Do we need a financial advisor or are the amounts involved too small?

[iknowitsthePittsbutiloveit]

I retired a few years ago NHS pension lump sum and savings in premium bonds one S and S ISA one cash ISA some random savings
husband due to retire this year. He has been a high earner but very cavalier ( in my opinion) with money. Has given a lot away to various causes etc . It’s happened now so he already gets a pension of 37k PA gross he took a lump sum and paid off our mortgage.
he has a pension which is a lump sum in a savings account approximately 200k
he also has another pension which he can take a higher or lower amount depending on what lump sum he takes
he has some savings not much which is in ISAs
we also have a rental property which we intend to sell in the next tax year approximately 180k after taxes.
shoukd we be getting advice? I think yes he thinks no but I think he’s kidding himself about his knowledge.
who would be the best type of advisor- guess it should include inheritance tax stuff as well.
roughly what would we expect to pay?
very aware we are vulnerable as we are not financially literate . Just a point in the right direction would be good

Have made a pensionswise appointment in the meanwhile.

Tbh I would probably start with reading on money saving expert or look up specific episodes on itv. i also find Google Gemini is quite helpful at walking thru questions as a starting point (though isn’t 100% accurate, I mean as a pointer)
a financial advisor would probably add some value but you and DH probably first need to figure out why/how

As I realised, advice should be taken many years before retirement, but yes, there is a lot going on there and the choices he / you make now can make the difference of £1000s.

Do you talk / plan together about finances?

Yes it’s all a bit late in the day but I think there’s a lot of tax implications which I don’t understand. We have had a division of responsibility over the years and as he earned a lot more than me I really let him get on with it. Obviously that was very stupid of me. Not that he’s done anything bad but I think he’s acted like we are a lot better off than we actually are. So I regret not being a lot more hands on but that’s water under the bridge now.
yes everything is now clear but I think there’s a need to maximise what we have he thinks he knows everything already!!

I think a one off appointment with a tax advisor would be a good idea rather than a general financial advisor.

Sounds like everything is pretty much taken care of plenty of pension income, savings in ISAs just make sure the rates are as high as possible. PBs a bit of fun if you were short of cash income I would say put it in as high a rate savings as possible but you're not. When you sell the other house I would spread that money between several building society high interest rate accounts, if you think you need more income go for monthly income payments and don't exceed the protected amount in each account.

Inheritance planning go to a specialist assuming it isn't a simple equal share for all children type of thing, which any solicitor could do, or even a free will writing service.

You will both get a state pension too at some point I assume, which will be a nice bonus.

You can both keep putting £20k into ISAs a year to reduce tax burden.

A good independent financial adviser is worth their fee. They often have access to products that you don't see on the high street and can offer insights that you might not even have thought of.
The " good" and " independent" bits are key though. An adviser attached to a bank or other financial institution will only recommend their own products. I would also suggest going for a personal recommendation from someone you know who is retired and has had a good experience with an adviser

In this case I think an IFA is a good idea at least for an initial consultation. Before you go, you need to be able to provide details of all your investments and income streams, also the details of all your outgoings and to establish your aspirations. Do you want to take multiple long haul holidays, have a new car every year, financially help children etc. You can do a lot yourself, but it is helpful to hear the opinions of somebody else, who may suggest investment strategies more suited to your circumstances. A bit like accountants, a good IFA will save you more than he costs.

It's not clear exactly what it is that you need advice about. When you say "I think there's a need to maximise what we have" what do you mean by that? Are you looking to use your assets to generate more income in retirement? Or to grow a legacy to leave on death? Until you work out what your needs and objectives are then it's tricky to know which direction to point you in.

And to answer your original question - no, these amounts are not at all too small to warrant seeking professional financial advice. Added together there is a lot of wealth there and a lot of opportunity to make the most of it for a secure retirement for you both.

You say "amounts too small" but it doesn't sound like that!

We have recently been asking ourselves the same question - for us, it was more a question of "can we retire within the next couple of years, and how do we maximise our pension returns and fill the gap until we are 67?". We both have a variety of pension plans and vague plans to downsize/pay off the mortgage, but didn't know where to start. @

A friend recommended an excellent IFA, and he's doing a fixed fee exercise for us, crunching all our numbers, taking account of all our wishes/expenditure/income/lifestyle and putting together a retirement plan. Once we have this, we can take it further, and involve him more in the management of funds (which is chargeable), or just walk away and apply what we've learnt. Not sure which way we will go yet, but so far his input has been invaluable.

One thing we have established is that we should have done this sooner!

Oh Thankyou. Yes I think we have a to plan what we want to do . Mainly travel while we are able to. Try to leave something to our kids. I’d like to downsize he doesn’t want to. As well I suppose if he does first that would impact me a lot in pension stuff I think
yes far too late but here we are and luckily we are as far as we know fit and well so that’s the most important thing!!
Obviously there always the possibility of care costs.
i think I’ll try and persuade my busy to see a FA thanks for your help