Anyone extremely happy with their IFA?

[malandri]

Hello all,

I have been going through a looong exercise lately in order to decide on my pension plan. I have spoken to a few IFAs (some of them from reputable firms) but i can not say i have found anyone yet that impressed me. Maybe it is just me of course...

The best one so far put me off a bit with his behaviour when he realised that i would shop around first and that i wouldn't take his opinion/offer immediately.


The guy i talked with today, for the second time, was promising and very qualified, working for a well known firm. However, half of the numbers in the illustration document he had prepared for me were wrong, plus at the end he tried to make me sign a document to pay for the work he had done so far for me, even if in his keyfacts doc it is mentioned that if he wants money, he needs to let me know about it before the meeting starts.

My current IFA (from whom i bought my PHI and life insurance) haven't bothered replying to my emails for 3 weeks now, so no more businesss for him from my side!

I could have gone for a plan online myself, i decided though that i would rather get some advice and maybe pay a bit more as it should worth it long term

So, if you are very happy with your IFA at the moment , could you please give me his coordinates? You could send me a private message if you do not want to post it in public

Many thanks

[the guy with the bowtie]

I have had similar experiences. However, it shouldn't be too surprising for us as IFAs are not in the business out of the goodness of their heart - they do need to make a living.

I took upon researching the whole business myself and I was glad I did as it de-mystified the whole shooting match.

A good site I would recommend is Motley Fool www.fool.co.uk. It is independent and gives good no nonsense advice presented in plain english.

[tim123]

I took upon researching the whole business myself and I was glad I did as it de-mystified the whole shooting match.

I don't understand what it is that's supposed to be so complicated about pensions.

You put money aside every week and when you retire they pay it back to
you.

Why is this complicated. Why does it need a 100K pa man to sell it to you?

tim

[threaded]

I don't understand what it is that's supposed to be so complicated about pensions.

You put money aside every week and when you retire they pay it back to
you.

Why is this complicated. Why does it need a 100K pa man to sell it to you?

tim

It is complicated because the government have made it that way.

Part of the price is the people allowed to sell you pensions have to jump through a lot of qualification hoops and then the most difficult part is they have to be honest and able to sell, an extremely rare combination.

[Hex]

I would recommend the Motley Fool website as well. Their bulletin boards in particular can be extremely helpful and they tend to be kind to new posters.

[tim123]

It is complicated because the government have made it that way.

Part of the price is the people allowed to sell you pensions have to jump through a lot of qualification hoops and then the most difficult part is they have to be honest and able to sell, an extremely rare combination.

Yes I know. But they shouldn't need to be sold, they should be bought willingly. And then, having decided that I want a pension I should be allowed to choose it for myself, fill in the forms and not have to pay a man 5K to do this for me. If people want to pay 5k to have someone explain it to them, then they can do so, but it shouldn't be compulsory.

I am not prepared to buy (another) pension because they don't represent good vfm once the unnecessarily qualified salesperson has taken his slice. Put that money back into MY pension and I might be prepared to buy one

tim

[threaded]

Yes, but the government says you have to.

[malandri]

I am not prepared to buy (another) pension because they don't represent good vfm once the unnecessarily qualified salesperson has taken his slice. Put that money back into MY pension and I might be prepared to buy one

tim

This is something i am thinking of as well. However, expert advice can be beneficial longterm, as long as it is indeed expert advice of course. Are you confident that you know, or can tell, what are the best funds around? I am not. My problem is that i am not sure that the IFA REALLY knows better either! I mean, for my mortgage, i got myself a beter deal from what many IFAs suggested. Pension and choosing funds is much more complicated though so i do not think i can decide myself.

[freshblue]

I use the ContractorMoney guys and they know their stuff. Great service and no bs.