Financial planner to test my retirement planning?

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81932467#Comment_81932467

Cost was very reasonable as he is not a financial advisor.

AIUI , It is illegal for someone to offer paid for personal financial advice, when they are not a regulated financial advisor.

dunstonh

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81932672#Comment_81932672

Personalised recommendations on your pension or investments are a regulated activity and unlawful if given by someone who is not authorised or exempt.

Generic guidance, financial coaching and education — which explain options and trade‑offs without recommending specific products or specific actions for you personally — sit outside the regulated activity of ‘advising on investments’ and can be provided by unregulated people for a fee.

For example, saying ‘it is possible to take up to 25% tax‑free from a defined contribution pension and, subject to ISA rules, invest money in an ISA’ is generic information, not a recommendation in itself.

By contrast, saying ‘you should take your 25% tax‑free cash from your pension and put it into an ISA’ is a personal recommendation about exercising rights under your pension and investing the proceeds, and would require FCA authorisation, even if no specific provider or fund is named.

Likewise, they must not recommend that you buy, sell, switch or keep particular products or investments with specific providers for your circumstances, though they can explain features, charges and general pros/cons in an educational way.

The OP is looking for someone to model and check their specific retirement plan. In practice, it is hard for a financial coach to do that in any depth without straying into regulated advice, given how tailored the work would need to be. A quick and dirty test is: “is this information generic, or is it personalised to my circumstances and recommending actions?

cfw1994

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81929652#Comment_81929652

Another nice spreadsheet “tool” I liked was at https://whatapalaver.co.uk/retirement-planning-couples

It helped cement my thoughts, confirmed my own spreadsheet was on the right lines. I “stepped away” 5 years ago - not regretted a minute 🙏

I do think people need to spend more time on how they intend to spend their unwaged years: activities, friendships, volunteering, etc etc, but clearly the money is always front & centre of any plans.

As mentioned above, advice is very regulated. I do fine forums like this (& others) can be a useful way to get a “hive mind” view on things that might be helpful. All strangers on the internet - take the words with appropriate seasoning, but there are some smart & helpful people here 🍻

Yorkie1

Aaand spam reported …

bownyboy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81932672#Comment_81932672

Yes I agree. In my instance we didn't need regulated financial advice. We needed a quick sense check against our existing plans which I described to them. The person we spoke to didn't tell us what to do, what to sell or what to buy.

For example they reviewed our google sheet and queried how we calculated our numbers, to see if we understood everything. They asked why and how we got to the plan.

We chatted about yearly expenses and how much people might typically need and how it related to our plan.

We talked about maybe part time working as a consultant and how that income might be used for 'retirement'

They also talked to us about 'what next' after retirement ie: do we have a plan for after work and how that might look.

Overall it was a great chat from someone who had retired early, and wanted to help / share thoughts and ideas to others.

Sadly I feel this type of financial support / education is missing. Its either an IFA, FA or nothing. Where is the 'can I have a quick chat to talk about my ISA'? There is none, because it has all become so regulated.

Albermarle

Sadly I feel this type of financial support / education is missing. Its either an IFA, FA or nothing. Where is the 'can I have a quick chat to talk about my ISA'? There is none, because it has all become so regulated.

For sure it is know there is a gap in the market, especially for people who want advice but the level of funds they have do not justify the cost. I think there is some kind of review going on.

If you only want direction on suitable funds to invest in, then there are robo advisors. They ask a few questions about you and then suggest usually a simple multi asset fund. No advice about anything else.

For this you get charged say 0.7% for the fund instead of 0.2%.

In fact we have many posters who think their pension provider is managing all their investments for them, whereas at best they operate a middle of the road default fund.

mgfvvc

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81932467#Comment_81932467

There's a financial coach called Dianne Sullivan with a channel on YouTube. Where the various IFAs I have tried over the years have over promised and under delivered, I found Dianne very helpful. I recommend watching a few of her videos to see if you like her approach. If you do then it's easy to book an appointment.

bownyboy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81942064#Comment_81942064

Yes, this is the gap that exists. People who don't want to pay an FA or IFA 1% to 2% a year, but instead want some occasional guidance. It doesn't really exist. Then when you do mention that you have chatted to someone the usual posts chime in about it being 'illegal' or 'they can't offer financial advice' etc. Yes I know they can't offer financial advice. I'm not looking for that.

dunstonh

Yes, this is the gap that exists. People who don't want to pay an FA or IFA 1% to 2% a year, 

No-one is paying an FA/IFA 2% a year. The range is typically around 0.50% to 1.00%.