IFA or not

choppy

Greeting all,

Having so far been pretty clear about how to manage money (im not perfect or the best im sure) but we save where possible, pay down mortgage - no other lending get best rates & keep outgoings to minimum etc we have reached a bit of a head scratcher.

The 1st pensions that I gathered (maybe 4K) matured at 55 what do i do with this ? Another that was useless i switched via an ifa to blackrock 7 or 8 years ago and has since started to look semi sensible maybe 85K now. However as soon as a very pushy ifa(must have Liked him as went with him) had his comm I heard very little (only frying the larger fish as he moves up the scale i guess)

Last 15 years during life generally and a breeding programme pensions looked a bit of a waste of time for self employed (apart from tax benefits)so mainly we saved via maxing isas (cash & stocks) & putting money into the house most of which has worked ok -
On paper we probably look quite good - still need to work though and have no plans or wish to downsize house wise.
I dont envisage being well off but we live simply & well enough so not a problem.

Wife a TA so not earning big bucks just inherited 90 K and only has state pension.Not sure where to put this with 2% looking best on offer.

Consequently all a bit fragmented and not sure where to go next. At mid 50s with an eye on retirement consolidating to produce as much unearned income as early possible would seem the way to go.

I work for myself in an industry I love so i'm happy to keep on working god and economics permitting. The more this is on my own terms and timings the better.

Thinking of checking out a few IFAs (had charlwoods bumph throgh this week and get pestered by the american lot is it Fosters 20% in retirement?)but last time i did this could'nt see they were offering much more than we were already doing so did it myself and saved their cut.

I guess they still give you 1st hour free to see if you like their ideas ?

Any thoughts or other ideas gratefully received as always - Thanks

OldMusicGuy

I'll let the IFAs on here comment more but IMO you should stay away from Fisher Investments if that's who you mean. They are not an IFA, you will get deluged by very pushy salespeople. Just do some googling about them and their costs. Do not respond to random adverts (I made that mistake 5 years ago when I started seriously looking into pensions).

Make sure you use a truly indepedent financial advisor. They don't work on commission btw, you pay for one-off advice or for ongoing advice, usually as a percentage of the sum invested. But the IFAs on here will tell you more.

dunstonh

However as soon as a very pushy ifa(must have Liked him as went with him) had his comm I heard very little (only frying the larger fish as he moves up the scale i guess)

If the IFA was employed on a transactional/one-off basis then you would hear nothing again. If you wanted ongoing servicing, then you should employ the IFA on that basis.

Thinking of checking out a few IFAs (had charlwoods bumph throgh this week and get pestered by the american lot is it Fosters 20% in retirement?)but last time i did this could'nt see they were offering much more than we were already doing so did it myself and saved their cut.

Fosters are not IFAs and should be avoided.
Charlwood website is down. So, cant tell what they are. However, most IFAs do not cold market. They neither have the time or the inclination.

but last time i did this could'nt see they were offering much more than we were already doing so did it myself and saved their cut.

Modern pensions are much cheaper than those of many years ago. So, you may not have saved anything at all. It may have cost you.

I guess they still give you 1st hour free to see if you like their ideas ?

The first meeting won't see any advice given. Its a bit concept & ideas and seeing if is mutually beneficial to proceed further.

Any thoughts or other ideas gratefully received as always - Thanks

Make sure you understand the difference between FA and IFA.

Albermarle

Even if you decide to pay for an IFA , the more you know yourself about investing/financial management , the more you will benefit from the advice .
You may even get to the point that you feel that you can DIY the whole situation your self as your own situation does not look that complicated .

choppy

OldMusicGuy wrote: »

I'll let the IFAs on here comment more but IMO you should stay away from Fisher Investments if that's who you mean. They are not an IFA, you will get deluged by very pushy salespeople. Just do some googling about them and their costs. Do not respond to random adverts (I made that mistake 5 years ago when I started seriously looking into pensions).

Make sure you use a truly indepedent financial advisor. They don't work on commission btw, you pay for one-off advice or for ongoing advice, usually as a percentage of the sum invested. But the IFAs on here will tell you more.

Yes Fisher - and thanks to all so far
All for old music !

xylophone

Wife a TA so not earning big bucks just inherited 90 K and only has state pension.Not sure where to put this with 2% looking best on offer.

Has your wife not been offered a pension scheme by her employer?

choppy

xylophone wrote: »

Has your wife not been offered a pension scheme by her employer?

Yes but on her salary we are talking peanuts - a flight somewhere once a year maybe - & on tax free allowance so no saving to be made

BLB53

Any thoughts or other ideas gratefully received as always

Have you considered going DIY? Obviously not suitable for everyone but could save you lots on money in IFA fees. Check out DIY Investor site - pensions tab

http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.com/p/pension.html