Is it worth seeing a financial advisor ?

SootySweep1

Apologies if this is a dumb question but I'm trying to figure out what the advantages of seeing a financial advisor would be.

My husband is early 60's I'm late 50's. I am debating whether I can afford to retire at the same time as my husband.

We both have decent pensions with our employers so no plans to change anything like that. We do have savings and we are trying to structure them as best we can.

I keep debating booking an appointment with a financial advisor & then questioning what they'd be able to do to help.

Any advice ?

Isthisforreal99

Are your pensions DB or DC?

Amount of savings? Unless you have a substantial amount of money to invest I don't think a financial advisor would be much value.

wjr4

What are the values of your pensions and savings?

DRS1

Do you watch youtube?

This may be of interest. Pensioncraft have a lot of videos on youtube and there are others. Needless to say lots of them have businesses which they are promoting.

Here's How I Knew I Had Enough to Retire

Bostonerimus1

There's really not enough information about your circumstances ie type and size of pensions and you level of financial knowledge, to offer an opinion.

SootySweep1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949808#Comment_81949808

I think they"re all defined benefit pensions. No we've not got huge amounts to invest at the moment.

DRS1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949861#Comment_81949861

If all your pensions are DB then the video I posted won't really help. Nor would a financial adviser I suggest. You can play around with DC pensions in a way you can't with DB. With DB it is mainly about understanding what you get and when. Things like early retirement factors matter (the reduction to your pension for taking it early) and commutation factors (how much pension you give up for a tax free lump sum). You should still do the bit about working out your spending (essential and discretionary) to see how that stacks up against the income the DB schemes will supply (and will that income increase in line with your spending). You also want to look at death benefits - what would the other get if one of you dies.

daveyjp

Starting point is to do two jobs, which you would need to do even if you saw an IFA, but are worth doing as at the moment you appear to be 'flying blind'.

(1) Know exactly what pensions you have (DC or DB etc etc) and what income they will or could provide.

(2) Know exactly what outgoings you have and any future liabilities

If 2 is less than 1 retirement should be possible.

Albermarle

This is a useful non commercial website.

Pensions and retirement | Help with pensions and retirement | MoneyHelper.

You can also book a free telephone appt with PensionWise on this website.. They will not offer specific advice but can explain options etc .

From the website here are two specific links. As said above you need to get all the facts together and be clear what you do have. ( and how much you are likely to need to retire).

Defined contribution pension schemes | MoneyHelper

Defined benefit pensions | MoneyHelper

EverythingCounts

I’m in a similar position and have been considering seeing a financial advisor for a while now, but like you have been trying to determine how much value they would bring, or would it be spending money I don’t really need to.

I have a DC pension that offer lots more options when taking it, and have savings and ISAs to go alongside the pension. So for me it’s a question of whether a financial advisor can offer enough value in planning the best way to take the pension alongside the savings ISAs, best way to invest and the best way to be tax efficient.

I feel that with enough research and asking questions on here I could do a decent job of planning, but it’s those things that you are not aware of that a financial advisor might be able to add that bothers me. I could miss something or not be aware of something that could mean thousands in the future, which is where a financial advisor could pay for themselves in the long run and make a real positive difference.

Bostonerimus1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81949861#Comment_81949861

You seem to be rather vague about your situation which would conventionally make one think that advice might be useful, but if you indeed have DB pensions and not much other money it might be hard to find an IFA to work with and it might not be necessary. So you need to do your own work first. Understand your pensions and and the amounts and account types you own. Do a budget and compare your spending with your pensions and state pensions. Do you have a mortgage or any other debt?

Go away and get your numbers together and come back to us and we can offer informed opinions. This you should be sharing are:

annual DB pension payments, when they start and any indexing;

amount of any DC pension pots;

SP amounts you'll get;

SIPP and ISA balances;

any debt you have;

the amount of income you need, your age and when you want to retire.