I was away in Cornwall last weekend (yes, I know it’s a long way to travel from Essex to Cornwall for a weekend!) where we spent Saturday morning at Adrenaline Quarry, visited a cider farm Saturday lunchtime, and spent Saturday afternoon at the beach.

We had a great day with all the activities being fantastic fun, but I’ve got to say the highlight was the longest zip wire in the UK at Adrenaline Quarry which allowed Charlotte (my eldest daughter) and I the opportunity to throw ourselves off a cliff without too much concern for our welfare.  If you have thrill seeking children (or you are a thrill seeker yourself) and you find yourself in south east Cornwall area for some reason it’s worth taking a trip!

On the way back from the beach to our Hotel, I decided to check my twitter feed (much to the disappointment of Cassie who wanted a ‘mobile free weekend’) and got involved in an interesting debate on the increasing use of technology in respect of it’s role in helping the UK population plan for their financial futures.

Firstly, yes I am sad enough to engage in a debate on twitter on a Saturday night whilst on a weekend away about this subject!  Secondly, I was finding it tough to collate all my thoughts on this subject into 140 characters on Twitter….so I promised both @Abrahamonmoney and @ianmckennaftrc that I would write a blog entry on the subject….and here it is….

I’m a firm believer in the fact that in on-line technology will play a fundamental role in helping individuals plan for their future financial well being.  Currently the market for these services in the UK isn’t as developed as some parts of the world (specifically the USA), but I believe that this is changing rapidly and over the course of the next year you will hear more and more about these on-line services which will help bring financial planning to the ‘mass market’.

An on-line financial planning process has a number of key advantages.  The costs of using a web based financial planning tool will be far cheaper than engaging with a ‘real-life’ financial planner.  If the tools are designed correctly the process for the user could be smooth, easy to understand and produce output designed for the individual, and with examples I’ve seen of some of the technology currently available this is potentially achievable.  Also, some of the work we do with out face to face clients can be automated quite efficiently, and therefore a web based solution could meet the needs for a large number of individuals in an effective way.

Also,  the more people we can motivate to save and invest for their financial futures in the UK the better!  Easy to use automated web based financial planning systems will play a fundamental role in helping many individuals have better financial futures.  In my personal opinion, this has to be a good thing.

The key point about these tools is to ensure that they are compelling enough so that consumers are happy to pay for these services.  In the UK we need to work harder to ensure that as a nation we are more financially literate and I believe that this work starts with working with schools to engage children with money matters at an early age.

However in the short term the key to ensure that people can engage with On-line tools is education at all ages to ensure that the importance of saving longer term for a financial future (and the risks of not doing so) are highlighted clearly.

So, if web based technology will be a core driver to help individuals plan for their financial futures (and I believe it will), will that mean ‘human’ financial planners will be obsolete in the coming years?  By being an advocate of the ‘automated option’ am I saying that professional independent financial planners will be a thing of the past?  Absolutely not!

I believe there will be a market for both on-line and face to face advice.  My clients understand that they pay for my time and expertise, but not only that, they pay for the relationship we have and the fact that they have an individual they know and trust managing their affairs in a professional manner.

Could my clients ‘do it’ cheaper?  Yes.  Are they prepared to pay for a professional service and the peace of mind sitting down with a real person on a regular basis to discuss their affairs? Yes.

Whilst I’m an advocate of technology helping more people save and invest for their financial futures, I believe that there will be a large number of individuals who are engaged with financial planning won’t look for the solution on the web, but want to deal with a qualified individual who has taken the time to understand their needs fully.

This isn’t because the technology can’t do a pretty decent job with core portfolio building and financial planning (because I believe it can), but because they want to know that a real person is looking after their financial affairs, is at the end of the line in case they have any queries, and has considered the issues important to them which may not be able to be programmed ‘into the system’.

So, to summarise.  I love technology and believe that it plays a role in helping more individuals have better financial futures.  I also believe that a computer system is more than capable of completing certain analytic tasks required to help in this area.

However until a computer can build relationships of trust, be an immediate and personal contact with the expertise required to help individuals and to provide reassurance, support and advice as and when the client needs it, I believe that the professional independent (and human!) financial planner still has a key role to play in helping individuals achieve their financial goals.