Why over-50s so often need a wealth workout
Co-Founder Lee Goggin highlights the common financial goals and concerns spurring over-50s to seek professional advice through findaWEALTHMANAGER.com
The majority of findaWEALTHMANAGER.com’s users are over-50s – and for good reason. This is a crucial time in people’s financial lives as they grapple with retirement planning, selling businesses or properties and helping family while still making the absolute most of the next stages of their lives.
We now have more freedom over our pensions than ever, but this also brings great responsibility. Many of our users were finding it impossible to answer key financial planning and investment management questions before they spoke to an expert. And some were heading towards serious mistakes.
Decisions on how your retirement savings are held, invested and withdrawn have serious ramifications for your quality of life, making it vital to seek professional advice from a reputable provider. Unscrupulous advisers are increasingly in the headlines and it is thought that up to half of people transferring a final salary pension scheme are misguided.
Making your wealth work harder
Savvy savers know the importance of making their wealth work as hard as possible when cash returns remain poor, and that a well-funded pension doesn’t necessarily mean a well-managed one.
Our users include DIY investors who no longer have time to run a portfolio properly, alongside those whose “investment vertigo” tells them it’s time for proper risk management. There are also a significant number who have a wealth manager already, but suspect they could be getting a better deal in terms of performance, fees or service.
The magic of compounding means a massive difference to your long-term position is possible by increasing investment returns or reducing fees by even a small amount. Many people manage both by calling in the professionals or finding a more competitive provider. Moving wealth manager isn’t as problematic as you might imagine. In fact, the new provider can take care of the awkward conversation with your existing adviser for you.
Over 20 years, a £6,000 annual investment would compound to just under £240,000 on a 6% yield, but if returns were increased to 8%, you’d have over £300,000.
Similarly, if you invested £200,000 over 30 years, achieving an annual 7% return and your fee was 1.5%, you would eventually end up with almost £1m. If, however, you were paying 2.0% you would get closer to £864,000.
Family matters
Wanting to help family onto the property ladder or with expenses such as school fees is another big part of our users’ thinking, as many are struggling to find a sensible, tax-efficient approach that dovetails with plans to sell a business, retire or otherwise follow dreams.
People are also naturally focusing on Inheritance Tax issues, and our most proactive users are often taking action relatively young, which is great to see. There are many legitimate ways to reduce tax exposure though both structuring and investments, but these often need to be put into action well ahead of time.
The over-50s represent wealth managers’ biggest client base by far, so they are well attuned to any ambitions and concerns you might have. And through our fast, free matching service you can get connected to a shortlist of well-matched providers in confidence without endless research. Why not see how much harder your wealth could work?
