Are financial advisors just for rich people?

[tinkertailorsoildersailor]

I earn roughly £52 k and am the sole family breadwinner. I was thinking about getting some financial advice - but is it just for 'rich' people? I know I'm not poor, but not a millionaire either (yet ;) I'm after advise about mortgages and saving for an early retirement... would this be feasible? I don't have that much left at the end of the month - but would a financial advisor be able to help, or are they more for people swishing around in cash?

We had one once (circa early 00's,) because we were struggling with our finances.

His advice, after he had looked at all our income and expenditure ...

'You need more income.'

The cheeky fucker then charged us £40 for the session.

Oh and NO we weren't rich. Still aren't.

Could you ask your bank for a helper or adviser???

I earn similar and have seen a financial advisor a couple of times. My employer use one for pension advice etc, and I arranged the meetings through them - it was very useful for understanding pension funds and the basics of investing in shares and the like.

If you've got a pension and you fill up your ISA allowance every year, and still have money to put away, it's worth seeing a financial adviser. If you haven't/don't do those two things, that's all the advice they'll give you so you may as well save their fee and just do that.

We used one for the mortgage - was fantastic and took away so much of the stress.

We used a financial advisor when we got our mortgage he saved us a fortune. Not rich, just a standard 3 bed semi. I think getting advice for those things would be really beneficial

We went to a financial advisor to set up our mortgage, and DH earns a lot less than you. Once we’ve saved a bit more we might go back and see them to know what is our best options for our savings.

Ok great thank you - how do you go about 'finding' one? I guess I could see if my employer has one.....

My OH (teacher) was offered one through work (nominally regarding pensions I think) but he guided us through our first house purchase. We then met with another guy from the same company later who confirmed our finances were generally Ok. This was all free I guess because of theoretical commission...

You need to find an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) as they will give you unbiased advice.

Go to a Skipton Building Society. DH went. They're not tied to one company's products and you can get initial advice for free.

A starting point would be to visit www.unbiased.co.uk and search for an independent financial adviser in your area.

Definitely for everyone. Check out the stats in this article - even the "just getting by" can benefit.

Another thing you could do that may help a lot and not cost anything is look at the moneysavingexpert website. Go through the budgeting sections to check that you truely are maximising your income and minimising your outgoings. Make sure you join your company pension scheme if there is one.

Then make sure you are saving cash, premium bonds and maybe into a low rate tracker if your retirement is a way off. Read the guides about mortgages, pensions and saving.

You probably don't need to pay for more advice than that until you've a good chunk saved away and are starting to look at investing.

Then if you do decide you still need to see an IFA, you will probably be more informed if nothing else.

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no but i think it helps if you need to switch mortgages etc as they work on commission

A decent independent financial adviser can save you literally thousands on your mortgage. They can minimise tax, advise on investments and help maximise savings for children etc. You certainly don’t have to be rich. The children buying houses recently all spoke with a chap near here who sorted really good deals for them. They aren’t rich (couple on joint 94K and singleton on about 46K).

Dh & I earn 60k between us. Our financial advisor helped sort our mortgage, set upISA's & invests in a SIP (pension) he also set up insurance when dh was self employed.

DH is an IFA and works mainly with people with normal salaries, normal level of savings etc. Have a look on Unbiased (as Total said above) or Vouchedfor for IFAs in your area and you'll be able to see their client reviews.

Crumbs -94k not rich!?

We used one for our mortgage when we were struggling and it saved us thousands.

Well, you could get an ifa. Another option would be to read up a bit yourself. I suspect we aren’t talking about anything too fancy here - Just topping up your pension, choosing the best mortgage deal and getting things like life insurance?

jojo it's a bit more complicated - it's regarding buying a second (tiny) house as a work base - and whether I can afford it, or whether it's going to be too much of a strain.... but also some of the other stuff you mention!

Doodly, that's good to know!

I earn similar, and I wouldn't, plenty of information available for free online for the types of stuff I'll be doing with my money.

I am a financial adviser and have clients that have very little money and clients who have lots so no you do not need to be rich. Be careful with unbiased , lots of advisers do not use it because of the high costs of advertising. All my work comes via recommendation from existing clients, family and friends. If you ask around you may have someone you know recommend their adviser opposed to selected one over the internet. Hope this helps.

First question is really whether your financial affairs are flexible. Yes, an IFA can act as a mortgage broker to get a better deal, but if you're already on a fixed deal with early redemption penalties, you're not in a position to change it yet anyway. Likewise if you are living hand to mouth and have no spare cash at all and no savings, then there's no point in getting an IFA as you're not in a position to move savings, invest in ISA's, open a pension, etc. It's not about your current income, it's whether you're in any position to change things - that hold true whether your income is £25k, £50k or £100k.