We'll only ever tell you to invest with us if it's right for you, in fact, we only tell 23% of the people we advise to invest with us. Here's why we're not 'yes' people.
We want people to be life-ready
As we well and truly know by this point, life can be chaotic and unexpected. Losing a job or having something go wrong with your health or housing can drastically change your circumstances. Having an emergency fund of three months worth of expenses can help buy you some time to get you back on your feet instead of being knocked sideways! This is why we prioritise having an emergency fund over investing. It’s practical, but also does wonders for your well-being to know that you can handle any unexpected curveballs thrown your way.
We’re looking at the bigger picture
We don’t just view people as potential investors. We view people as people, each with individual financial circumstances. This means that with financial advice, one approach doesn’t work for everyone! Learning about your circumstances is important to us as it helps us map out your overall money journey. This means working out where you are now with your money and where you’d like to be in five or ten years. If you’d like to become an investor we’d love to help you get to that point, but we prioritise the health of your overall finances first. (For example, this might mean clearing debt to reduce late charges instead of investing.)
Investing isn’t for everyone
Investing involves risk, which can be a worry. When you invest you give your money the opportunity to grow in value, you also expose it to the risk of it going down in value too. If someone isn’t comfortable with the idea of their money maybe being worth less after the time that it’s been invested, then investing might not be for them. This is why we like to check that you’re open to the aspects of risk that come with investing as you consider it. So that you’re investing (or not investing) in a way that suits you best.
We’re a different kind of business
Financial advice is for everyone, regardless of wealth, and making advice accessible is our top priority. A lot of investment companies will allow anyone to invest, instead of checking in to see if investing is right for them first. We offer a view of your full money picture and then we let you know your best next steps. If that includes investing, great! But it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t.
One of our financial advisers had a conversation recently that led to the person not investing with us but investing in their workplace pension instead, because it would be more beneficial to them. What’s most important to us is that you’re on the right path with your money, and that’s at the heart of our financial advice.
We’re in this for the long-run
If you’re not ready to invest yet, we can still help. Our app can help you see exactly what’s happening with your money as you connect all of your accounts. From there, you can get tailored spending hints and tips to make the most out of your money and start saving. Wherever you are at with your money, we’re all about where you want to be and we’ll do what we can to get you there!
