According to a new study by Canada Life, ‘retirement or pension planning’ is the most common reason for seeking financial advice among both men and women in the UK. The study also revealed some of the other financial issues that people often seek advice on, as well as where people usually seek advice.
Here’s a breakdown of the survey’s findings and a look at whether getting financial advice is actually worth it.
[top_pitch]
Why do Brits seek financial advice?
Canada Life surveyed 3,000 people with one of the survey’s key goals being to find out the main financial issues for which people usually seek advice.
The survey showed that among those with a financial adviser, the most common response for both men and women was ‘retirement or pension planning’, at 50% and 42%, respectively.
‘Tax planning’ and ‘finding investments’ tied in second place for both genders (47% for men and 35% for women).
Here is a comprehensive list of the most common financial issues that men and women seek advice on.
|
Q. What do you use your financial adviser for? |
Women |
Men |
|
Retirement or pension planning |
42% |
50% |
|
Wealth and inheritance planning |
27% |
38% |
|
Finding investments |
35% |
47% |
|
Finding a mortgage |
34% |
25% |
|
Achieving specific financial goals |
27% |
37% |
|
Tax planning |
35% |
47% |
|
Life coaching/planning |
15% |
16% |
|
Finding life insurance, critical illness or income protection products |
25% |
25% |
|
Later-life and care planning |
20% |
19% |
|
Other |
1% |
1% |
What else did the study reveal?
Canada Life also investigated where people seek financial advice.
They found that women will mostly go to their families for financial advice (42%). Other sources of advice that members of this gender turn to are money advice websites (35%), financial advisers (27%), friends and colleagues (23%), and government websites or helplines (20%).
Men, on the other hand, prefer getting their advice from money advice websites (35%) and financial advisers (30%). Only 27% reported seeking financial advice from family.
[middle_pitch]
Is pension or retirement planning advice worth it?
Pension planning can be complicated. There are often many issues to address and decisions to make. For example, how much money do you need to put aside for retirement? Which is the best way to save money for retirement? At what age can you comfortably retire?
Basically, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. That’s precisely what happens to many people who then end up adopting a ‘hands-off’ approach to their pension. Unfortunately, this often results in them retiring with insufficient savings.
A report by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) actually found that British over-50s are currently approaching retirement with a pension shortfall of almost £250,000.
The main reason for this huge deficit is the adoption of a hands-off approach by many people to their pensions and a huge gap in knowledge and understanding of pensions and savings.
This is why it might be worth getting financial advice on retirement planning if possible.
A financial adviser can help you assess your current financial situation as well as your future goals. They can then help you develop a suitable pension savings plan to ensure a comfortable retirement.
Studies actually reveal that people who get professional financial advice tend to be more confident and prepared for retirement.
For example, the study by SMF showed that almost half of those who get professional advice have a reasonably accurate picture of the amount of pension savings they will need.
Meanwhile, another study by LV revealed that 65% of those who get financial advice have confidence that they will have saved enough for retirement.
Where can you get a good financial adviser?
One great resource is the Retirement Directory Advisory on the Money Helper website.
