What is the best way to get educated or get help on investing?

Partner and I are both earning 85k each. We are in our mid 50s. Uncertain on how to invest to make the money work for us. What is the best way to get educated or get help.

Hi Monica

It's a great question, as now is a really important time for you to make the money work hard, to set you up for the next phase of life (retirement) whenever that may be and whatever that may look like.

There are two main routes for you to consider.

1) First, you can do it yourself.
Going DIY will mean you need to spend the time researching and learning about how to invest, how much risk you want to take, how to invest tax-efficiently and ideally trying to find a low cost investment platform, should you decide you want to invest savings each month.

Ultimately, for this approach to work effectively, you need to be happy to commit time and energy to learning about your options, and if you want to make your money really work for you, how investing works. This approach means you don't pay anyone for advice, but more responsibility sits with you.

If you do go down this route, I would suggest using the Boring Money website pages and guides as a great starting place and then branch off to investment platform websites, which also have as much information as you can read!

2) The other main option is getting advice from a financial adviser/planner.
This will of course cost you money both initially and, in most cases, on an ongoing basis.
A financial planner can ultimately guide you through and advise you on how much and how you should save/invest and where to do so, with full knowledge of your financial situation and what is important to you both in the short and longer term. A good financial planner should really 'get you' and you feel like they have your best interests at heart.

As a financial planner, I am a big advocate of having a 'plan'. What I mean by this, is understanding the implications of saving on your month to month outlook now and how much of a positive impact this will have on your longer-term financial position. Essentially, providing you with a financial roadmap so that you can see the big picture that this all fits into.

So, if longer-term planning is your aim here, I'd suggest speaking to a financial planner who will first get to know you and understand if they are able to help you. Most will help map out a plan for you and then following this, provide you with advice specifically about saving/investing to get you towards your goal(s).

If you'd like to chat further, I'd be very happy to do so.

With best wishes

Jamie