All ages have retirement advice on their radar

• As many under-35s seek advice on retirement issues as the over-55s, making it the one Advice Moment that spans all adult age groups
• In all other areas, younger people are more likely to seek financial advice than their elders
• unbiased.co.uk is offering free financial health checks from specialist financial advisers

• Nearly three quarters of under-35s took advice on their first home, compared to less than half of over 55s
• Half of younger adults (49%) would like to help their children or grandchildren onto the property ladder, compared to only 22% of older people

New research¹ from unbiased.co.uk, the UK’s most comprehensive professional adviser search, has found that as many younger adults as older ones are seeking advice relating to retirement plans. This indicates that retirement is the one Advice Moment that unites the generations.

Significantly, it is the under-35s who are more generally inclined to seek advice from a professional financial adviser at key moments in their lives. When buying their first home, 71% of under-35s sought advice compared to 41% of over-55s, a pattern also seen across starting a business (41% to 27%), getting married (32% to 1%) and starting a family (25% to 1%).

Yet when it comes to planning for retirement, both age groups took very similar views: 39% of under 35s spoke to an adviser, as did 36% of over 55s. Retirement continues to be the main driver of professional advice, with both younger and older generations appearing to attach equal importance to it.

Advice Moments

For those who did not seek financial advice, younger adults are more likely to regret the missed opportunities than their elders.  Of those who did not seek advice when planning for retirement, four times as many young people regretted not seeking the help of an adviser compared to those over 55 (41% to 11%).  Another clear divide between the generations related to starting a business; over half (51%) of those under 35 who didn’t seek professional advice said they regret not doing so, whereas 91% of over-55s who didn’t seek advice at this point said they had no regrets over their decision.

This generation gap suggests that younger people are feeling more pressure to look after their financial future, so need to make the most of money they have. Nearly half (49%) of under-35s would like to help their children or grandchildren buy property when they retire, compared to only 22% of the over-55s. A higher proportion of under-35s would like to support their children or grandchildren through education once they have retired as well (37% compared to 13%).

Karen Barrett, Chief Executive of unbiased.co.uk, comments: “It’s great to see that young people are seeing the value of advice and making the most of their finances at these crucial times in their lives. These figures back up the view that the financial landscape is becoming more complex and particularly mortgages are not as easy for young people to attain as they once were, meaning that the help of a professional at this crucial point really comes into its own. Overall, there are more financial options than ever available to consumers now; including mortgages, savings, pensions and investments, so expert advice can build the most effective financial plan for each individual.

“Older people should not think that their opportunity to take advice has passed. Pensions Freedoms have presented greater choice to this age group than ever before and decisions made around retirement can have long lasting effects on your income for your retirement years so looking at how advice can benefit you at this time is a really good idea.”

Consumers can obtain free reviews of their finances through unbiased.co.uk. Whole-of-market financial advisers are available for initial meetings to offer pension, mortgage, investment and financial health checks:

www.unbiased.co.uk/freepensioncheck

www.unbiased.co.uk/freemortgagereview

www.unbiased.co.uk/freeinvestmentcheck

www.unbiased.co.uk/freefinancialhealthcheck 

For a free and confidential search for a whole-of-market financial adviser, visit www.unbiased.co.uk

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1unbiased.co.uk research conducted by Opinium Research between 11-14 November 2014, among 2,002 nationally representative UK adults aged 18+.

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Anna Schirmer/ Sarah Tye/Calum MacDougall, Lansons: 020 7294 3682

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With over one million visitors a year, unbiased.co.uk is the UK's biggest and most versatile search for regulated and independent advisers. We enable consumers and businesses to find the best financial and legal advice from a choice of over 24,000 IFAs, financial advisers, mortgage brokers, solicitors and accountants. We also make it easier to find the right advice by providing information, insights, tools and other resources to facilitate consumer choice.

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