Help with financial planning - retirement looming

openside50

I would like to arrange to have an independent financial expert look at my finances with retirement looming

Is it possible to simply pay  a one off fee for that advice, I dont want them to handle or invest my money, have no interest in an ongoing fee based relationship with the adviser, but I would want them to be able to give advice on tax implications, residential property, inheritance laws etc

Is that a service they provide - sorry if that sounds dense, but I dread dealing with any financial services provider interested in making money from periodic advice or fees of some sort - fairplay to them as I'm sure it's a valuable service they provide-   I want a one off service though 

And where do I look and what do I ask for?

dunstonh

Is it possible to simply pay  a one off fee for that advice,

Yes.   However, a couple of the things you mention straddle accountants, solicitors and IFAs potentially.

And where do I look and what do I ask for?

Different firms have different models.  So, there is no point asking a firm which has a focus on providing ongoing advice or running portfolios.      It will also be a VATable service.  VAT is not charged on intermediation but is with general-purpose advice.

Linton

If you talk to an IFA (I for Independent is important) then you could discuss paying a one-off fee purely for advice.  Your best bet for a good deal is from a local High Street IFA, not one of the big national companies.  Perhaps get a recommendation from family/friends and/or choose say 3 at random and have a free introductory chat with each one.  Go with the one you feel you could best work with.

gm0

Yes - "one off fee" services are sometimes available

The usual caveats apply.  You need an Independent not a tied product sales person.  (Confirmed independent on adviserbook or similar) https://adviserbook.co.uk/    And when you pick one from personal recommendation or from the directories who is confirmed independent then check again explicitly when you first talk to them as the situation evolves and IFAs become FAs and marketing records don't always keep up.   When you pick one - check their firms FCA registration and address/phone/email/web reviews/linkedin records etc. to check so far as you are able that you are dealing with a legitimate business and not a clone (scammer).

There is some "cost of sales" free healthcheck advice out there but some of it is from scammers and some is from legitimate firms that (like everyone) want to attract transfer+setup and assets under management ongoing business.

You may be able to get some of what you want via the healthcheck (sales) process.  Or via specific one off fee advice against your list of items/objectives but pretty much the first fact find question they will ask is "how much do you have" so the % of assets under management typical fee calculator is still going off in their head.  

You are unlikely to be thrilled by a professional day rate basis as you will then discover that the formal advice process involves a fair amount of fact find and documentation which may not add value (as you see it) but they are obliged to do it by the regulator and to document it or misselling is pretty much guaranteed if there is a dispute later.  So they won't "just answer your questions" without doing the risk appetite/capacity and goals stuff.  You can set the goals but not mandate the process.  They will try to push you back onto and keep you on the regulated advice process track.

Think it through also - in the normal way you would pay a % to get your pensions transferred organised and setup - this may be zero for a simple case and an adviser offsetting it against securing ongoing management at 0.5% pa.  Or a more substantial 2% or more capped or worse uncapped.  So small print must be read carefully at every step. 

If you choose to have a fixed fee advice step up front before getting entangled this may or may not be helpful if you then proceed with an advised product - as it may not change the dial on the "setup fee" or the "ongoing" fee.  If you want to negotiate around that aspect - so that the fixed advice fee offsets the setup if you proceed (to an advised product) then best to do agree that up front.

The new roboadvice investment firms also have quite a lot setup as self-service and then sometimes a cheap ~£75 telephone consult (ScalableCapital is an example of this) but this is predicated on you having filled out their web forms (which do a lot of the regulated risk appetite data capture stuff) and what they will do is  a "suitability report" i.e. tell you that their investment is suitable for you (in longwords) unless it really cannot be justified as such - in which case the adviser will turn you away.  They will not be interested in your broader financial planning concerns particularly though this does not mean that such an interaction is useless. If you google investment suitability reports you will find some samples/training examples out there of what that looks like.

Sadly there isn't an easy shortcut on this one.

openside50

dunstonh said:

Is it possible to simply pay  a one off fee for that advice,

Yes.   However, a couple of the things you mention straddle accountants, solicitors and IFAs potentially.

And where do I look and what do I ask for?

Different firms have different models.  So, there is no point asking a firm which has a focus on providing ongoing advice or running portfolios.      It will also be a VATable service.  VAT is not charged on intermediation but is with general-purpose advice.

Thanks

I dont mind paying VAT - in fact dont mind paying for advice

So what type of firm do I look for, is it a niche service, ie overall guidance rather than just financial advice?

Albermarle

So what type of firm do I look for, is it a niche service, ie overall guidance rather than just financial advice?

With financial advisors you will not get 'guidance' . They offer personalised financial advice within a very regulated framework and of course you have to pay for it . They will not offer general guidance as such as they are basically potentially liable for anything they say to a client that could be construed as advice . ( advice having a specific legal meaning in this area) 

What Dunstonh means is that some financial advisors can specialise in certain areas , rather than the usual run of the mill investment/portfolio advice.

xylophone

https://adviserbook.co.uk/

When the menu comes up tick "confirmed independent" and  such other specialisms as required.

JohnWinder

To help prepare for your meeting you might get value from:

Jason Butler's 'Wealth Management (FT Guide). He has a section on succession planning.

For tax matters it's hard to go past CCH guides, 'British Master Tax Guide'. They're expensive, so library even if it's a year or two out of date, or inter-library loan.

CCH doesn't do a financial planning guide for UK, more's the pity, because their material is good.