big bad lindz Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 With the changes to the pensions I have got myself into a bit of a pickle looking at my pension options and it looks like I need to take some advice. Any idea what the costs of taking professional advice may be. Cheers, BBL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmydean Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 I have just done the same. Management 'fee' for looking after scheme - £1200 annually, confirming value after I've done it - £250. Formalising a withdrawal proposal - £250. Money for no rope - I hope yours is cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenshooter Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 There is indeed an excellent IFA on this site...... I've had one meeting with him and I learned and was helped more in the one hour with him, than 4 or 5 expensive hours with my previous IFA, at a fraction of the cost and totally transparent. Quick response as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentos Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Hey, Drop me a pm and I can understand what you need to know and want to know, they are often different, if I can help without advice as a favour I will, if it heads into the realms of financial jiggery pockery I will tell you and before it gets to far we work out if can work together or not. Some of us are not the second cousins of estate agents twice removed that we sometimes seem to portray. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 A good IFA wont cost you a penny, they will be reimbursed by commission from your provider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenshooter Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) Hey, Drop me a pm and I can understand what you need to know and want to know, they are often different, if I can help without advice as a favour I will, if it heads into the realms of financial jiggery pockery I will tell you and before it gets to far we work out if can work together or not. Some of us are not the second cousins of estate agents twice removed that we sometimes seem to portray. Ben I should have said that the guy I was speaking about 2 post up, is indeed this guy! Bentos, top man. And does what he says. Edited April 14, 2015 by Glenshooter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentos Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 The problem is that commission is what kills us as an industry. Who pays the commissions to me, the provider from their profits or you from your investment. I assure a good ifa will cost you money, but a good one will tell you what that cost is and agree it before doing any work. They will also tell you what you can expect from their work and how to cancel any contracts if you do not feel you are being looked after properly. Please forgive me for the passion, but commission kills us as an industry it is opaque and in the main used to hide the fees we earn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman Mike Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) The problem is that commission is what kills us as an industry. Who pays the commissions to me, the provider from their profits or you from your investment. I assure a good ifa will cost you money, but a good one will tell you what that cost is and agree it before doing any work. They will also tell you what you can expect from their work and how to cancel any contracts if you do not feel you are being looked after properly. Please forgive me for the passion, but commission kills us as an industry it is opaque and in the main used to hide the fees we earn. Understand what your saying and admire your passion..but ive used the same two IFA's for almost 20 years and never directly paid them a penny. They have always had access to products at favourable terms that I could never get near.Without commission from their dealings with providors they would have gone out of business years ago....each to his own Edited April 14, 2015 by Fisherman Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAYBURN Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 This may help http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/discount-pensions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) My financial adviser has never charged me a penny up front and he is very well qualified, literally one of the best in the profession. He takes his cut on the profits but he is not greedy, he is in it for the long haul. He's currently making me 6.5% for which he gets 1%, thats fair. Never pay up front for advice, anyone who wants money up front is a chancer. If the advice is good it will generate income year on year for the adviser naturally. Many IFAs are ex insurance salesmen who got made redundant because they were rubbish anyway. Its a seedy business actually, its not as well regulated as you think it should be Edited April 15, 2015 by Vince Green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsonicnat Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Just to put you all Straight: The Thieving *** that did mine while I was Ill. Duped me Twice @ about £4000 a Time. Written into our Pension Scheme unbeknown to us all, They had written "if The company gets into trouble they can use it".. I try to warn everyone that will listen,, "The Vultures out there are gathering even Now... They are all looking how to get their thieving hooks into these big Pots that will be about in 30/40 Years time. BE WARNED... Anyone asking to give you something extra on your pot, "Tell them to Go To HELL" . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pothunter Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 The problem is that commission is what kills us as an industry. Who pays the commissions to me, the provider from their profits or you from your investment. I assure a good ifa will cost you money, but a good one will tell you what that cost is and agree it before doing any work. They will also tell you what you can expect from their work and how to cancel any contracts if you do not feel you are being looked after properly. Please forgive me for the passion, but commission kills us as an industry it is opaque and in the main used to hide the fees we earn. Completely agree with this. You should pay for impartial advice in YOUR interest. And you should know what you're getting. Once you're into commission, the IFA is not just acting in your interest, he's also at least partially acting in his. It's a scandalous rip off which should be banned by law. OP - whatever you do, pay up front for INDEPENDENT financial advice. I'm afraid the vast majority of people paying commission to IFAs are being ripped off, though the vast majority of them don't realise it. (Indeed most of them have no real understanding of the often staggering scale of the commission they're paying, often for decades). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I would recommend paying for advice from an IFA rather than them getting the commission. That way you have more assurance that they are operating I'm your interests rather than recommending the product that generates the most commission. Remember also that if you pay for advice then you will get the commission not the iFA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 My IFA charges a 1% commission on everything so there is no conflict of interest in what he recommends and he gives you a letter stating what he gets, i believe he has to by law. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I agree with Pothunter and AVB, paying a genuine independent advisor for their services directly and not through commission is the best approach. Understand and agree what the fees are and what you get for that fee before signing up with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I don't know a lot about it all but paying an IFA with commisoin does have it downsides, if u have a decent honest advisor it really won't make a difference thou. Quite a few years ago i got advice of a lady very well recommended locally usually had a waiting list and had a great reputation, my folks recently changed to her and were very happy. Long story short she was in process of selling her business and was just wanting as many clients/business as possible to make it look better.for selling I didn't have a lot of different investements but she moved everything (so she then gets intail commision+ early commisoin). When i moved to the fella i'm with now he really couldnae believe some of the schemes i was in. He moved some but to be fair to him he said some of the other schemes weren't worth moving and would come right in time but should never have been in them. she was obvousily just going for the best commisoin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenshooter Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Quite a few years ago i got advice of a lady very well recommended locally usually had a waiting list and had a great reputation, my folks recently changed to her and were very happy. Long story short she was in process of selling her business and was just wanting as many clients/business as possible to make it look better.for selling I didn't have a lot of different investments but she moved everything (so she then gets initial commission in early commission).......... she was obviously just going for the best commission That's exactly what was about to happen to me. I felt uncomfortable with what she was doing and getting glib answers re transferring funds which would have given her £12k with no obvious advantage to me. That's why I asked if there were any IFAs on here, (logic being the shooters are more trustworthy than non shooters on average (!!!) and certainly more interesting), and had a email discussion with Bentos followed by a meeting with him. He is everything that that other IFAs that I've met and worked with have not been. Straight speaking but friendly, open and transparent with absolutely no pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big bad lindz Posted April 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 Hey, Drop me a pm and I can understand what you need to know and want to know, they are often different, if I can help without advice as a favour I will, if it heads into the realms of financial jiggery pockery I will tell you and before it gets to far we work out if can work together or not. Some of us are not the second cousins of estate agents twice removed that we sometimes seem to portray. Ben Cheers Ben, I will drop you a PM when I get my head around what I want to ask, its more to do with what I can and cant do and how if I make any changes will it affect my tax relief for my other plans. And cheers for all the other comments. BBL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougall Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 Completely agree with this. You should pay for impartial advice in YOUR interest. And you should know what you're getting. Once you're into commission, the IFA is not just acting in your interest, he's also at least partially acting in his. It's a scandalous rip off which should be banned by law. OP - whatever you do, pay up front for INDEPENDENT financial advice. I'm afraid the vast majority of people paying commission to IFAs are being ripped off, though the vast majority of them don't realise it. (Indeed most of them have no real understanding of the often staggering scale of the commission they're paying, often for decades). er it is banned!! commission ended for IFAs 2 years ago.All IFAs now are fee based....so all these commission references must be pre-RDR(retail distribution review) which ceased commission.Be wary that an Advisor is a truly independent financial advisor ..they must issue you a terms of engagement and explanation of their services and charges prior to giving advice.You can check any advisor against the FCA website if in any doubt about their credentials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougall Posted April 16, 2015 Report Share Posted April 16, 2015 A good IFA wont cost you a penny, they will be reimbursed by commission from your provider. no longer correct sir.If your provider is paying 1% per annum it is because you have agreed that that is paid as 'Client agreed remuneration' which is a fee.confusing hey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big bad lindz Posted April 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 There is indeed an excellent IFA on this site...... I've had one meeting with him and I learned and was helped more in the one hour with him, than 4 or 5 expensive hours with my previous IFA, at a fraction of the cost and totally transparent. Quick response as well. Many thanks for this Glenshooter. I have been in contact with Bentos via a PM and he has been very helpfull. The new pension rules are a bit of a minefield and the information given is sometimes not very clear for the layman. If I had done what I was thinking about doing ie cashing in some pension plans that I am no longer contributing to, I would have been penalised with the ammount I can continue to contribuite to my current works & my own pension plans. So many thanks also to Bentos for clearing the matter up for me. The power of PW !! BBL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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