Financial adviser

loveprada

Just had a very strange event. I contacted a financial adviser in autumn 2020, I had used him before, he works at one of the established financial institutions. He said the switch wouldn't be implemented till around January 2021 as he needed access to my accounts etc.  Anyway, he didn't get back to me till around March 2021 and I said let me think about it. When I did get back to him to confirm that I want to go ahead, he just ignored me, obviously very offended.  Anyway, I'm quite hacked off that 6 months has been wasted for nothing when I could have taken advantage of the rising markets.  My question is where do I begin now?  Since I have a pension with Fidelity I'm considering going with them, have an appointment booked next week to discuss consolidating my pensions and also what to do with my cash ISA. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm 63, not working and not drawing a pension, I just want to improve the state of my pension and cash ISA before I'm officially retired.

Albermarle

Obviously can not comment on what went on with the advisor , but going forward.....
Firstly an internet forum can not offer you personal financial advice. Only general guidance based on what facts are known . Plus you will see different opinions.
To get started you will need to supply more info ..
Such as what are all these pensions you mention ? and how much are they worth approx .? Do any of them have guaranteed benefits such as a guaranteed income or are they all just simple DC pots ?
Regarding the cash ISA - do you want to keep this in a safe savings account , as opposed to investing it ? and again some idea of how much it is would help.

eskbanker

loveprada said:

I'm 63, not working and not drawing a pension, I just want to improve the state of my pension and cash ISA before I'm officially retired.

Perhaps worth sharing how you believe consolidating pensions at 63 will improve your situation?  Multiple smaller pensions can be an advantage....

Nothing stopping you from engaging a paid adviser, but it would generally be recommended to deal with an independent one (IFA) rather than a tied/restricted one: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-financial-advisers/

However, posting more detail on your situation on here will probably give you some ideas....

Thrugelmir

Why couldn't you effect the switch between holdings yourself. 

dunstonh

Just had a very strange event. I contacted a financial adviser in autumn 2020, I had used him before, he works at one of the established financial institutions

Lucky escape then.  You shouldn't use an FA.  Your choice should either be IFA or DIY.

 He said the switch wouldn't be implemented till around January 2021 as he needed access to my accounts etc.  Anyway, he didn't get back to me till around March 2021 and I said let me think about it. When I did get back to him to confirm that I want to go ahead, he just ignored me, obviously very offended. 

We cannot speculate on timescales but it is worth noting that the country did go into lockdowns again during that period and maybe his employer restricted the ability to work.   

Why would the adviser be offended that you wanted to go ahead?  He was probably grateful for the delay as tax year changeover months (March/April/May) are the busiest months of the year for an adviser.  Most will be snowed under.   So, being able to park you for a period when it may be quieter is a positive for the adviser.

Anyway, I'm quite hacked off that 6 months has been wasted for nothing when I could have taken advantage of the rising markets. 

You are already invested in the pension with fidelity.  So, you have taken advantage of the rising markets.

Any advice would be appreciated. I'm 63, not working and not drawing a pension, I just want to improve the state of my pension and cash ISA before I'm officially retired.

You haven't really told us anything about what you have or what you are looking to achieve or really anything at all.   Its difficult to comment without knowing details.

loveprada

Albermarle said:

Obviously can not comment on what went on with the advisor , but going forward.....
Firstly an internet forum can not offer you personal financial advice. Only general guidance based on what facts are known . Plus you will see different opinions.
To get started you will need to supply more info ..
Such as what are all these pensions you mention ? and how much are they worth approx .? Do any of them have guaranteed benefits such as a guaranteed income or are they all just simple DC pots ?
Regarding the cash ISA - do you want to keep this in a safe savings account , as opposed to investing it ? and again some idea of how much it is would help.

Thank you for your response, I'm amazed people have been so quick to try to give me detailed advice, as all I expected was more roundabout advice. With regard to the cash isa, since interest rates are so dire I just was hoping to squeeze more out of it. I wouldn't mind a low risk investment in a unit trust or something like that. I have 3 pension pots and I've already contacted all of them to see what can be done, I cannot consolidate into one of them. I was told if I was working and had a current workplace pension I could have moved them there.  The total is less than £100k, maybe around £70k. The cash isa is a similar figure.

loveprada

Thrugelmir said:

Why couldn't you effect the switch between holdings yourself. 

I contacted all three pension providers last year, I cannot move them into any one of them, I could only move them to an active workplace pension and since I'm not working I dont have that option. I could move them into a new pension plan, that's where I was hoping to receive advice.

eskbanker

Still puzzled - what specifically are you looking to achieve by consolidating pensions?  Are you going to be returning to work and joining another scheme?  When do you plan to start drawing down the pension money and is the ISA money to be used to live on until then?

Albermarle

 I'm amazed people have been so quick to try to give me detailed advice, as all I expected was more roundabout advice.

It is because giving general advice ( or guidance as I should say ) without knowing the full , or most of the picture , is almost certainly going to be wrong. That is why when you go to an IFA they quiz you about every single detail of your financial positions , risk tolerance and objectives before offering their personalised advice.

With regard to the cash isa, since interest rates are so dire I just was hoping to squeeze more out of it. I wouldn't mind a low risk investment in a unit trust or something like that.

You can have very high risk unit trusts . All investments can go down as well as up , even supposedly low risk ones .

However they should go up in the long term ( > 10 years )

Cash is 100% safe but loses value to inflation .

Cash is good for short term needs . If you want to keep a lot of cash then £50K in premium bonds will be probably better than you have now .

 I have 3 pension pots and I've already contacted all of them to see what can be done, I cannot consolidate into one of them. I was told if I was working and had a current workplace pension I could have moved them there. 

This seems a bit odd . Especially the last comment . Probably good to clarify this with Fidelity. Normally they are keen for you to transfer in other pensions to them .

Thrugelmir

loveprada said:

Anyway, he didn't get back to me till around March 2021 and I said let me think about it. When I did get back to him to confirm that I want to go ahead, he just ignored me, obviously very offended.  Anyway, I'm quite hacked off that 6 months has been wasted for nothing when I could have taken advantage of the rising markets.  

How much later did you get back to him? 

dunstonh

loveprada said:

Thrugelmir said:

Why couldn't you effect the switch between holdings yourself. 

I contacted all three pension providers, I cannot move them into any one of them, I could only move them to an active workplace pension and since I'm not working I dont have that option. I could move them into a new pension plan, that's where I was hoping to receive advice.

If you have legacy schemes you wouldnt want to pay into those in most cases even if you could.      
Providers also tend to retail via intermediaries (FAs or IFAs) or retail direct to consumer.  Not many have both distribution channels available to them or if they do, they often use different products.   So, if you are trying to top up an intermediary product on a DIY basis, that is why it would likely fail.