There are many times in life when someone may need to seek financial advice from a professional. With personal finance not being a topic taught in school, many people have little to no knowledge when it comes to things like mortgages, debt, interest rates and inflation.
People may seek professional financial advice when they need to make an important financial decision and you will trust a professional to give you the best advice. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. So, how can you tell if you’ve been given incorrect or bad financial advice?
Sold Products/Services Not Right For You
One of the most obvious signs of bad financial advice is being sold a product/service that is not right for you and your money. You entrust a financial professional to provide advice that will benefit you, so if you find that the advice had the opposite effect then this is a sign that it was bad advice.
Not Knowing Risks
Another common sign of bad advice is not being informed of the risks of a financial decision. Financial decisions often have serious consequences and you must always be aware of what these are before you make the decision. These consequences could change your life and you should look to a professional negligence claim if you were not properly informed about the risks.
Hidden Fees & Penalties
When you sign up for a product or service, you will find that usually there are a few fees or there may be penalties if there is a particular action/inaction. These fees and penalties should be outlined before you enter the agreement (always check the small print). If you only discover these fees after and they were not communicated, this is a clear sign of professional negligence and action should be taken.
Not Knowing How Money is Invested
People will often speak to a financial advisor to get advice on how and where they should invest their money. If you were not properly informed of how your money would be invested, this is a sign of bad financial advice. Even if you do not have a strong knowledge of investing, you should know where your money is being invested after speaking with a specialist.
Hard Sale Tactics
A financial advisor should only ever advise you on what you should do. If you feel that they employed hard sale tactics to force you into a decision that you were not entirely comfortable with, this is another sign of poor financial advice and negligence. Ultimately, it is your decision to make and you should never feel forced into taking any kind of action based on what a financial advisor tells you.
These are all clear signs that you have received poor financial advice and you should look into taking legal action. Financial decisions can have major, life-changing circumstances and it is important that you feel that you are in good hands.