Why do you NEED a financial adviser?

kevin Probert Wealth Management

Why do you need a financial adviser?

I start this blog with a massively biased opinion, I obviously think nearly everyone should have a financial adviser in some way shape or form.

I will show you why you need a financial adviser even if you think you didn’t before you read this blog. Where you take that financial advice from is up to you.

As an introduction, I am a chartered financial adviser and specialise in advising business owners and private clients on retirement planning.

I work within a partner practice of St James’s Place, who are a award winning FTSE 100 company and the largest wealth management firm in the UK.

Our practice is call Kevin Probert Wealth Management who have been established for over 20 years.

I have been in the financial services industry for 10 years now, starting in stockbroking then moving over to financial advising 3 years ago.

Back to the topic, why do you need a financial adviser?

Under 35s

A wise man once told me ‘you build your career in your 20’s and you earn your money in your 30s’.

At this time of life money is always tight for the majority of people.

You will just be starting your career, earning a salary that reflects your inexperience.

You may just be married and planning to start a family, then that has the drain on your cash through holidays and extortionate nursery fees!

Toward the end of this time things start to loosen up and you can breath a little easier.

So where does a financial adviser fit in to a time where money is so tight?

This is a time where you need someone to sense check your spending, project forward times where you will have disposable funds and what to do with them.

An adviser can help place you with the best mortgage deal, and as you build equity in your property help you on the journey to upgrading your home to the ‘dream home’.

Alongside that as your family grows thoughts on what happens if the worst happens is where a good adviser should have made you aware of the products available to you to ensure your family aren’t financial affected at a time of stress, such as unemployment or ill health.

To keep this blog as ‘real’ possible, this is not the time your financial adviser themselves will earn much money from you, but to help you plan for a prosperous future will mean your adviser will over the years have organic business to do with you and for you, for me this is a major area of my focus as I am going through all the above and coming out the other end.

Between 35-55

As you enter these years, your life choices start to bear fruit. If you have kids, they are in school and you may NOT be paying school fees for the pleasure.

If your married without children, you have had some promotions at work and disposable income is higher. If you have a business you may start going from the start up to the growth phase.

In general, through these years your beginning to think about retirement and investments to make sure your money is working for you.

There are many areas here where a financial adviser can help to maximise your annual ISA allowance, purchase the correct personal insurance policies to cover you and also if you’re a business owner with a growing business how do you maximise profit extraction from your business to pay the optimal amount of tax to HMRC.

Please note the word ‘optimal’ and not ‘lowest’, just in case the tax man is listening!

This time of your life forward planning your finances is important and if you took advice earlier in your life it will just be part of the plan.

If you have never taken financial advice, it is a time where you need a strong financial adviser who has belief in his/her ability to advice your family and to be able to question your decisions to make a realistic plan.

As a private client things are more straight forward from a financial advisers perspective.

For a business owner there are questions around succession planning and generally looking at making the most of your business to plan for the future which become more complex but therefore can make a huge difference to your business.

As an adviser this is the sweet spot when it comes to planning.

These are the years we touch the most and the times where we can make the difference to your future.

55+

The time of your life where your looking forward to more freedom.

During these years, children will have grown up and (hopefully) flown the nest, you may have grandchildren to give back at the end of the day when they get tired so you can have a full nights sleep and your just content with life.

This is the point where if you have taken financial advice earlier your life should be easy and you will have benefitted from the long term growth of your investments to sit back and reap the benefits.

If you have never taken financial advice, then it is a time where you may only just be understanding your position for retirement.

You may have only just started to think about planning to hand down your estate to the next generation.

It may also be a time where your health is declining and care planning is a discussion point.

Advice at this age is around sustainability of your investments into retirement to ensure they last the length of your retirement.

An adviser will also look at how those investments work for the next generation and if your wealth could affect generations rather than just your lifetime.

This time period is one where a financial adviser will have to ask the morbid questions around death and how you wish your estate to be divided.

Even if you don’t have anyone to leave your estate to you may have a charity you wish to nominate and we can help ensure your legacy is not forgotten.

So I hope you understand from the above that there WILL be something to gain from a conversation with a financial adviser.

Most advisers like myself offer free consultations with no obligation to take up any recommendations..

Financial advice is not as expensive as you think, and the simplest way to look at it is if you don’t think its worth it when you get the bill, just say ‘no thank you’!

You will have lost nothing but may be more informed about what you have, So what have you got to lose?!

Many thanks for reading my ramblings.

Harminder