However, with life expectancy increasing steadily and the shift from defined benefit pensions to defined contribution, as well as lower homeownership among younger generations, developing a proper financial plan early in life has never been more important.
We need to engage younger people with advice as the clients of the future, for their own benefit and to safeguard the long-term health of the sector.
Relationship differences
Surprisingly, our analysis suggests relationship status could be the biggest indicator of your likelihood to get advice.
Nearly half (44 per cent) of advised clients in our dataset are married or in a civil partnership, compared with just 11 per cent who are single, 6 per cent widowed and 1 per cent divorced.
There could be several factors at play here. Older people are more likely to be married. According to the Office for National Statistics, five times (19 per cent) as many people aged 70 years and over are married compared with those under 30 years (3.7 per cent) – and, as mentioned earlier, older people are also more likely to take advice.
In addition, a marriage commitment often coincides with other life events, such as having children and buying a house, which can prompt people to take advice.
The ONS data shows that marriage rates are falling and cohabiting increasing, so it will be interesting to see whether our data on the relationship status of those taking advice will change over time.
Geographic variations
Our data also highlights that where you live plays a role in whether you take advice. Scotland and the south west of England have the greatest proportion of the local population receiving advice, each at 7 per cent, while London and north east England have the least, at 4 per cent.
There is a perception that people do not take advice because they do not have enough money. While this is likely true to an extent, our geographic data suggests it is not quite that straightforward.
The north east is the second poorest region in the UK (after Northern Ireland), with a gross disposable household income (GDHI) per head of £17,663 according to the ONS. This may account for fewer people there taking professional advice. However, London is the richest region with £31,094 GDHI per head, and the take-up of advice there is also very low.
Possibly the capital’s position as a centre for financial services means more wealthy people in London choose to manage their own finances.
Or it might be the fact that London’s population has a median age of 35.9, compared with 44.1 for those in the south west of England, according to ONS figures – and as we have seen, younger people are less likely to take advice.
It is easy to speculate, but it seems taking advice is not just about having the most disposable income.
