By Special Reports

Copyright scotsman

It’s that time of year when younger minds turn to the future – either off to further education, or thinking about taking it up next year, or maybe realising that it’s time to leave all that behind and strike out into the workforce. I’ve written in Scotsman Money before – as have plenty of others – about the importance of financial planning and, if you possibly can, getting someone to come along with you as you shape your finances to fit your goals. It’s not easy to do for yourself – our tax system is complex, investing is by no means simple, money is emotional, and when you stick it all together things get very tricky indeed. It’s a bit like doing surgery – you could do it on yourself like Paul Bettany in Master And Commander, but you’re probably going to make a bit of a mess. Life isn’t like the movies all that often. Here’s a thing – we’re running out of financial planners. There are only about 27,000 or so in the UK, and a very high proportion of them are at an age where eyeing up the senior-flex graphite-shaft section of the golf shop is starting to look rather attractive. On the basis that your financial plan may well last 20 or 30 years – hopefully maybe more – having someone you can work with for an extended period isn’t the daftest thing in the world. The obvious answer is to fill up the hopper with younger people. But the financial services industry isn’t awfully good at this. Of the 27,000-odd in the job, just below 200 are under the age of 25. Only another 2,000 are under the age of 40. So if your mental image of a financial planner or adviser is someone in their 50s or 60s, you are not daft and may have ten house points. When I were a lad, the big financial providers ran training schemes to create “tied” financial advisers who could only give guidance on the products of that company. I went through one of those schemes in the mid-to-late-90s, and it was outstanding. These days they are mainly a thing of the past, as are the salesforces they fed. That said, there are smaller-scale efforts and academies that try to do their bit. And industry body the Personal Finance Society recently announced a £1 million investment to increase the profile of financial planning as a career and get more young people involved. Nonetheless, this is a sector which requires people to find their way to it, rather than throwing open its doors in an organised fashion like other professional services. That’s something it needs to work on, but there is an upside to this present lack of organisation – there are jobs going for those who are motivated and who are happy to do some work to root out the opportunities. Financial planning can be a great career, it’s basically about working with people, with some financial stuff on top that you get taught anyway. It isn’t just sales – no more than being a solicitor or accountant in private practice is. And there is a whole ecosystem of job roles surrounding planning for those who don’t enjoy working with people. You don’t have to do a particular degree, you don’t have to have gone to a posh school – you need to be bright, articulate, as well as being at least vaguely numerate, to get you going. Starting salaries can be decent if not world-beating, but if you’re any good you can be making proper money quite quickly, and for those with an entrepreneurial bent it is perfectly possible to start your own firm up. The Lang Cat recently ran an event on this theme, and invited 150 or so students across school and university, along with all the old lags. As part of the prep, I went and did a session for some Higher students at one of the schools sending folk along – and that was an eye-opener. Not only did these bright, engaged young folk not know about financial services, they didn’t have the slightest idea that there is huge demand for people who help other people with money. Nor did they know the first thing about finance, insurance, mortgages, investments and all that. This is not their fault – it’s a collective failing to prepare these young people for a major part of their lives. The Scottish curriculum has a little bit of finance stuff in the Applications of Maths course, I believe, but it’s nowhere near enough. So if you know a young person who’s considering their options, it’s worth including this part of the financial services sector in discussions. We really need them. As may you – maybe not today, but soon, and for the rest of your days. Maybe life is a bit more like the movies after all.