If you want answers to any questions, chances are you simply pick up your phone and look online. But there are many questions in life that are simply too big for the internet to answer, ones that require specialist knowledge, insight and expertise.
For example, you can’t just Google how you should personally manage your investments, your pension planning or preparing your inheritance. How can the first page that comes up in the search results drill down into your specific situation, look at your numbers and give you bespoke, tailored advice with your best interests firmly in mind?
While plenty of pages on the internet will give good broad-brush advice, and we count our own pages among them, you ultimately need professional, regulated financial advice before you make big financial decisions.
With that in mind, it’s a concern to find that many young people are dismissing professional financial advice and going online instead.
According to research by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), 60 per cent of millennials and 57 per cent of Gen Z with financial products believe they can find good financial advice on the internet. Even more worryingly, 44 per cent of Gen Z believe they can find good financial advice on social media.
The consequences of this are clear.
For instance, if young adults aren’t getting advice from a regulated professional, they could end up making the wrong financial decisions, possibly because they’ve been deceived by unregulated and untrustworthy sources.
If a person is tricked out of a large sum of money because they’ve taken guidance from an unauthorised source, there is – sadly – very little they can do about it.
After all, people may only be eligible to claim compensation for poor financial advice through the FSCS if the firm they’ve dealt with has been authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Otherwise, there is no means of recourse open to them.
By turning to a regulated professional, you can be confident that any financial advice is being given in your best interests, and reflects your unique needs, circumstances and priorities, and that if you’re dissatisfied with the outcome, you have clear consumer rights protecting you.
Significantly, the same study from the FSCS showed that many of those who’ve previously sought professional, regulated financial advice did see the value in it.
In fact, nearly two-thirds said that if they ever needed advice again, they would use the same service from the same provider.
That should be a clear message to young adults about the added value that a professional, regulated financial adviser can offer, and that simply going online can ultimately prove to be a false economy.