financial adviser. If you do a search for "Wealth at Work" you will find a few old threads from people who asked similar questions to yours.

The general consensus is that if you want advice you should see an IFA, not a restricted adviser. Wealth at Work's target market is people who will just go with the firm their employer introduced them to. Not people who ask questions like you have.

xylophone

invest my pension pot .

You don't have a DB pension?

Or you have a DB pension and AVCs?

alfiemurphy

yes - I do have a db pension and I can take lump sum either 30k or 80k . This is what I meant by pension pot .
I do not have AVC .

dunstonh

I have heard they suffer a high turnover rate of staff. Mainly as there is a lot of travelling. So, it tends to attract new advisers or those desperate for a job. Established advisers wouldnt want to work in that environment.

If you use a small local IFA firm, you should have more consistency with the adviser and not have a new face every time.

Silvertabby

alfiemurphy wrote: »

yes - I do have a db pension and I can take lump sum either 30k or 80k . This is what I meant by pension pot .
I do not have AVC .

That's not your 'pension pot'. They are your tax free lump sum options.

xylophone

I do have a db pension and I can take lump sum either 30k or 80k . This is what I meant by pension pot .

Is there a compulsory lump sum at retirement (£30,000 in your case) with the option to commute up to another £50,000?

Malthusian

If the only decision that needs to be made is how much lump sum to take, it might be worth seeing the Wealth at Work salesman for a chat to get your head around the options. If it's at their expense or your employer's.

If they recommend any kind of investment or other financial product, or you want paid-for advice, see an IFA.

alfiemurphy

Decision I need to make is where to put the 30k or 80k .
My wife is retiring same day and she has another 80k lump sum with her db pension to invest .
So we need a ifa for either 110k or 160k . Just thought this company might be a possibility but as I would be paying for their time I will take your advice and get a real ifa . Affinity does have a local branch to me but as you guys have said it ain't really independent .
thanks to all .

alfiemurphy

it seems to be compulsory to take my 30k lump sum . I did ask .

mgdavid

are you a council worker or police? It will be helpful all round if you say which Scheme you are in.