How to find a good financial adviser to fix your pensions

Dear Becky

I’ve been with my financial adviser for 20 years, who came to me through family members – but I would now like to find a new one as I have turned 50 and am increasingly focusing on my pensions. The problem is how to choose a financial adviser. Is word of mouth enough to go on?

– David

Dear David

Choosing a financial adviser is difficult, which is probably why, according to some 2021 research from LV=, the majority of people choose them based on word of mouth recommendations from friends and family. This is understandable, but what if the person you are taking the recommendation from got it wrong?

But there are options open to you. First off, as you are over 50, you can book a free Pension Wise appointment. This is the government guidance service, and it’s worth bothering with. You can get impartial advice on what to do with a defined contribution pension, which can help give you an idea of what you want to do as you near retirement.

A good next stop would be the website Unbiased. You can specify that you are looking for help with pensions, and you can also choose to search for someone who can advise on defined benefit pensions, if you have one of those. Unbiased then delivers a list of advisers who could be most suitable. Another is VouchedFor, which relies on reviews. Reviews from strangers may even be a better bet than people you know.

One website worth mentioning is Boring Money. It’s a customer reviewsled site with a Find An Adviser page, and possibly the closest thing you will find to a comparison site for advisers. The five-star rated advisers are on the first page. However, it appears that some advisers are more active at build‘The majority of people choose an adviser by word of mouth, but what if that person got it wrong?’ ing their profile than others, so it’s difficult to know whether those without any reviews have simply not solicited them But it’s a handy finder with a good amount of information on each adviser.

There are other directories. The Government’s Money Helper website has a retirement adviser directory, as does the Personal Finance Society and the Society of Later Life Advisers. It is also worth reading The Telegraph’s own guide on choosing a financial adviser – which has information on how much advice might cost, the different types of advisers, and what to do if you’re unlucky enough to get bad advice.

Most of these Institute of Financial Accountants (IFA) search websites narrow down your list of options by your location first. I’d be happy to do Zoom calls with an adviser. If they were the best, I wouldn’t care where they lived.

There are other options besides traditional financial advice. There are robo advice platforms, which promise advice and investment management for a lower cost, albeit with less of a personal touch. Then there’s the option to go it alone entirely, managing your investments yourself. This might not be for everyone, but it also might not be as hard as you think.

If you do want to stick with a traditional IFA relationship, then after a bit of research on the above sites, you’ll want to narrow it down to a final three. Initial meetings are usually free. If you have the time, take an hour with each before making up your mind.

One final thought, it’s an underused perk but there is the Pension Advice Allowance you may want to use. This allows individuals to take £500 out of a pension tax-free to put towards advice.