IFA vs DIY

Veloflyer

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81910406#Comment_81910406

I had a free 1 hour long informative session with him about 3 years ago. No hard sell either. Decent chap and I wouldn't have any qualms revisiting.

Ibrahim5

Yes they always pretend to be decent on their first visit.

Veloflyer

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81910633#Comment_81910633

If they are half-decent on the second I won't complain…..

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81910388#Comment_81910388

Some IFA's are happy to give one off advice, with no ongoing fee. Then you continue to mange the pensions, investments yourself

However they will only give you this one off personalised advice, after they have found out everything about you, your finances, details of all your pensions, investments, your objectives, risk tolerance etc. All this has to be documented in what is a highly regulated industry.

It is to make sure that the advice you get is correct and appropriate and based on all the facts. So it will take hours and therefore will not be cheap.

Veloflyer

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81910746#Comment_81910746

Understood - He did most of that first time around. Nothing much has changed. I think at this juncture alI am after is a basic sense check. Various folk on this forum have commentated that an ILG ladder for half the pot until SP kicks in seems to be a reasonably sound idea. I guess I am going for a belt and braces opinion given that it is my life savings. Then again, perhaps I worry too much…..

tigerspill

The way I did this was follows.

Initially, I used an IFA - a friend of a relative. They set up a number of investments for me; charged me a big sum and an ongoing charge - the normal model.

I then started to become interested in the whole subject and after a while, believed I could do DIY. At that point, I had some more funds. I invested these myself in Vanguard VLS fund that was broadly in line with thee equity / bond split that I had through the IFA. I monitored each for a year and realised that my own investments had performed slightly better - but generally in line with the IFA investments. The difference potentially being the fees.

At that stage, I had the confidence to take on all my own investing and financial planning and proceeded to move my IFA funds to my own investments. I built a detailed financial plan as I considered retirement. Then restructured again more recently to derisk more by moving some funds from equities/bonds to Indexed Linked Gilts to lock in true value at the expense of growth (or loss).

This has worked well for me. Some may argue that I wasted these fees, but I was just starting and didnt have the knowledge, interest or confidence at that time.

cfw1994

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81911085#Comment_81911085

I’m not so familiar with ILGs. Do you have a SIPP provider that lets you buy them within the SIPP? If so, which one?

dunstonh

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81911312#Comment_81911312

All proper SIPPs will. Only those pretending to be SIPPs (in their marketing) may not.

The problem with "SIPP" is that it doesn't really have a regulatory definition. So, there can be interpretations of what a SIPP actually is. For me (and perhaps my old school point of view!) a SIPP allows the purchase of listed investments. i.e. Things traded on the LSE.

However, there are providers out there that restrict their offering. Some only by a little (by having a layer of due diligence by not allowing certain assets. Others by a lot and only having a limited range of assets. These types sometimes refer to their product as a SIPP and technically, they are right. However, it can lead to confusion when something that claims to be a SIPP doesn't have much in the way of Self investment options and that makes the SI in SIPP look a bit weak.

Bostonerimus1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81910817#Comment_81910817

You sound sophisticated enough to successfully manage your own money and you seem to be thinking prudently…the two don't necessarily go together. You might also consider annuities for a portion of your money.

tigerspill

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81911312#Comment_81911312

I use Scottish Widows (formerly iWeb) for ILGs. But in an ISA.