Research published today by Defaqto suggests that as many as 20 million people in the UK believe that they do not require financial advice. However, of those who would seek professional advice from an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) most would do so because the adviser offers impartial advice, rather than because they could save money on a financial transaction.

We already know that when people look for advice they tend to look online. Internet tools, like AdviserMap, make this search faster and more relevant.

We were reading an interesting article today, reviewing a recent survey about how people look for financial advice in the UK. Whilst we had always assumed that going to friends and family would be the most popular way to find an adviser (16%), it seems that this falls behind using the internet to find the information (25%). Only 1% of those surveyed would use the Yellow Pages.

As people become more comfortable and more new internet tools (like AdviserMap!) become available, we expect looking online to find a financial adviser to become an even more popular route to an adviser.

Research published today from Prudential suggests that three main financial activities should be completed before reaching age 26. These are buying a house, starting a pension and saving for the future.

These are considered by the research to be building blocks for the rest of your financial life. Of course it is never too late to start taking control of your finances!

What age do you think these three activities should be completed by?

The AdviserMap Team

We've discovered a great new internet tool today called a ClustrMap. This tool allows you to add some code to your website which displays a world map of your website visitors. In keeping with the mapping theme of AdviserMap we felt that this was a really exciting tool.

This is the world visitor map for the AdviserMap website. It might take a day or two to generate some visitor geographical locations, so please check back if there are no dots showing today!



To get your own ClustrMap for your blog or website please visit www.clustrmaps.com.

The 6th of April 2006 saw the introduction of A-day - or pensions tax simplification. This introduced a single set of rules for all registered pension schemes in the UK. The new rules mean that it is now possible to:

• take 25% tax-free cash from any type of pension arrangement, including protected rights
  
• take pension benefits from age 50, increasing to age 55 by the 6th of April 2010
  
• contribute up to 100% of your earnings each tax year and receive income tax at your highest marginal rate, up to an annual allowance limit (starting at £215,000 in the 2006/07 tax year
  
• make an unlimited pension contribution in the year you decide to take pension benefits (could be useful to reduce the taxation applied to proceeds from the sale of a business on retirement)
  
• take tax-free cash and then elect to draw a nil-income from the remaining pension fund, leaving it invested with the potential for future capital growth
  
• defer using your pension fund to purchase an annuity at age 75 for the first time, using the alternatively secured pension (ASP) option
  
• use your pension fund to invest in unquoted shares and assets that are already owned by the pension scheme member (since the removal of rules on 'connected parties' transactions)

Last Friday, the Finance Bill 2006 was published and included some additional pension related rules:

• an extension of the definition of 'member' and 'sponsoring employer' to include ex-members and former employers - in order to avoid abuse of the tax rules where value is shifted to an ex-member of a pension scheme
  
• the introduction of another test against the lifetime allowance when the pension scheme member reaches age 75 and opts for alternatively secured pension
  
• an extension of the rules on primary protection to include pre A-day lump sum benefits
  
• changing the rules on enhanced protection to cater for the ongoing payment of life cover within the pension fund
  
• some measures to prevent the recycling of tax-free cash to obtain tax relief on this as a fresh pension contribution, although it will still be possible to some extent within certain limits
  
• tighter rules on the investment within Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) where the member is able to influence of advise on investments.
  
• bringing pension funds post age 75 into line with other pension funds in payment for inheritance tax purposes

The guidance note from HM Revenue and Customs can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2006/bn26.htm.

Guidance on pension investments for member-directed pension schemes can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensionschemes/draft-guidance.pdf.

Guidance on recycling tax free cash to get tax relief as a fresh pension contribution can be found at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2006/recycling.pdf.

You can use AdviserMap to find an IFA who can provide professional independent financial advise on all aspects of pensions and retirement planning. Visit www.advisermap.co.uk today to find a local IFA who can help you get your retirement plans on track.

Please note that this is posted for general consideration only and he information contained herein is not to be acted upon without professional independent financial advice. Neither AdviserMap, Ciris Business Development Limited or any author can accept responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person no matter howsoever caused or arising as a result of or in consequence of action taken or refrained from in reliance of the contents hereof.

With the recent launch of a new standard for financial planning from the British Standards Institution (BS ISO 22222) the Observer has published a really useful article today which lists ten things a consumer should look for when choosing an Independent Financial Adviser.

You can read the article in full at http://observer.guardian.co.uk/cash/story/0,,1744669,00.html.

There are some useful points in this article that you should know about before using AdviserMap to find a financial adviser.

The Great Ideas Update is a blog run by Mark Shaw that collates the Great Ideas he has found on the internet. He regularly updates this blog to share the Great Ideas he has found and offers the option to subscribe (for free) to be updated whenever he posts a new item.

You can find the Great Ideas Update at http://greatideasupdate.blogspot.com/. The AdviserMap was recently featured! Where do you find your Great Ideas?

Google Maps Mania is an unofficial blog that tracks the various websites created using Google Maps technology. If you like AdviserMap then you will find other sites based on similar technology at http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/.

If an area looks crowded, use the navigation tools to get closer and this will space the pins out.

Look out for a new 'tip of the day' box on the AdviserMap website - coming soon.

Fun for a Friday afternoon!

There is a neat tool at http://metaatem.net/words which allows you to build words using photos from Flickr.

The creative brains of the AdviserMap team managed to put the following effort together this afternoon:

I always thought that 'adviser' was the English spelling and 'advisor' was the US version, until I read this newsletter entry which suggests both can be acceptable over in the States. Is it Adviser or Advisor? Does it really matter?!
AdviserMap is a new way to find a professional adviser in the UK.

People buy from people, which is why we have included the ability for premium members of AdviserMap to upload their photo to their AdviserMap profile. It's the small touches that matter, but potential clients will want to find out a little more about you as a person. The photo helps to achieve this. Find out more and register for Premium membership at http://www.advisermap.co.uk/register.php.

We've continued to enhance the functionality of AdviserMap with the introduction of a local map on each Adviser Profile.

....that you can use AdviserMap to get directions to your nearest IFA, Accountant or Solicitor? Simply click 'more>>', enter your postcode in the box and click on 'Get Directions'. A new window will open giving you turn-by-turn directions from your postcode to their offices. This feature will also tell you how far it is to your adviser and how long an average journey of this length will take.

Already, and in a very short period of time, the Adviser Map website is starting to rank very highly on Google and the other major search engines. AdviserMap is a new way of finding a professional adviser in the UK and will quickly become the first choice for finding a local Independent Financial Adviser, Accountant or Solicitor. No other directory gives you the ability to search an interactive map of the UK to find the advice you need.

A warm welcome to AdviserMap!