Financial advice is only sought by one in five in the run up to retirement according to prudential.

The insurer has warned that people approaching retirement age could be missing out on valuable guidance by choosing to shun the services of a professional financial adviser.

Instead, Prudential’s Class of 2010 report has found that more than a third of people got their financial advice from friends and family, newspapers, magazines and the internet.

Vince Smith-Hughes, head of retirement income at Prudential believes not seeking advice is a missed opportunity: “There’s no doubt that the internet and all the various personal finance magazines and newspapers provide a wealth of useful information for people planning their retirement. 

“But if people rely solely on this information to make a financial decision, it could lead to serious misdiagnosis and people could end up making irreversible decisions which leave them financially disadvantaged.

“I suspect that one reason for low take-up of financial advice is that people are reluctant to pay for it, but I firmly believe there’s no substitute for expert professional financial advice.  Like many services which require skill and a detailed knowledge of the market, financial advice does cost money.”

According to Prudential’s research men are more inclined to consult a financial adviser than women while more women than men tend to seek their advice from friends or family and newspapers, magazines or the internet.

© Fair Investment Company Ltd