financial advice

How would you prefer to pay for financial advice?

Rebecca Atkinson — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:17:46 +0100

* Solely through a fee as commission creates bias * I am happy for my adviser to get commission if it saves me from paying a fee * I would prefer for my adviser to use a combination of fees and commission

Government pledges free financial advice

Rebecca Atkinson — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:33:18 +0000

Free financial advice could soon be available on the high street, offering guidance on everything from saving and budgeting to pension planning and coping with debt.

A report commissioned by the Treasury, published today, proposes introducing a national personal finance service to offer generic advice to people over the telephone, the internet and face-to-face on the high street.

At the same time, the government has pledged to invest £12 million in a regional pilot scheme to test how free advice can be offered to consumers.

Are you getting the advice you're paying for?

Matt Pitcher — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:06:39 +0000

From a simple economic point of view, fees would seem like the better option to commission. This is partly because different companies offer different rates of commission to advisers. Let’s imagine for a minute that advisers are not motivated by purely selfless goals and like most of us have mortgages to pay and mouths to feed.