The tide is turning with consumers considering financial advice earlier

The majority of men and women are starting their financial journey too late, and not looking for professional advice until in their 40s and upwards.

That’s the findings of a new survey by Fairstone, but it also revealed that the tide could be turning, with a quarter of respondents saying they started their financial advice journey in their 20s, a very material increase from 20% just one year ago.

Encouragingly, now more than 40% of people surveyed also said that they believed the biggest change to financial advice in the future, would be people seeing professional advice ‘as the norm’ and starting at a young age.

The findings of the report are particularly pertinent given the current cost of living crisis which has placed even greater importance on ensuring consumer finances are in the best shape possible.

These latest results form part of Fairstone’s annual Client Survey, where more than 1,000 respondents aired their opinions on a range of financial issues, from the importance of sustainable investing, what factors are the most important in financial planning, to what will be the biggest change to financial advice in the future.

Other survey highlights include:

• Pension guidance was the main motive for first seeking financial advice (45%), with investment planning (20%) and mortgage advice (14%) being other popular prompts.
• 55% of respondents first took financial advice after the age of 40.
• 72% said sustainable investing was important to them (up from 60% in 2019), with ‘using money to make an impact’ and ‘avoiding investing in specific industries’, cited as the main reasons.
• 79% of respondents believed that being a Chartered financial planner is essential in their decision-making around who to appoint as an adviser.

Fairstone CEO Lee Hartley said:  “Talking regularly to our clients is an essential part of our approach as it helps us to recognise what they think about financial services, giving us a unique insight into their thoughts, patterns, and behaviour and what shapes their decisions around investing, retirement and financial planning.

“The results of the survey were incredibly interesting, and it is particularly encouraging to see that more clients are starting their financial journeys at a younger age. We can’t emphasise enough just how important this is.

“However, this is only a snapshot of the broader picture across the UK, which suggests that millions of hard-working people still aren’t saving enough to live on once they’ve finished working. More needs to be done across the sector on raising awareness of the importance of seeking financial advice and the very significant value of starting that journey as early as possible.”

As part of the new survey findings, Fairstone also published its Annual Client Index, highlighting three tangible outputs: an overall client satisfaction rating of 98%, a repeat advice rate of 93%, and £5.3 million of annual investment cost savings which have been passed directly through to clients.

Hartley added: “Collectively this endorses our objective as a business, namely, to ensure that the wealth of our clients outlasts their life. This is testament to the commitment that our client relationships should underpin every single aspect of our business.”

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