Retirement planning proves popular

Category: Pensions
Date: 2/2/2010

The top reason for seeking independent financial advice during 2009 was retirement planning, new figures show.

Personal retirement planning accounted for 37 per cent of advice searches by the end of last year, climbing from 27 per cent in January 2009, according to unbiased.co.uk.

The second most popular reason was for advice on investments and savings, with 28 per cent of all searches focussed on this area by the end of 2009, up from 22 per cent at the start of the year.

Figures showed that the demand for financial advice remained strong last year, as consumers looked to professionals to guide them through a challenging period.

It is a trend that is expected to continue into this year.

Karen Barrett, chief executive of the website, said: "We anticipate that even more consumers will be looking to reassess their finances in 2010 and will put their faith in independent financial advisers to do so."

The joint third most sought after area for advice was mortgages, accounting for eight per cent of all searches.

This was also the case for advice on ISAs, although the percentage is likely to see a spike in the coming months, as one savings season supersedes another.

Other drivers for advices included stakeholder pensions and taxation planning, which accounted for seven and six per cent of all advice searches respectively, and equity release and saving for children, both of which garnered three per cent.

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