Meet Hannah Ripley – Who Talks About Why Talking To An IFA Is Your Smartest Financial Move

Hannah advises clients on all aspects of financial planning, particularly pre- and post-retirement planning, investment strategies and tax efficiency.

Her conversations with new clients often begin with questions about what has particularly prompted them to reach out to her, so she can understand their priorities or concerns.

Hannah says, “it’s not uncommon for a new client to have avoided getting financial help for some time, often because they don’t know what an IFA can do to help them. Some people are worried that the first thing an IFA is going to do is try to ‘sell’ them a financial product.

“Others have a cultural barrier to talking about money. I often meet people who have avoided seeking financial advice because they are embarrassed that they don’t already know the answers. Or they believe that financial advice is only for people who are already wealthy. I often talk to people who have a good income, but don’t consider themselves wealthy (one of my clients called himself a ‘Henry’ (High Earner, Not Rich Yet) the other day). But all of these concerns couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Hannah gives the example of a client who owns a successful company, and had avoided getting financial advice because he didn’t want more financial administration to deal with.

Hannah explains, “now approaching retirement age, he had several pension pots from previous employments and found dealing with the different statements onerous and confusing. He also isn’t a fan of doing everything online, and didn’t appreciate the pressure from each provider to go electronic with all the documents. I looked over everything with him, and it was clear he could benefit from consolidating all those pots into one.  I also showed him the tax efficiency he could achieve by making pension contributions through his company.

“Now he has everything in one place, and a single annual statement. Best of all, in his view, he has a real person he can talk to (me!) so he doesn’t have to worry about the paperwork.”

Hannah’s focus isn’t only on those who are nearing retirement age, though. She’d like to encourage younger people to consider getting financial advice as well.

“It doesn’t matter what age you are,” she says, “you always have some sort of financial goal in mind – whether it’s saving to go travelling, to buy a car or a house, or to retire and play golf! But often, people don’t have a clear strategy in mind to help them achieve their goal.

“But the younger you are, the more time your money has to work for you, and to weather dips in the markets. That means you can achieve bigger results with smaller regular contributions. If you’re in your 20s or 30s, start saving now, even if you can only afford a small amount each month.  It’ll make a huge difference by the time you reach retirement age.”

Talk to Hannah to find out how she can help you make smarter financial moves.