A recent LV= Wealth and Wellbeing report found that most people who received financial advice had found their adviser through word of mouth.

While 30% spoke to friends, family members, or colleagues, add in those that spoke to a financial adviser or one of their financial services providers and the word of mouth figures rises to 90%.

As financial advisers, we understand the benefits advice can bring – especially at key life milestones – as well as the importance of word-of-mouth recommendations.

Having seen the difference our advice has made to you, it’s only right that you want to pass this knowledge onto loved ones and this is one of the reasons why we started our Introduction Incentive Programme referral scheme.

Keep reading to find out why word-of-mouth recommendations work, and how the advice we provide helps you at each stage of your retirement journey (and how it could be helping your friends, family, and colleagues too).

The importance of word of mouth

The LV= Wealth and Wellbeing report asked 4,000 consumers about their attitudes towards spending, saving, and retirement. The report found that of those who sought financial advice from an adviser, 90% found that adviser through family, acquaintances, advisers, or financial services providers.

Word of mouth is important. If you have ever recommended a restaurant or a film to a friend, you’ll understand that a recommendation is a declaration of trust. You trust the restaurant to provide a good meal and the film to provide good entertainment. But you are also asking your friend to trust your opinion.

Financial advice can make a huge difference in people’s lives. Back in 2019, a study by the International Longevity Centre (ILC) found that people who received financial advice were more than £47,000 better off over a decade compared with those who didn’t receive advice.

Of that extra money, nearly two-thirds (65%) was in respect of additional pension wealth.

Recommending a financial adviser to your friend, family, or colleagues could make a real difference to their financial security in later life. So, if you trust us to give you expert retirement advice, consider using our Introduction Incentive Programme page to recommend us to a friend – and receive a £50 payment in return.

3 key moments when financial advice is crucial to help you and your loved ones

After decades of hard work, retirement is a key life milestone and that’s why it is our focus here at The Pension Planner. There are three important stages to consider and lots of questions that need asking – and answering.

1. The approach to retirement

In the decade before you retire, you’ll need to ask some key questions, including:

• When do I want to retire?
• What sort of retirement do I want?
• Do I have enough money saved to provide the lifestyle I’d like to live?

We can help you think about the answers to these questions and put a plan in place to make sure that your run-up to finishing work is focused on cementing your dream retirement. We can do the same for your family and friends too.

2. At retirement

Traditionally, your retirement fund would have provided you with a regular income for life, paid as an annuity. While that is still an option, since the introduction of Pension Freedoms in 2015, your choices have become more complex and making the right one is even more important.

We can help you to work out the best way to access the fund you have built, helping to provide you with the retirement you dream of.

This might mean a lump sum, a regular income, or a combination of both, but the right choice will be different for everyone.

3. In retirement

Arguably, an annuity provides the least stressful retirement, at least from a budgeting point of view, as it guarantees you a regular and known income, payable until your death. You’ll still need to think about unexpected costs, though, and about how much you want to leave behind to loved ones.

Pension Freedom options, on the other hand, put you firmly in charge of income and budgeting throughout your whole retirement, and mean that the hard work is far from over.

You’ll need to ask yourself:

• Am I budgeting effectively with my lump sum?
• Am I withdrawing too much or failing to take the wider economy into account?
• Do I have an emergency fund to tide me over if the unexpected happens?

Answering these questions isn’t easy, but thankfully we’re here to help.

We can help you keep your withdrawals on track, providing you with the life you want now while factoring in future expenses such as the potential cost of later-life care, or any inheritance you plan to leave behind.

Get in touch

At The Pension Planner, we are enthusiastic about helping our clients achieve their retirement dreams through the provision of individual advice, aligned to individual needs. If you have friends, family, or colleagues who you think would benefit from our help, why not recommend us, or go to our Introduction Incentive Programme page for more information.

If you have any questions about your retirement plans or our referral scheme, please get in touch. Email info@thepensionplanner.co.uk or call 0800 0787 182.

Please note

A pension is a long-term investment not normally accessible until 55 (57 from April 2028). The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up, which would have an impact on the level of pension benefits available.

Your pension income could also be affected by the interest rates at the time you take your benefits. The tax implications of pension withdrawals will be based on your individual circumstances. Levels, bases of and reliefs from taxation may change in subsequent Finance Acts.