Financial advice

[Notthefoggiest]

Starting to think through the process
Financial practicalities - what kind of professional do I need to speak to to discuss the financial benefits/disadvantages of keeping more equity vs more pension? A financial advisor?

A solicitor would usually be your first port of call.

Re pension, they often employ a company that can value the pension to provide a split.

The solicitor seems able to advise what is reasonable to ask for, but there aren't loads of assets, I need someone to advise whether financially long term its better for me to have more equity in the house or a larger share of the pension.

You probably need a mixture of both.

You are about to embark on a new phase of your life. That needs a new life plan. Which for most people boils down to a few things.

1. your immediate housing needs and how you can achieve that
2. your immediate income needs and how you will achieve that
3. planning for your old age.
4. lifestyle and well being (shouldn’t be overlooked)

The fact that you are asking the question means you realise that these are conflicting priorities and a balance needs to be struck.

Like a lot of people I took a huge hit financially in divorce. I decided to take the hit on housing, renting for a bit before buying a smaller property. I will have a mortgage all my working life rather than having it paid off by now. I managed to get my career going, nothing spectacular but enough to pay the bills and live well. I always kept my pension provision on track and I didn’t have the big holiday and expensive or any cars because of that. As I approach retirement I’m glad I made those choose

If you take equity over pension, you will have to put a lot into building your pension for retirement. That means well paid job and saving and sacrificing.

@LemonTT thank you for the considered response. My earning power currently isn't all that high, and our house is not particularly extravagant, so even downsizing or renting will be a stretch. I should be a le to build up a reasonable pension if I stay where I am (civil service) but ive not been here long and due to many house moves while we were married I dont currently have much in the way of pension. I just need to find the right kind of professional to advise me of the pros and cons of different options.

Disagree with starting with solicitor as per previous poster

go to ADVICE NOW guides on link at top,of board. That’ll take you through process and rules/law on “ fair settlement”
once you understand how “ fair settlement “ will effect you and legal declaration are made, you’ll have a better idea of what you’ll be likely to end up with
YOU WILL BE POORER - so will your spouse.

you don’t need a solicitor at this stage to tell you this, explain “ fair settlement “ or tell you how it applies to your circumstances- it ain’t actually that difficult and will cost you £3.33 plus per minute you’re giving them the privilege of explaining simple stuff to you

only once you really understand how fair settlement works and when you’ve got a realistic measure of it, can you go to an independent financial advisor and ask for advice,if you search on line you’ll find the professionals body. Ensure you don’t go to someone who takes commission as they’re not impartial.

to be honest though, I don’t see point talking to financial advisor just yet. Once you’ve read up on “ fair settlement “:and have figured what you’re likely to get and how assets are calculated and declared, you need to BOTH complete your legal financial declaration on form E/ D81. That includes pension valuations, houses, savings and chattels. All of it. Until you’ve both done that and exchanged info, you should not agree to anything- it’s silly to start negotiating without that first, and a risk to “ bank” on what you’ll be getting. Remember you’ll have to pay the IFA at this stage, when you aren’t yet sure you’ve agreed to anything or have all information legally declared - it’s still hypothetical right now

once you know numbers as per your high level agreement post negotiations , sure getting a IFA IS a very good shout to advise what assets to liquidate to get to that number, or impacts of pension sharing orders on future pensions. That’ll be money well spent at that stage.

A good financial planner (not a financial advisor) will be able to talk this through with you.

I ended up better off after divorce as I never had any control over money or assets when I was married.