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).
For men, this was followed by ‘wealth and inheritance planning’ (38%), while for women, it was followed by ‘finding a mortgage’ (34%).
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.
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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.
You can also use a site like unbiased.com that can connect you to over 27,000 FCA-regulated and qualified professionals. Check out our review of unbiased.com to see its pros and cons and whether it could be right for you in terms of finding an appropriate financial adviser.
The post Brits’ most common reasons for seeking financial advice revealed appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.
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