Mark Twain, the American author, who wrote such books as Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer famously said “write what you know”.
I have never had a conversation with a financial adviser regarding my money or personal situation. So, I can honestly say, I would not know what it is like to have one. The closest I have come to is the advisers I have spoken to for articles I have written at Money Marketing.
In this Weekend Essay I am going against Twain’s recommendation but I still see his point about “write what you know”.
Prior to this role, I reported for Capital.com, where my main area of focus was crypto investments. Again, I have never personally invested in crypto. I do have friends, however, who have and could tell me about their experiences with it.
One friend of mine would often tell me how his crypto investments were just heading down in value, but the crypto bear market that started in the spring of 2022 had a lot to do with that.
Either way it gave me a personal point of reference for crypto assets without investing £50 worth into Ethereum myself.
Having a link to something financial, in my opinion, does help add to knowledge on the matter.
I would say I probably am a bit younger than the typical individual who seeks a financial adviser. I did recently, however, write an article about how the cost-of-living crisis is driving younger clients to advisers.
National independent financial adviser firm Continuum has seen more under-50-year-olds seek financial advice off the back of the cost-of-living crisis.
The IFA firm found that 20% of clients are now under the age of 50 and that the crisis has made younger generations more “conscious” of the state of their finances.
I still have a bit of time before I hit my late forties, but it is still interesting to note that the current economic climate is resulting in younger financial advice clients.
That being said, I do not know of anyone my age or any of my friends right now who has contact with a financial adviser.
I agree with Continuum’s point though, as I can see my friends are more “conscious” of the state of their finances.
The only personal link I have to financial advisers is through my father. He has an adviser and so I can learn through his experiences and how it benefits him.
My dad was telling me how a move he took after speaking with his financial adviser has left him in a better position.
He had a pension with a previous employer which he was still contributing to, but the pension itself was not performing well.
His adviser said that he should move his previous company pension into his current workplace pension. My dad was conscious that you can incur charges when doing this, but his adviser explained how to consolidate them.
My dad revealed he shared his laptop screen with his adviser and was told exactly what to do. As a result, he now has a bigger pension with his current employer, did not incur any charges and his current workplace pension is performing better with stronger returns.
“I would never have thought about doing this as I lack the knowledge in this area and just relied on what the pension default settings were.
“This is something I never would have done without my financial adviser,” my dad tells me.
This story gave me the personal link to financial advisers I was looking for and first-hand shows the importance and benefits of an adviser.
Also a stronger pension is beneficial for everyone, regardless of who they are or what they do. It is something my dad now has, with the help of his financial adviser.
