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Recommend me an independent financial advisor - Glasgow

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 kathrync 06 Jan 2014
As per title. Primarily looking for advice on pensions/savings with the possibility of requiring mortgage advice in the next couple of years.

I would prefer to go to someone who comes with a recommendation!

Thanks
OP kathrync 06 Jan 2014
In reply to kathrync:

Bump for the lunchtime crowd...
 Coel Hellier 06 Jan 2014
In reply to kathrync:

Not quite an answer to your question, but if you don't need anything out of the ordinary, and for anyone who is a reasonably intelligent and numerate adult, then you could decide to make your own decisions, using the information that is generally available. Asking a financial advisor will generally cost you a few hundred pounds and is not generally needed if you are just picking a mortgage or savings scheme or similar.
OP kathrync 06 Jan 2014
In reply to Coel Hellier:

As far as the mortgages and savings go, I generally agree (and I'm pretty happy with my savings as they are), although my partner is likely to want to talk to an IFA before taking a mortgage out anyway because that's the way he always does things.

The main mess I am looking to untangle is my pensions. At the age of 32, I seem to have accumulated 8 different company pensions, mostly with ludicrously small amounts in them - I am losing track of them and despite reading fairly extensively, I still have no idea if it is better to try to consolidate them or not, which ones I can consolidate, or how to go about it. I am really looking for someone to help me sort it out, because honestly, I find the whole thing a complete mystery!
 Coel Hellier 06 Jan 2014
In reply to kathrync:

Well I'm not in any way an expert, but:

> which ones I can consolidate, ...

Likely all of them. All pensions will (I think) have a method of transferring to another scheme.

> or how to go about it ...

Decide on where you want to transfer them to, and then fill in a transfer form. This bit should be easy enough.

If you have a current scheme that you are paying into now, and want to consolidate into that scheme, then talk to that scheme about how to do it. If you want to consolidate into a new scheme, then try something like: http://www.hl.co.uk/pensions/sipp/transfer-to-the-vantage-sipp

> I still have no idea if it is better to try to consolidate them or not ...

This is the tricky bit. There is no general answer to that, you need to consider the question for each scheme. Each of these schemes should have a FAQ about transfering out and possible penalties or loss of benefits. Are they schemes accumulating in terms of money, in which case it's likely fine to transfer, or are they "final salary" schemes accumulating benefits in terms of final salary or something?

If they are final-salary schemes then the calculation is much harder to do, since it depends on investment returns in the future. However, final-salary schemes are not very good to pay into for a short while and then stop (since your "final salary" is fixed at when you stop contributing, which is likely to be much less than your salary would have been at retirement).

If you have the option of sticking with a final salary scheme then it's almost certainly sense to stay with it. If not, and if the amounts in all of these are small, and if there are no exit penalties, then it is likely best to transfer and consolidate.

As I said, I'm not an expert, but I have transfered a couple of pension schemes of my own.
 jamie84 06 Jan 2014
In reply to kathrync:

I spoke to someone in a company called McCrea who are based in Glasgow, they seemed pretty friendly and helpful. Though I should point out that I've never used an IFA before I did this and so don't have much of a baseline. In the end the guy suggested I didn't need his advice and so I never entered into any kind of paid arrangement.
 peebles boy 06 Jan 2014
In reply to kathrync:

Got a mate who's an IFA, said he'd be interested in chatting!! Send me a PM if you want his number

Cheers,
Gordon

 Yanis Nayu 06 Jan 2014
In reply to kathrync:

Or just flush a few grand down the bog for the same effect but with greater interaction with humanity.
OP kathrync 07 Jan 2014
In reply to Coel Hellier:

> This is the tricky bit. There is no general answer to that, you need to consider the question for each scheme. Each of these schemes should have a FAQ about transfering out and possible penalties or loss of benefits. Are they schemes accumulating in terms of money, in which case it's likely fine to transfer, or are they "final salary" schemes accumulating benefits in terms of final salary or something?

> If they are final-salary schemes then the calculation is much harder to do, since it depends on investment returns in the future. However, final-salary schemes are not very good to pay into for a short while and then stop (since your "final salary" is fixed at when you stop contributing, which is likely to be much less than your salary would have been at retirement).

> If you have the option of sticking with a final salary scheme then it's almost certainly sense to stay with it. If not, and if the amounts in all of these are small, and if there are no exit penalties, then it is likely best to transfer and consolidate.

This is partially why I am so confused about the issue - the pension I am currently paying into is a final salary scheme, but most of the others aren't and I can't find any clear guidance about whether I can transfer my old money-purchase schemes into it or not (or whether this is a good idea). There are also some issues as some of my money-purchase schemes were contracted out of the S2P and some weren't - I think there are some funny rules about how you can combine these, but I'm not clear on them.

Thanks to everyone who has made recommendations
 jfmchivall 07 Jan 2014
In reply to kathrync:

My partner very highly recommends a lady named Eileen Hogg. She has sought her advice on mortgages and pensions and has always been pleased. http://www.unbiased.co.uk/profile/mortgage-adviser/hogg-financial-services-...

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