Falmouth Packet Business Sept ’17 – Value of financial advice
Value of financial Advice – £40,000 better off
Now that the holiday season is drawing to an end, maybe it’s time to reflect upon recent research undertaken by the International Longevity Centre-UK www.ilcuk.org.uk with the support of Royal London which highlights the benefit of taking financial advice.
The report demonstrates the very real value of financial advice to the consumer, with those taking advice being likely to accumulate more liquid financial assets and pension wealth supported by increased savings and investing in equity assets, while those in retirement are likely to have more income particularly at older ages.
The research revealed that even those consumers who are just getting by can be more than £40,000 better off if they receive advice over the research period 2001 to 2007 by 2012 – 2014 than those individuals who did not take advice over the same period. In reality this research underestimates the actual long term benefit of financial advice as it focussed on relatively short term periods; the potential gain over a customer’s working life being many times greater than the £40,000 highlighted in the report.
It has been quoted in the Financial Adviser that the potential benefit of financial advice over a working lifetime is at least £120,000 which with compound interest is likely to be in the order of £250,000.
Despite the advantages of receiving advice, only 16.8% of people saw an adviser in the years 2012-2014. Indeed, the report finds that even amongst those who took out an investment product in the last few years, around 40% didn’t take advice, rising to 78% of people who took out a personal pension.
Maybe now is the time to seek independent financial advice – don’t delay until the New Year as it may just reduce your long term wealth.
This article does not provide individual financial advice and are the views of the columnist only. Vision Independent Financial Planning Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Sarah Williams of W.T Independent Financial Planning is an Appointed Representative of Vision Independent Financial Planning Ltd.
Publication September 2017