Trusted financial advice is in high demand in these uncertain times, and there’s little wonder as to why. Covid-19 has affected every aspect of our lives, particularly our financial stability. The crisis has acted as a stress test for the nation’s finances, highlighting the fragility of many people’s financial safety nets.
The pandemic has prompted a growing proportion of people to seek advice. A recent study1 of savers and investors has found that one in 25 people have recently sought advice for the first time ever.
The need for financial advice most often comes as the result of a life event, rather than hitting a financial milestone. Common reasons for seeking advice include a desire for a financial health check, a change in family circumstances like marriage or a decision to invest for a child or grandchild.
Measuring value
Successful financial planning involves a regular review of your circumstances and adapting your planning to ensure suitability over the long-term. Over the years, research has produced some interesting findings that highlight the benefit of taking advice when making financial decisions.
One study2 found that individuals who receive financial advice were likely, on average, to receive 4.4% more per annum in net returns. This was through a combination of financial planning, tax advice, preventing behavioural mistakes and rebalancing portfolios.
Is now the right time for financial advice?
If it has been many years since your financial strategy was laid out, you may or may not be on track to reach your financial goals – a professional financial adviser can help you to determine this, and recommend the changes to your financial planning which may improve your financial outlook.
If you’re a middle-to-high earner in your 40s or 50s, you probably have an eclectic mix of financial products collected over the course of your working life. It may have been many years since you set your initial financial strategy, and over the interim you may have increased your yearly salary.
Your circumstances may have likewise changed through inheritance, you may have a larger disposable income or have completed your mortgage repayments.
For these reasons, levels set many years earlier on contributions to pensions, savings and investments should be revisited.
Your personal life may have changed too: your children may have left home or you may have married or re-married. If this is the case, and you now have a partner or spouse who was not included in financial planning before, you may benefit from seeking professional financial advice at this time.
Taking a fresh look at your financial strategy and seeking expert advice on how to optimise your planning can help you to achieve a sense of peace of mind, and help to make your savings and investments more resilient in the face of unpredictable market conditions.
Christian J Pepper, the Financial Options Group’s founder and CEO, comments: “The current crisis has placed an enormous stress test on the financial health and wellbeing of individuals and families, and many are finding their finances are not as resilient as they believed.
“The pandemic has shown us all that we never really know what’s around the corner, which is why it’s vital to be financially prepared, in order to weather the changes and to be ready, no matter what lies ahead.”
At the Financial Options Group, our advisers leverage their extensive experience and knowledge to build an effective financial strategy designed around your individual needs and goals, and help you to put your planning into action – this could mean tracking down and consolidating your pensions, managing your investments, helping you to plan your legacy, organising insurance or providing mortgage advice.
If you’d like help planning for life’s important milestones or feel that you could benefit from an assessment of your current circumstances and would like help devising an individual plan for your financial future then please get in touch, we’re here to help.
For more information, contact the Financial Options Group team on 0161 764 9944 or email contact@financialopts.co.uk.
1Aegon, 2020 2Russell Investments, 2019
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