Money, money, money

[tinyjo]

I've been thinking about money again. It's all so complicated. How does one choose an independent financial advisor? They all look the same to me. Anyone in Oxford got any recommendations? I still want a car, but it would be such an extravagance that I can't really justify it. I don't want a pension, but I ought to get that sorted really. Yuck. It's so complicated :(

Comments

[soulsong.livejournal.com]

I've had a pension since I was 23 or something and I'm pretty sure my house made about 10 times more over the last 8 years than the pension did. Having said that, pensions are good because the government gives you tax back when you pay into them, so not taking them up on the offer is like giving the govt free money.

The best thing is when your company contributes to the pension as well. Tax-free pay rise. Yum.

IFA = villain

[(Anonymous)]

See if you can get an IFA who doesn't take commission (they'll charge a fee instead). Commission means that if they advise you to buy a product from some company, that company pays them; in any other sphere of business, this is known as a 'kickback', and is illegal. You may end up paying more this way, because it's you paying the IFA rather than some company, but you'll get better, more impartial, advice ('who pays the piper' and all that).

You may find that you can't find a fee-based IFA; in that case, you might try an accountant instead. They'll be even more expensive, but correspondingly more hardcore.

Also, check out how private vs company pensions affect the employer's contribution - you want to hold on to that if you can. One of the few compensations of working in academia is that the employer's contribution is quite generous and the pension scheme (USS (http://www.usshq.co.uk/)) is well-run.

-- Tom

Re: IFA = villain

[tinyjo.livejournal.com]

Completely agree about commission vs fee based. Unfortunatly, google is not turning up many fee only local ones :( I don't think my employer actually makes pension contributions - they only provide the very minimum stakeholder pension I think. Downside of working for a small company.

John Charcol

[(Anonymous)]

I've always used John Charcol and been very happy with them. They're based in London, so getting to their office hasn't been an issue for me. I think they're now part of Bradford and Bingley, so it's possible that they have more branches. However, if you're happy to deal with them by phone and online they seem to have a pretty comprehensive service - www.charcolonline.co.uk. Try to ignore the fact that their URL looks like "Char Colon Line" in a certain light.

Stuart (hydragenic.com)