Simply Not Worth Their While?

GeoffTF

Saga said:

I tried to find a financial adviser on Unbiased and VouchedFor but I get the feeling that because of my age (50s), low but OK salary, rubbishy pension forecast, only £40K savings and no other assets I was not matched with any IFAs at all so couldn't get a free first consultation.

I would like some advice on maximising a return on the little money I do have but it seems a bit uphill. Even if I do just pick and pay a random IFA the above seems to suggest that beyond any professional exterior they'd just be laughing at some sad poor minnow wasting their time and not really worth any effort.

Has anyone on low-ish income and with few assets managed to get matched with an IFA and had a good experience?

An IFA cannot realistically give advice on maximising the return you are likely to get on your investment. They do not have a crystal ball. All you can do is minimise your costs and taxes and spread your risk. In any case, maximising the return for which you hope involves maximising your risk of losing a lot of money. You do not have enough money to take big risks.

A single multi-asset fund is indeed sensible.

It is sensible to maintain a cash reserve in a savings account.

The details of your health condition are important. You need to ask yourself some questions. What is the probability that you will reach 67? Would you qualify for an impaired annuity (an annuity that pays more because of your reduced life expectancy) if and when you do reach 67? You can find out about impaired annuities on the web.

Where do you live? What are your housing needs? Are you paying a market rent, or do you have social housing? Property is now expensive even in the north of England.

Buy to let is not suitable for you.

Paying more money into a pension looks good. That money will not be considered when assessing benefits, but you must not make yourself poor.

You need to examine the possibility of maximising your state pension. The state pension is guaranteed. You cannot know how big (or small) a defined contribution pension will be.

Avoid any investment suggestions (beyond the consensus) that you read on the Internet!

If you pay money into a pension and do not live long after retirement, does that matter?

The default pension fund probably is a good place for additional contributions. Your workplace pension may well have the lowest charges available to you for additional contributions. Your employer may also be able to arrange free financial advice. You can look at opening an account with Vanguard and putting you contributions in the Target Retirement Fund appropriate to your retirement year for comparison. Target Retirement is a bog standard default option. It is very conservative. You do not need to consider alternatives.

With regard to the original question, I suggest that you collect together all the relevant information and document it, scanning in any hard copy documents, and document your conclusions and your reasons for them. If you want a qualified IFA to check your work, I expect that you will find one willing to do that for a few hundred pounds.