I am seeing on Monday so will let you know. I'm always a little doubtful of using them so she will need to be good!
You can do it yourself, but a good IFA should leave you better off having advised you to take advantage of all allowances etc whilst taking their cut! I would ask them what their percentage is, obviously they have to earn a living, but it makes me wonder these financial advisors who drive an old banger and live in a small house!
If seeing an IFA expect to pay up to 3% on the initial amount and an ongoing annual servicing fee of up to 1%. They may offer time based advice instead. This will vary wildly depending on them and your circumstances. Only worthwhile in a minority of cases. You should have a free initial meeting where they get to know you, your finances, aims and attitude to risk. Their fees should be clearly stated before signing and make sure they are FCA regulated. If you have any general queries feel free to message me. Not qualified but I run admin for a small firm part time.
3% is too much I paid .8% initial with .4% annually although obviously depends on the sort of sums we are talking about!
It's a fine line crappy car are they no good. Nice car are they ripping you off. A plumber turned up for his cheque in a Porsche once, I didn't use him again.
I did say up to. It also depends on whether it's actively or passively managed & regularly reviewed and also if it's a portfolio or just one product. 0.8% & 0.4% seems very low athough it will of course depend on the number of zeros you have. Lend us a couple of quid https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/personal-finance/savings-investing/cost-of-advice
Yes I quite agree, I know of owner/tradesmen who drive round in an old van to give quotes, but have their nice vehicle at home!
Not out of the ordinary. It could be a lump from one policy in lieu of managing others where no fee is taken or in lieu of not taking an ongoing fee but still offering ongoing advice. Others may load it to cover initial works on other things for example. All depends on the service offered. Defined benefits scheme transfers require extra compliance and indemnity insurance for example which would typically cost a lot. As a general rule 1% of total for annual/biannual reviews and adhoc advice would be the max I'd pay.
nowadays would not touch them unless you are talking about 7 figures, use up all isa allowance, max out on premium bonds and invest in bonds, use a platform called raisin, and maybe for some long long long term gold bars, would not touch ftse or property for at least 3 years.
Excuse me for my naive question this isn’t my area of professional expertise . I always assumed they would be paid on a percentage of profit they make me ? I’m not sure if I like the idea of paying them a percentage of my capital with no incentive to create profit .
Nope , don’t even have a pension . Just a stash of profits sitting in my Ltd company that I would like to get working for me before I take voluntary bankruptcy in 10 years and close company .
I’m afraid they take a percentage annually as they are meant to be managing your money, even if your funds go down, however investing should be seen as long term, therefore you need to measure the performance of what they put your money into against other investments, you should be able to find this info on the internet. If everything is up and your portfolio isn’t then it could be time for a change.
The only advice I can give is don't take any direct advice given here. What works for one person will not neccesarilly fit for another. Advice needs to be tuned to personal circumstances. There's a reason why IFAs have to have a professional qualification which needs to be maintained, are heavily regulated, subject to regular compliance reviews and require indemnity insurance. They are expensive but good ones are worth it. Moneysavingexpert.com is a good place for general advice.
An IFA is employed to accuratutely gauge a person's circumstances, their attitude to risk and then recommend a savings, insurance and investment strategy that fits that person. They are not going to offer those services free of charge or at a loss by taking investment risk. It would not be in the client's best interest to have their advice coloured by potential gains the IFA could make. It's why commission was stopped and makes the I in IFA actually mean independent. That being said, a small ongoing percentage fee does offer an adviser an incentive to ensure a portfolio value grows.
I can’t believe that any IFA wouldn’t say the first priority would be to use tax tax allowances first and maximising pension contributions and ISA allowances. Where that money is invested comes down to the level of risk your prepared to take, but there is loads of information around about fund performance / levels of risk. I don’t agree with many financial advisors who say you should see investing in the stock market as a 5-7 yr investment, with current volatility I would say nearer 10 yrs
In the last few (recent) years we have had 1987 Black Monday crash 1992 Japanese Asset Burst 1997 Asia Financial Crash 2000 Dot Com Bubble 2007 Subprime Mortgage Crisis 2020 Covid Crash 2022 Ukraine War These greatly affect the stock market and investments in general, therefore investing is not for the feint hearted, and the reason as to why people use IFA's and think long term! short term investing is putting money into crypto currencies or shorter with the bookies!
Technically investing in a pension is likely to be the most cost effective from a tax point of view for most people, but it also locks the money away until at least 57 years old (55 for some older folks on here). Basic or nil rate taxpayers who may want early access to their funds or maybe don't have any dependents, investing in an ISA would possibly be the priority. Also paying off debts early (being mindful of early repayment penalties) to reduce interest payments could also more worthwhile. There is no current vehicle without any risk, that can offer anything like current cost of living rises. Not investing and just keeping your cash in the bank is guaranteed to lose you money in real terms. Agreed in part. In every mature case the market has in the longer term recovered and outperformed deposits (assuming a balanced diverse portfolio). Investing is for the longer term. If you need short term access to the cash then you could need it in a period when the market is down and lose out. Investing should be done according to personal financial circumstances. Crypto is incredibly high risk with potential for an high reward or the very likely chance of losing the lot. It's something I have dabbled with with spare cash but walked away from with a modest profit. For my circumstances I feel that now, too much time is required to learn and understand the market to mitigate the risk, for me. People with spare funds should have a mix of readily available cash, short term investments and longer term investments. The ratios of these amounts and risk/reward levels should vary according to personal financial and life circumstances. There's no one size fits all strategy and that's why specific advice can't be given without a thorough analysis.
Totally agree, don't take any advice from people on any forum, everyone's situation is different, where they are in life, assets, liabilities, and asperations we are all unique!
Just a quick update. My Financial Advisor has waived the 4.5% but we have an early withdrawal fee if we take money out within the first six years. We have no plan to do this. She works with St James Place (review here https://www.nutsaboutmoney.com/reviews/st-jamess-place ) We have decided to go with her with pensions to start with as both have pensions since our 20's. I've reviewed as much as possible that she told us but in the end it is a matter of trust but St James do seem to be very highly thought of so fingers crossed!
Good luck! will be interesting to look back in a few years time and see how you have done compared to other savvy members.
