But who is the professional here? Who is to decide what information is important and relevant? And now that retirement offers much more freedom and choice in structuring suitable solutions, is it possible to argue that there is any part of a person’s financial circumstances which is not relevant to the retirement discussion?
Beyond products
Financial advisers “sell the sizzle, not the sausage”: this is tacky, but it emphasises neatly that people want solutions not products. If a client wants to retire they don’t want a pension or an annuity; they want an income to replace the salary they used to get.
If a client wants to live a particular lifestyle in retirement they don’t want flexible access drawdown or uncrystallised fund pension lump sums; they want a certain level of income with access to additional sums to fund larger capital projects.
Yes, of course products are necessary to deliver solutions. Even if a client decides (or is advised) to withdraw all of their capital from their pension fund, the proceeds will still need to be invested somewhere, be that an Isa or a savings account.
Advisers make recommendations. They listen to what clients want from their financial arrangements. They help clients paint a picture of the life they want to lead, and help them put some numbers on what that life might cost to bring into being.
Clients now need not passively accept whatever arcane rules dictate they can take from their hard-earned savings. An adviser can use that unique combination of technical knowledge and personal relationship skills to design a financial plan, which means that the client can use their own money, saved and invested over many years, in the way that they want to use it.
Having said all of that, in order to create this much more tailored financial plan it’s likely that the adviser is going to have to ask a lot more questions - and some of them might on the face of it seem to have very little to do with financial planning.
Preparing clients
This is why clients may need coaching in advance of a 21st century discovery meeting so they are not surprised by this new style of fact-finding. Clients need to feel comfortable with why they will face so many questions, not just about their money but about their life, lifestyle, family and legacy.
