Is it worth getting a Financial Advisor

SieIso

Hi,

I am generally reasonable with money matters but I have been looking at my portfolio including my investments, pensions etc and I am not sure I am maximising and managing them well enough.

I also want to get my kids off to a good start and I am just feeling stuck overall. Is a financial advisor a good option?

**Updated Upon Request**

Below is my current setup. I  am 39, I have been advised that my pension is too small and my overall setup is poor. I am hoping to buy a house with my wife quite soon, the sale of my own house and what is in the CHIP account is going to be used towards that.

My current mortgage is up for renewal in March 2024 and I am considering clearing it with the cash that I have.

Not really sure what I should be doing differently. 

jaypers

Absolutely, yes. Ensure that they are ‘Independent’ though……’IFA’ as opposed to working for a specific company and having a vested interest in certain products, and also do your research such as ensuring they are registered with the FCA. Recommendations from friends, family, colleagues is a good start. I will kick you off with one too……CMS Wealth is who I deal with and they have been excellent - https://cmswealth.co.uk/

youth_leader

I also recommend getting an IFA, mine is excellent.

My husband had died and I got a lump sum I wanted to invest.  I had been 'googling' without success, I didn't know who or how to choose.  A widowed neighbour then recommended mine - I felt reassured that he had also been known to her  in her youth.  I've now been with him for five years.  He is based in Norfolk, but visits each of his customers annually, very professional.  Martin Roden | Financial Advisors

eskbanker

SieIso said:

I am generally reasonable with money matters but I have been looking at my portfolio including my investments, pensions etc and I am not sure I am maximising and managing them well enough.

I also want to get my kids off to a good start and I am just feeling stuck overall. Is a financial advisor a good option?

If you share a paragraph or two on here outlining the size, composition and strategy of your portfolio, plus your objectives, risk tolerance, etc, plus whatever is concerning you about this, then you might get one or two pointers, including whether or not an IFA would be beneficial?

Aminatidi

I think the answer is "it depends" and I'm not sure you've given enough info to form a view.

Albermarle

Is a financial advisor a good option?

It is a question asked on the forum many times, with a large variety of answers, so not a black and white situation and highly dependent on your situation and personality.

Richard1212

You'll need to provide a great deal more info for anybody on this site to give any meaningful advice.

Most notably, are you comfortably off, rich, super rich, mega rich ? Do you have a complex web of investments, such as shares, properties,gold, paintings and other collectibles etc or are you just the average investor with a few shares in a few companies and a few ISAs and bonds ?

If you are really rich, you need a Chartered Wealth Manager----and I reckon if you are so rich, you would already have a Wealth manager---if not, I am happy to recommend my own Wealth Manager, who is invaluable to me, via private mail if you are seriously considering the option.

I have mixed views about IFAs, because , as I have said on this forum before, some of them can call themselves "IFAs" by just having got a certificate after a 6 month correspondence course ( and most people probably know more about what to do with their money than those sort of IFAs). I suppose there is a place at lower levels of wealth for those IFAs who are much more qualified than the sort mentioned above and have a degree and much experience in the financial sector. Their advice can have some merit if you haven't got a clue what to do by way of organising your assets and you are then prepared to manage the results of such advice by yourself or with other help( if you accept the advice).

An important factor , too, is that ----as the titles suggest-----an IFA gives ADVICE and then leaves you to arrange any further management of a portfolio etc. A Wealth Manager gives ADVICE and then MANAGES your assets , which is a great way to avoid the sheer hard work in managing wealth.

But , whatever path you follow, I completely agree with you that it is a good thing from time to time to make sure you are "managing and maximising" your portfolio, pensions and general finances to best effect. All the best with your "Spring clean" in the autumn 

dealyboy

... mine is @dunstonh, IFA to the masses ... 114k of pearls of wisdom.

Beddie

What questions would you ask an IFA? Ask them here with some facts and figures about what you've got, should get some decent pointers from the usual contributors.

Nardy

It would be great if satisfied and unsatisfied IFA customers told us about the advice they were were given.

coyrls

Nardy said:

It would be great if satisfied and unsatisfied IFA customers told us about the advice they were were given.

I can't see how that would work, as we would need to know a lot about each customer before we were in a position to judge the quality of the advice and even then, I doubt that the advice that was given could be captured in a Forum post.