Why seek professional financial advice?
WHETHER you’re starting out or well into your wealth creation journey, professional financial advice can help you to define your goals and the path to getting there. It gives you a map and ongoing support to help you take control of your future.
Everyone has different goals in life. But whatever your goals, receiving advice can help bring you closer to achieving them. When it comes to managing your money, trying to build wealth, securing your future and drawing up an effective plan for fulfilling your financial objectives, professional financial advice is essential.
Now more than ever, households need the reassurance, expertise and confidence that professional financial advice provides during these difficult times. The effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) are likely to have longlasting effects on our finances for years to come.
There is a proven direct correlation between a person’s financial and mental wellbeing. New researchhas identified how professional financial advice helps to improve the emotional wellbeing of clients by making them feel more confident and financially resilient when compared to those who have not received advice – especially in times of crisis.
Around 17 million people in the UK have received financial advice. For advised clients, the most commonly recognised emotional benefits of their adviser’s services is having access to expertise, which makes them feel more confident in their financial plans, feeling more in control of their finances and gaining peace of mind.
The research also shows that advised clients feel positive about the service they received – with the key areas of satisfaction being the quality of advice and expertise (82%), communication style (81%) and trustworthiness (81%).
The research highlights that people who receive professional financial advice feel more confident about the future and more financially resilient. Around three in five (63%) who received advice said they felt financially secure and stable compared to just half (48%) who had not received advice. Four in ten (41%) who had not received advice felt anxious about their household finances compared to just a third (32%) of those who were advised.
Advisers also helped people to boost their knowledge and gain a better understanding of their finances – particularly when it comes to protection and retirement planning. Advised clients feel up to three times more confident about understanding products and financial matters, compared with people who don’t have an adviser.
Understanding of financial products was much greater amongst those who were advised compared to the nonadvised. A quarter of non-advised individuals said they would not know where to start when asked about life insurance (23%) or protecting against serious illness (24%). In comparison, just 7% of those who were advised gave this response when asked about life insurance and 8% would not know where to start when asked about protecting against serious illness.
The research also looked at how the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis made non-advised clients feel about their finances. A third (35%) of people felt anxious about their financial situation and 65% have come to appreciate the value in being more prepared for life’s shocks.