According to the latest research into long-term financial planning carried out by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
- Half of those questioned thought that paying for financial advice was only for the wealthy.
- Two thirds of those who already had investment or savings products hadn’t spoken to a financial advisor in the last five years.
- Twenty percent of those questioned only used free guidance services because they could not afford to pay for advice.
- Sixty percent of under 40’s said that they could find advice online.
- Almost half of under 30’s thought that they could find advice on social media.
The reason for the research by the FSCS was to identify the gap between those people seeking regulated financial advice and those not. They are concerned about the scope for scams and fraud in the non-advised world, including online and are concerned about the numbers not using advisers.
Of course, the FSCS provides no protection for people who have bought nonregulated financial products.
Those who do use long-term financial planning are often thought of as wealthy.
In the latest Saltus and Censuswide survey High Net Worth (HNW) individuals were asked what their current priority concerns were. They said:
- Health
- Economy
- Children’s futures
- Online security
- Physical security
- War in Ukraine
No real mention of the cost-of-living crisis amongst the HNW group. Defined as having over £250,000 in assets.
According to further research from St James Place, only one third of UK families have a “financial plan” in place. Either with the help of an adviser, or one of their own makings. The three main factors affecting people were, the cost of living. Inflation and low interest rates.
This is further supported by the latest Quilter research looking at Wills. It found that:
- Only 43% of families had a Will in place.
- Of those who did have a Will in place 55% hadn’t updated it in the last five years and 15% had never updated their Will.
- But at least 25% of those questioned said that they would contest a Will if they thought that it didn’t reflect their expectations.
With over £5 trillion in assets due to pass down the generations in the next 30 years, this widespread lack of long-term financial planning represents a massive problem. It’s already being seen with the year on year increase in Inheritance Tax receipts paid to the government.