As we look back on the 12 months since the UK first went into lockdown one thing is abundantly clear – financially, the last year has been good for some people. We’re not talking about the billionaires who have seen their shares rocket during lockdown but rather the many, many people who have saved money by not commuting, not buying lunch from the sandwich shop and not going on holiday.

Depending on which paper you read, people in the UK have ‘accidently’ saved anywhere between £100bn and £125bn during lockdown.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, lockdown has been hard for millions of people as businesses have failed, jobs have been lost and they have been forced to rely on their savings.

In both cases there has been a need for financial planning advice. A year ago it might have been assumed that fewer people would need financial advice as a new money management or savings and investing app came out virtually every other day.

However, according to a recent report from Prudential, the exact opposite is the case. More than half – 53% – of UK adults say that financial problems and changed circumstances over the last 12 months have caused them to seek financial advice. Of this figure, 33% have already sought financial advice, whilst the remaining 20% are planning to do so.

For most of those responding to the survey the glass was, unfortunately, half-empty, with 85% of people saying they had concerns about the next twelve months, with the two concerns most frequently highlighted being: ‘having to use savings to make ends meet’ and ‘my investments losing money.’

Interestingly, the report revealed that the need for financial advice was felt most among the younger generations – Millennials and Generation Z, exactly the generations we might have assumed would shun traditional advice in favour of apps and online portals.

Seventy-four percent of Millennials said that they had, or were going to, see a financial adviser, with 58% of Generation Z echoing those sentiments. The key drivers for these generations were ‘avoiding financial difficulties’ and ‘wanting to start [my] investment journey.’

Clearly the last 12 months have been difficult for everyone. What they have illustrated is that financial planning advice will always be required and that people – of whatever generation – will always value face-to-face advice (even if that has been face to Zoom advice recently…)

Our clients can rest assured that whatever happens with the pandemic – and however long the restrictions stay in force – our commitment to providing the very best long-term financial planning advice will never waiver.