Cardinal Point
Park Road
Rickmansworth
Herts
WD3 1RE

Tel: 01923 432689
Fax: 01923 432789

About Investors Planning Associates

Investors Planning Associates Ltd was founded over 30 years ago. Our Head Office is based in Rickmansworth, with nearly 30 sales offices around the country, some maintained by the Company, others being maintained by individual Associates.

The majority of our Associates and staff have been with the Company for over 10 years and some of the founding fathers remain with us today. IPA is a private limited company and our shares are owned by the Associates and staff.

The Financial Services Mystery

At all stages of our adult lives, we have to think about our financial situation.

When we are young, financially independent but living at home, our priority is short term saving for a deposit for a car &/or our first home.

We find a partner and want a mortgage. We need to protect ourselves financially should one of us die early or suffer long term illness. We may consider pension planning.

As parents, our priorities change again. We need to protect our children in case of illness or premature death. We may need to save for schooling and further education. At the back of our minds, we know that we need to build up our personal pension funds, particularly if we want to retire early. On the other hand, we may run our own business and be required to make pension and life cover provisions for our employees. We may well need to save for a rainy day such as redundancy.

When our children leave home or become financially independent, we start to think seriously about putting enough away for retirement. We become concerned with protection of our health both before and after retirement. We may now have accumulated or inherited savings and want to invest for growth.

We reach retirement and income becomes a priority. Protection of our assets and inheritance tax advice become of concern. Time passes and we have to consider our health and long term care provisions.

The financial issues that confront us in our lives are, at best, complex and for some, even overwhelming. We have all grown up with the concept of a welfare state that will look after us in sickness and old age. Increasingly, we are having to realise that this is not going to be the future for the majority of us.

We know that we need help, but where from? Scores of insurance and investment groups try to attract your custom in a myriad of ways.
Go into your bank, go online, open your newspaper, switch on your television or radio – you will be assailed by someone encouraging you to purchase some sort of financial product.

With this kind of overload, it is not hard to understand why people are confused or maybe even apathetic about finding a reliable source of financial advice.

Why Seek Independent Financial Advice?

There is no simple answer to the financial services mystery – one size does not fit all.

We all have different circumstances and the issues we face alter as those circumstances change.

You may choose to manage your own affairs, but this will require a considerable amount of time in research and analysis and will have to be an ongoing project for you.

You may just ask your bank – or more often, your bank will ask you when you simply wanted to pay a cheque in. However, their representative is likely to be only able to offer you a limited range of products or companies.

Since the Financial Services Act 1986 (& now under the Financial Services & Markets Act 2000) independent financial advisers are required to give you advice on a range of products chosen from all of the possible providers having gained an in depth understanding of your own personal financial situation.

The Independent Financial Adviser works for you, the client, and not for the provider.