Taking financial help
Not sure how to go about tackling your finances? Achieving the future you want doesn’t happen by accident. You can start planning and taking control of your money at any time - it’s never too late. Talking to a professional can help.
Think about your needs
It's a good idea to spend some time thinking about what you want to achieve. This might be something relatively straightforward, such as arranging a mortgage. Or, your financial goals may be broader, for example putting an investment plan in place to give you a good retirement income in 30 years' time or starting a pension.
Whatever your needs, start getting together any relevant information, such as your income, regular outgoings and details of any financial products you already have. This will help with the discussion you have.
Ask questions - so you get everything explained, from details of the products, to the potential outcome if you decide on a different approach.
Financial help from Standard Life Direct
At Standard Life Direct, we want all our customers to feel confident about their future wealth and wellbeing. So we’re flexible. We offer products, services and solutions that meet real people’s needs – and evolve as these needs change in the future.
Financial planning and advice
Standard Life Direct’s qualified experts are here to help; we provide guidance to help you decide what’s best for your future. Our experts can provide relevant, straightforward information and this is available online and over the phone. If you have more complex advice needs, such as portfolio management or retirement solutions using income drawdown, we can help with that too.
Getting started
Once you’ve decided what you want to do, we’ll help with the paperwork, get you started and be here for you for the future. Our service takes account of your key financial goals and how best to reach these goals.
When you call Standard Life Direct
You’ll get through directly to our experts. We don't have automated menus and our call centres are based in the UK.
We offer a wide choice of financial products. We don't just offer products from Standard Life. We have a range of selected providers, giving flexibility, freedom and investment choice.
Before investing in any financial product you need to be aware of the risks and commitments involved and that's where we can help.
98% of our customers are very or extremely satisfied with the people they spoke to. Source: Standard Life service tick customer survey year to date 9 March 2011.
You can Standard Life Direct on 0845 272 8810. (Call charges may vary)
Standard Life Direct is provided by Standard Life Client Management Limited and only advises on and sells products from subsidiaries of Standard Life plc and some external providers.
Using a financial adviser
Word of mouth is a good way to find any professional.
Professional advice website unbiased.co.uk has a free and confidential ‘Find an IFA’ tool that enables you to search for an IFA in your area. It allows you to specify details such as areas of advice and qualifications.
Shop around. Contact at least three IFAs and compare what they can offer.
Most advisers offer free ‘taster’ sessions (lasting about an hour) to give you an idea of whether they're right for you.
Categories of adviser
Advisers can be put into three categories: tied, multi-tied and independent.
Tied advisers usually work for a financial services company and will only be able to offer its products.
Multi-tied advisers work with a number of companies but will only recommend products from their ranges.
Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) aren't tied to a company and will search the whole market to find the products that are most appropriate for your needs.
Some advice firms fall into more than one of these categories. For example, if you're buying a house, your mortgage and protection requirements might be dealt with by an IFA, but your home insurance could be arranged on a multi-tie basis.
Agree on costs upfront
IFAs can offer a choice of payment options including fees, commission or a combination of the two, while tied and multi-tied agents don't always offer a choice. Here's how they work:
Fees
You'll either pay an hourly rate (from around £75 to £250 per hour) or a set amount for the work the adviser is carrying out.
Commission
The most common way of paying for financial advice, is paid by the product provider, and then added to the initial charges on your plan. In addition to the initial commission when you take out the plan, many products also pay the adviser an annual or trail commission.
Combination
The adviser will charge you a fee, but will rebate some of the commission they receive on product sales. This could be given back to you, offset against the fee or used to increase the contribution into your investment or pension.
From 2013, a new system is planned called Adviser Charging. This aims to make charges easier to understand. You'll still be able to pay for advice with fees or through the product, but the amount will be set by you and your adviser, rather than the product provider.
Looking after your finances through regular reviews
Regular reviews are essential to ensure your financial plan stays on track, especially when so many things can change in your life. An annual review is usually sufficient but, if something significant happens, such as you get married, start a family, buy a new house or inherit some money, then you should meet with your adviser to make sure your plan still fits your needs.
Your adviser, or your product provider, will also send you an annual statement outlining how your financial products are performing. This will help you assess your plans, and stay on target to achieve your financial goals.
