Raining champions

With voluntary retirement savings reaching a particular low, the role of advisers has become a more fundamentally motivational one, ensuring that clients are financially prepared to weather the storms of that ultimate rainy day

The biggest decision a person can make to help ensure their retirement is relatively prosperous is not what wrapper or fund to select; it is not even that important how wealthy or financially literate they are. It is much simpler than that, and is just a case of deciding to save in the first place, and as early in life as possible. A study of US retirees in 2000 found that the two most influential factors in the level of their retirement savings were how much they saved and when they started saving. It would be easy to read that point as an argument against advisers - if the public just n...