When it comes to financial planning, decisions around what to do with our retirement pots – from building them to spending them – are among the most important we’ll ever make. But getting professional help in this area has just become trickier.
The popular Retirement Adviser Directory, operated by the government’s MoneyHelper, closed this month, leaving those with pension questions fewer options to find advice.
The list was often a go-to because it was free, impartial and non-commercial, with the site pledging: “We don’t receive any incentive or commission and won’t share your details or contact you.”
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Retirement advice can include everything from how to invest, to the best way to drawdown a pension, paying for care home fees, equity release and inheritance tax. It is a very complex area and one where it is highly recommended to speak to a regulated financial adviser.
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MoneyHelper said the Retirement Adviser Directory was closed due to the landscape having “evolved significantly” since it launched 10 years ago, and there are now a wide range of free retirement adviser directories in place.
Zoe Burns-Shore, executive director for customer delivery at the Money and Pensions Service, said: "We don't take the decision to decommission our guidance tools lightly, but we must ensure we are able to focus on supporting our customers where there isn't guidance readily available.
"Many advisers which were listed on the RAD are on other established directories. MoneyHelper now signposts people to these free online directories, with clear guidance to support them."
The closure comes as more people than ever are accessing their pensions. Recent data from the Financial Conduct Authority shows nearly a million pension pots (961,575) were accessed for the first time in 2024/25, up around 43% on 2019/20, so more people than ever are hitting retirement decisions at once and looking for help.
According to the same data, nearly 70% of people made complex pension decisions without professional advice. And most people in drawdown are taking regular withdrawals of more than 8% a year, which risks depleting their savings too quickly.
The closure of the Retirement Adviser Directory means those searching for reliable pension advisers to help them have to do a bit more digging. But several options remain.
Where to go for pension advice
Pension Wise
Pension Wise is a government-backed specialist service for those aged 50 or over with a defined contribution pension pot. Pension Wise provides a free 45 to 60 minute appointment (online, by phone on 0800 138 3944, or face-to-face at a local Citizens Advice) to explain your retirement options – in the form of impartial guidance, but not fully fledged bespoke advice.
However you may have to be very patient to actually get to speak to anyone at Pension Wise. Savers are still waiting an average of more than three weeks for an appointment, three times longer than before the pandemic, new data obtained by wealth firm Quilter under the Freedom of Information Act, showed.
The same FOI revealed Pension Wise’s telephone service remains the dominant channel but digital guidance, introduced in October 2024, has surged from approximately 2,000 appointments a month initially to consistently more 3,000 since the beginning of the summer 2025.
Jon Greer, head of retirement policy at Quilter, said: “Guidance is only valuable if it is accessible. We know that engagement is fragile, and if people encounter delays when they first reach out for help, many will simply give up and press ahead without any help.”
With targeted support on the horizon – designed to help people with simpler needs get appropriate direction without the cost of full financial advice – there is a chance that financial providers can take some of the burden away from MoneyHelper.
Unbiased
Unbiased is an online directory to find regulated financial advisers. It is free for people seeking a financial adviser to use, but the firms recommended to you have paid to be listed there. You can filter by the type of advice you need – including pension advice – and your location so you can find an adviser local to you.
Unbiased describes itself as “an AI-enabled financial advice platform” that applies advanced artificial intelligence models “trained on a rich dataset of user activity to intelligently match individuals with qualified advisers”.
The website claims to have more than 27,000 vetted advisers listed, and that it can match you with the most appropriate one in as quick as 36 minutes.
It’s important to remember Unbiased is a commercial enterprise. On its Linkedin profile it states since 2010 it has generated over $100 billion in assets under management opportunities for financial advisers, with 65% of “prospects” – by which it means people searching for professional help – being new to advice.
Yet it scores a high 4.4 out of 5 on review site Trustpilot, with reviewers overwhelmingly saying they had a great experience with the Unbiased. Consumers reported feeling the company connects them with knowledgeable professionals who understand their needs.
VouchedFor
VouchedFor is also a commercial adviser directory of regulated financial professionals that works very much the same as Unbiased (though it claims to “do more checks than any other adviser directory”).
It’s free for you to use and the advisers pay to be listed. You answer a few simple questions, including the type of advice you’re looking for and how much you have in savings, and VouchedFor aims to match you with your “ideal” adviser. Then you can have a free, no-obligation chat with them.
VouchedFor scores slightly higher than Unbiased on Trustpilot with a score of 4.7 out of 5. Reviewers liked the quick and efficient response times, and felt confident in the advice they received and valued the clarity with which information asked for was presented to them.
Society of Later Life Advisers
The Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA) specialises in regulated and accredited advisers who understand financial needs in later life.
Established in 2008, it is a not for profit organisation “dedicated to higher standards and accessibility to regulated financial advice for older people and their families”. There are no shareholders and any profit is used to sustain the Society and its objectives.
SOLLA has an adviser directory which you can use to search by location and advice type, including paying for care and equity release. All full members of the Society must achieve the Later Life Adviser Accreditation and adhere to a Code of Practice to ensure their clients know what to expect from their services.
SOLLA accredited advisers can advise on:
- Retirement planning (pensions and annuities)
- Funding for care home fees
- Funding for care in your own home
- Equity release and other property options
- Savings and investment planning
- Tax matters and estate and wealth planning
Personal Finance Society
The Personal Finance Society is the professional body for the financial planning profession in the UK. Its remit is to “lead the financial planning community towards higher levels of professionalism exhibited through technical knowledge, client service and ethical practice”.
The Personal Finance Society has an adviser directory of its members that you can search by location, areas of expertise and contact method.
