Protecting Your Nest
Neil Hewitt, Chartered and Certified Financial Planner with Scrutton Bland explains why you need professional advice to protect your savings
A t a time when so much information is available at the click of a button, it is easy to suppose that good financial advice is easy to come by. Search engines can throw up lists of websites to look at, newspaper columnists will offer their weekly recommendations, and banks and building societies will gladly invite you in for a chat with one of their team. Even the man propping up the bar in your local pub will give you ‘insider’ tips on where the next great investment opportunity will be found.
So how do you protect your nest egg? And where do you go to get reliable independent guidance? Ask yourself these questions: n Have you got enough time to do the research? n Do you have experience, knowledge and skills when it comes to investing? n If things go wrong, are you comfortable taking responsibility for any poor investment decisions? If the answer to any of these is ‘no’ then seeking professional financial advice may be your best option. Getting advice from an independent
financial adviser (IFA) is an obvious first step. Advisers who are not connected to one institution can give you a much wider range of options, and provide valuable insight and guidance for a number of financial matters including: n Pensions and retirement income advice n Investments and savings n Tax planning n Inheritance Tax mitigation n Insurance n Business advice and general financial planning
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