Get the Most from your Investments with Financial Advisor Armagh

This is a sponsored post to help people learn about investing wisely, as well as, finding the best financial advisors in Armagh.

The Global Financial Crisis may have happened over ten years ago, but it is only now that we are starting to see steady improvements in the financial markets. During this time people have become more cautious with their investments, and any extra funds they have people are trying to invest wisely and carefully. 

Unfortunately, most people are not financial experts, and trying to understand everything related to your investment can be incredibly time consuming and complicated. However, before you invest your hard-earned funds anywhere you should at least try to have some understanding of what is going to happen to your money. Although there is no such thing as a ‘sure thing’, particularly when it comes to investments, there are some risks that you do not need to take. Speaking to someone whose job it is to know and understand the risks and rewards with different investment options can make a big difference to your financial goals. If you can talk to financial advisors in Armagh you can be presented not only with your options, but with actual advice about which options are going to be more likely to work for your individual circumstances. 

Where to Get Financial Advice

In Northern Ireland, as with most countries around the world now, in order to give specific financial advice a financial advisor must be licenced. However, you may find financial advisors who give only general advice. This means that they will not actively invest your money but give you options that you are expected to then research yourself to find the best option for your circumstances. This is considered to be financial ‘guidance’ and comes under different regulations. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/debt-and-money/getting-financial-advice

An Independent financial adviser (IFA) is a professional who is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Although they are only required to have a level 4 qualification, such as a Diploma of Regulated Financial Planning, CISI Investment Advice Diploma or IFS Diploma for Financial Advisers, you will often find that these qualifications were added after they have completed a bachelor’s degree in economics or similar. 

Additionally, a qualified financial advisor must also have a “Statement of Professional Standing”, which means not only are they held to a code of ethics, but that they undergo a minimum of 35 hours of additional professional development every year. The SPS certificate of licenced advisors are renewed every year, and they must meet a high standard to remain certified. 

What Can A Financial Advisor Do For Me?

Although people will often only think of speaking with a financial advisor when they come into a lump sum, whether through a lottery win, an inheritance or a redundancy pay-out, a financial advisor can help you increase your financial security without needing a lump sum amount.

Retirement planning is one of the popular reasons for consulting with a financial advisor. The suggestions that they will make will depend on what your expectations are for when you retire, how old you are now and far away you are hoping to retire, and what level of investment you are wanting to make. Whether you want your financial advisor to handle your investment 100% or if you want them to keep you up to date with information while you handle the day to day buying and selling will have a bearing on fees that you will pay. So, this is actually one thing to discuss with your financial advisor up front. Often you will find that they have specialised retirement funds that you can ‘buy’ into, thereby joining forces with a lot of other people to create a smaller but more secure investment. 

If you are looking at boosting your savings efforts towards a house purchase or to help provide security for your children then you may want to look more at ‘high risk, high reward’ options, however, these are, of course, high risk. Often this means investing cheaply in companies that are just starting out, for example, a new company starting to explore for oil or gold, or a company that is just starting to develop a new form of technology. If you had invested in Apple at its inception (see here), and held the stock long enough, the reward would have been high. However, you may lose everything – and with some investments, you may need to way 20 years to actually see your high return. Talk to your financial advisor if this is going to be the best risk for reward in your situation.