Financial advisor?

Squids_in

Evening all. New member alert so apologies if this is being posted in the wrong area!...

I’m interested and finally in a position where I can consider investing. Not much and very little experience and also not got much time so I wanted to get anyone’s thoughts on the merits/drawbacks of using a financial advisor to help get my finances in order and to get me on the right tracks in terms of investing for a better future.

Do others either;
A) Know/learn what to do themselves.
Use MSE to guide them along the way.
C) Get help from any kind of financial advisor.

Much appreciated...cheers:beer:

Alistair31

With “not much” I think A and B might be most appropriate. This site and others regularly recommended on here are enough to get anyone started I think, at least when there isn’t much and no complicated personal circumstances to navigate.

Squids_in

Thanks for the reply.
I should qualify a bit further...
I’m probably able in invest around £200/month and i’m looking for decent gains over the long-term (10 yrs).
But also need to be realistic about how much knowledge/time I can put in - this is probably the reason I wondered about a financial advisor...someone who can review all our finances and offer some (independent) advice and even help to manage any investments I make. This could include making sure we have the right savings account for our young child, checking we’re using the right savings account for ourselves, pensions advice, and also investing in stocks & shares.

bowlhead99

The problem is that if you are starting with £0 and only adding £2000 a year, it's not economically viable to buy independent financial advice at £1000+

At £200 a month, the investments you make should not really need an independent advisor to 'manage' them. You should just be investing in a single mixed asset fund which holds company shares and bonds from around the world, which you can buy off the shelf from most S&S ISA providers. They are available at a range of risk levels from cautious to adventurous and when you are starting from nothing it is more important to be investing - in some general global mixed asset fund - than spending hours working out exactly what is the optimum thing to be investing in. When you have £10k or £50k it is more important.

Generally professional independent advisors, if you have enough money to justify using one, are useful for finding suitable investments at an appropriate risk level and advising how to manage your tax bills through using ISAs and pensions (and inheritance taxes if you have really large amounts); but they are not going to be well up on what is the current 'right savings account for ourselves'. If you want to know what current accounts or regular savings accounts or fixed term savings accounts are paying the best rates, you can read that in a best buy table on the internet, check the banking and saving section of the main MSE site, discuss it on a forum etc. All the UK bank and building society accounts are protected from loss by the financial services compensation scheme and don't carry investment risk, so there is no point paying a professional adviser £200+ per hour to go to a comparison website and read out aloud for you the names of what accounts at what banks pay what rates.

LHW99

How old are you?
If 10years+ takes you to mid-50's, could you add to your pension / start one? if you could add to a work pension, you might be able to get extra from your employer. If you do a seaparate personal pension or SIPP you get tax relief, and could use it to retire a few years earlier than your work pension age / SPA

Thrugelmir

Squids_in wrote: »

I’m probably able in invest around £200/month and i’m looking for decent gains over the long-term (10 yrs).

Due to prevailing market conditions that might the year that your investments dip in value. Set your plans out in line with your objectives. Stock markets can be volatile places to hold your savings.

Squids_in

Thanks bowlhead and LHW.
I’m 40 and have around £5k to begin investing with, and then roughly £200/month.
I’ve read about Vanguard Lifestrategy and may give that a go if you/others can recommend.
I have about another £5k in other savings (ISA) so I wondered about the VLS80.
It would be good to hear if anyone has used this approach and what kind of returns they’ve had.

Squids_in

Thanks thoughelmir.
I’m now fairly relaxed about taking more of a risk than when I was younger.
The mortgage is half paid, got decent equity, no other debts and we both earn an ok wage that leaves spare each month.
Just feel ready to risk a bit more with the aim of making significant returns.

I have a work pension which I maximise. I also have a few pensions from previous jobs - would be good to get them all checked and maybe held in one place but can barely recall who they were held with so again not sure how to deal with that.

Alistair31

I would get on top of checking out your pensions, seeing what you’ve got and where, and then taking it from there .

AnotherJoe

Squids_in wrote: »

I have a work pension which I maximise. I

You are putting £40k a year in ?

DrSyn

New to investing and don't have much time. Then look at these before you start.

http://www.kroijer.com/

https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5879942/multi-asset-funds-differences&highlight=multi+asset

Hope you have thought about starting a pension.

If you do start investing do so via tax shelter like a pension tax or a stock & shares ISA.