Lowes Magazine Issue 119

How we have helped clients Lowes Consultant Craig Moffat talks about one of the ways in which Lowes has been able to help clients over our 50 year history. PLANNING

Independent Financial Advice is only for the very wealthy Many Lowes clients are ordinary people working and saving hard for their future, who want help building their wealth over time, or who are approaching retirement and want help with managing their wealth going forward. In particular they want to ensure they don’t run out of money, as well as undertaking tax and inheritance planning, which are complex areas and affecting more and more people. We don’t talk about money We are often reticent to talk about our financial affairs – even with our partners and loved ones – and yet money is one of the most important areas of our lives. Too often over the years we have been asked to help someone who has been bereaved of their spouse/partner and is without a full picture of their finances and whether they have sufficient to pay their bills going forward. Sitting down as a couple and having the benefit of an Independent Financial Adviser address all your financial and wealth issues, can not only make sure your money is working in the best way for you but will do away with this kind of uncertainty. I’ll do it tomorrow Independent studies, as well as our own experience, categorically show that the sooner you take action to seek Independent Financial Advice, the quicker and larger your wealth can grow. One study by Royal London and the International Longevity Centre found that those taking financial advice benefited from a wealth uplift of close to £50,000 over non-advised savers over a decade. If that’s not a reason to take Independent Financial Advice we don’t know what is. For the past year we have not been able to run our seminar programme as we would have wanted but hopefully, with the easing of restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, we can once again start to present to potential clients. Lowes seminars facts and figures (since 2005) Number of seminars - 135 Number of attendees - 8,391 From these seminars we have welcomed 1020 households as clients Over 99% of seminar attendees felt that their time was well spent

IT MAY SEEM OBVIOUS TO SAY, BUT ONE OF THE main ways we have helped clients is to introduce them to Independent Financial Advice. We have been running our introductory seminars since 1984. Over the years we have presented to thousands of people who wanted to know more about how they could better take control of their finances, investments and savings and make them work towards their goals in life, whether that is creating wealth for retirement, school fees, or other ambitions. Feedback from attendees nearly always describes it as time well spent. Many of our clients have joined via the seminars, and some have said it was the best thing they have ever done for their financial wealth. Even those who have managed their own investments for a while, because as portfolios grow larger, as they should over time, they can become less easy to manage successfully. One of the most surprising aspects when we present is learning why people have not considered taking professional financial advice earlier. There are some that stand out. Financial advice is too expensive Like all professional services, Independent Financial Advice has a price to it but many people are surprised to find that it is not as ‘expensive’ as they may have been led to believe. When put into perspective in terms of the service being delivered – financial peace of mind being top of the list, alongside ongoing wealth management, pensions, tax and estate planning advice, and others – most of our clients see it as value for money. I have always self-invested and can look after my own money Research from mutual assurer Royal London and the International Longevity Centre UK has proved that individuals who take professional financial advice not only feel more informed, they are also financially better off by more than £47,000 over a ten-year period than their non-advised peers.

If you know of anyone you feel would benefit from Independent Financial Advice and attending one of our future seminars, please have them call 0191 281 8811 for further details. As for many others, it could be the one best decisions they make for their financial wealth.

11 Lowes.co.uk