I have an alias on twitter that looks at financial planning and education. It enables me to pick up on trends and provide comment without any perceived bias.
Recently I picked up an article from the Daily Telegraph which stated that two in three DIY pensions are left to fail. If anything this is an advocate for financial planning. One of the comments I received from a direct provider to this was “come on chaps it’s not that difficult!! Nor does it take a huge amount of time.”
I don’t disagree with this comment as I tweeted back but it assumes that the person investing knows what they are doing and this is perhaps the problem with DIY investing and why what the Telegraph says should ring alarm bells.
On the reverse a financial planner tweeted back to say financial planning education really only benefits financial planners which I have to say I do in part disagree with.
The point of all of this is this, doing it yourself is not wrong, you can say the same for repairing your car yourself. You can read up, you can research, you can test the market but the crucial points are:
- You need to understand what your plan is,
- You need to understand the level of knowledge you have, and
- You need to be prepared to devote time to deliver those goals.
Once you get to this level you can choose whether you want to do this yourself or go to a financial planner to do this for you.
If you go into investing with half an eye open then what you perceive as saving money will be lost because you don’t devote enough time to the plan.
Turning back to the comment from the direct provider, I never find them promoting the idea of financial planning what I see is product push and fund sales but you cannot even get to this stage if you don’t have a plan in place and ultimately without a plan and knowledge you will fail because you have no expectations of what you want to achieve.
NOTE: This is written in a personal capacity and reflects the view of the author. It does not necessarily reflect the view of LWM Consultants. The post has been checked and approved to ensure that it is both accurate and not misleading. However, this is a blog and the reader should accept that by its very nature many of the points are subjective and opinions of the author. This is not a recommendation to buy any product or service including any share or fund mentioned. Individuals wishing to buy any product or service as a result of this blog must seek advice or carry out their own research before making any decision, the author will not be held liable for decisions made as a result of this blog (particularly where no advice has been sought). Investors should also note that past performance is not a guide to future performance and investments can fall as well as rise.