Millennials willing to pay just £28.50 an hour for advice

Only 15% of 18-25 year olds prepared to pay for professional advice said they would spend more than £30 per hour, with just 5% willing to pay more than £50. Over half of those surveyed would not pay for advice at all.

The industry average is currently £150 per hour.

However, more than one in five (22%) said they would choose a financial adviser if they offered a young person’s discount and more than one in ten (12%) said they would choose an adviser firm which solely focused on giving advice to millennials or had younger advisers in the firm.

Sophie Robson, Consultant at MRM, said: “In today’s world, £28.50 buys very little. Other professionals, such as solicitors, can easily charge up to £1,500 for services associated with moving house for instance, but people accept these costs because they understand the risks involved in going it alone. Financial advisers on the other hand really have their work cut out to demonstrate their value to young people.

“If financial advisers can get this message across, it would go a long way to helping people get financially fit.”

Lawrence Cook, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Thesis Asset Management, added: “It is only when there is more at stake – and the risks of not taking advice could mean making some very costly mistakes – that people are liable to see the value of financial advice. The more complicated a person’s financial life, the more likely they are to understand that advice should be tailored specifically to their own circumstances and objectives – the simpler robo-option is probably not going to cut it anymore. And that is the point at which advisers need to demonstrate that their services represent good value for money.”

Jun Merrett, Content Editor, Nucleus, commented: “This is the perfect opportunity for advisers to engage with the younger generation to offer low-cost, light touch online services at a minimal time and financial cost to themselves that help young savers with their relatively simple financial needs. This helps form trusted relationships and will ‘incubate’ the young savers as clients until they hit the point where they have sufficient assets that need full financial advice; valuable for both client and adviser.”