Not long ago, a committee of MPs (a Treasury Select Committee) wrote a report that suggested a free financial advice service is needed, particularly for the 8 million people who earn £10,000 to £20,000. People who earn less tend to get free advice, and people who earn more can more easily get advice through an IFA, but those in the middle struggle to get affordable support.
The two aspects of personal finance that were mentioned most frequently in the report were debt and saving for retirement. All four of the models that it suggested for handling these issues were in the form of national bodies, but I don’t believe that such a thing is the most cost-effective way to go about it. Plus, the report was considering the provision of generic financial advice only, which means that it’s not tailored to your needs. This is rather poor, as all our circumstances are different….