Would I benefit from seeking financial advice?

When deciding whether to engage with a financial advisor, first consider what you would like to achieve. Is there a particular issue you would like addressed? For example, options about your retirement income? Investments? Maybe life insurance or income protection insurance? Or do you want someone to look at the whole picture and tell you what is missing? Usually, the first contact with a financial advisor is driven by the need to address a particular issue, and, upon speaking with the advisor, other challenges or weaknesses in your financial plan can be uncovered, discussed, and resolved. One of the main aims of an advisor is to remove emotion from the picture and provide professional, objective views.

Reasons our clients said they came to us;

Illustration Credit: Vanguard UK

As seen above, the most common reason to seek advice is to plan for retirement. This makes sense, as retirement spending is highly important, and those approaching retirement want to ensure their pension savings are adequate and invested correctly before they begin drawing an income. Closely followed is investment advice – this is becoming more popular amongst new clients due to low cash ISA interest rates for savers. More and more are considering moving to an investment ISA, but don’t know how to pick a suitable investment strategy.

Goals and Objectives

An important part of the financial advice process is helping you define your goals and objectives. Often, clients aren’t sure what they ultimately want to achieve from the advice process, and having goals will change how they think about their finances. Once your goals are defined, a plan can be designed, implemented and reviewed to ensure you have the best chance of achieving them.

How does financial advice add value?

A financial advisor wears many hats during the client/advisor relationship. They become your go-to professional and trusted confidant. We have written a more detailed article on the value added by advice here (link to “how we add value” blog); however, here is a summary;

– Coaching

Making sure your plan is well defined and that you get started and stay on track.

– Navigating

Keeping you on track through tough times and regularly adjusting and reviewing your plans as needed.

– Protecting

Keeping your wealth safe, minimising tax and maximising growth