Or: why you won't find any on this site, and where to go if you need it.** 

 

Most websites bury their disclaimer at the bottom of the page in tiny grey text and hope you skip it. I'd rather you read this one. So here's a plain-English explanation of what FreeBefore65 is, what it isn't, and where to go if you need something it can't give you. 

 

I'm not a financial adviser 

 I'll say this plainly. I am not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. I do not hold any financial services qualifications. I am not a pensions adviser, an investment adviser, a tax adviser, an accountant, a solicitor, or any other regulated professional. 

I'm a 58-year-old who has spent eighteen months researching his own early retirement and is writing about what he found, in real time, as he lives it.  

That distinction matters more than it might sound. 

 

Guidance versus advice - the difference matters 

In the UK there's a meaningful legal line between guidance and advice when it comes to money. 

Guidance is general information - "here's how ISAs work," "here's what the State Pension is," "here are the things people typically think about when planning early retirement." It's helpful, but it's not tailored to you. Anyone can give it. 

Advice is a personal recommendation. It takes your specific circumstances - your income, your assets, your debts, your goals, your tax position, your family situation, your attitude to risk - and tells you what *you* should do. In the UK, giving regulated advice without authorisation is illegal, and for good reason: regulation gets you legal protections, including access to the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if something goes wrong. 

Everything on this site is guidance, not advice. I write about what I've researched, what I've decided to do, and why. None of it is a recommendation about what *you* should do. I don't know your circumstances, and even if I did, I'm neither qualified nor authorised to tell you what to do with your money. 

If you read a post here and think "right, that's what I'll do," please pause. The next step is not to act on it. The next step is to talk to someone qualified to advise you on your specific situation. 

 

Why I keep recommending regulated advice 

I mention regulated advice often, sometimes in the same post where I'm explaining why I didn't take it myself. That isn't a contradiction. It's deliberate. 

Pension and tax rules in the UK are genuinely complex. The wrong decision - taking a tax-free lump sum at the wrong moment, drawing from the wrong pot in the wrong year, missing a National Insurance gap, triggering an unexpected tax charge - can cost you a lot of money, and some of those mistakes aren't reversible. A good regulated adviser earns their fee many times over for most people in this position. 

I made the choice to do my own research because I was prepared to put eighteen months into it, and because my own situation is relatively straightforward. That isn't most people. And it might not be me forever - there are decisions ahead where I'll almost certainly take advice myself. 

If you're approaching a decision involving real money, please factor the cost of advice into your planning. It is, in my honest opinion, one of the best uses of money in this whole process. 

 

Where to get free guidance 

If you're not ready for paid advice, or you want to understand the basics before you go to an adviser, these are the free UK services I'd point you towards: 

• MoneyHelper (moneyhelper.org.uk) - the Government-backed service that replaced the Money Advice Service and the Pensions Advisory Service. Free, impartial, and good. Start here if you're not sure where to start. 
• Pension Wise (part of MoneyHelper) - free, impartial guidance for the over-50s on what to do with a defined contribution pension. You can book a 60-minute appointment with a pensions specialist at no cost. If you're over 50 and you have a pension you might draw on early - book this. Seriously. Book it. 
• Citizens Advice (citizensadvice.org.uk) - for benefits, debt, and broader financial issues, particularly if your retirement is being forced rather than chosen. 

 

How to find a regulated adviser 

If you decide to take paid advice, make sure the adviser is FCA-authorised. Don't take anyone's word for it. Check. 

• The FCA register (register.fca.org.uk) - the definitive source. If they're not on it, don't use them. 
• Unbiased (unbiased.co.uk) and VouchedFor (vouchedfor.co.uk) - directories of regulated advisers, with reviews. Both are reasonable starting points. 

A few things worth looking for: an *independent adviser rather than restricted, one who specialises in retirement and pension planning, one who charges fees rather than commission, and one who's happy to do an initial conversation at no cost so you can decide whether you click. Read Unbiased Retirement Planning UK - Why the Best Information Isn't Always Where You'd Expect It

 

About the content on this site 

UK pension, tax and benefit rules change. They change in the Budget, they change between tax years, and occasionally they change mid-cycle. The numbers and rules I cite are correct to the best of my knowledge at the date the post was published, which is shown on each post. I'll update where I can, but I can't promise everything is current at the moment you're reading it. 

Always check the current rules - on GOV.UK, on MoneyHelper, or with an adviser - before acting on anything you read here. 

 

Income, affiliates and sponsorship 

I want to be transparent about how this site is funded. 

The site is currently self-funded. There are no affiliate links, no sponsored posts, no paid recommendations, and no advertising. If that ever changes, I will say so on this page first, and I will mark every affiliate link, sponsored post, and paid recommendation clearly within the relevant content. 

I have no commercial relationship with any of the services, books, channels or advisers I mention on this site. When I recommend something - Pete Matthew's book, Level 50 Lifestyle, MoneyHelper, anything else - it's because I think it's useful, not because I'm being paid to. 

 

Comments and your data 

Comments on this site are read by me. I welcome questions, disagreements, and stories from your own journey. I do not provide personal advice in the comments - for the reasons explained above - and I'll politely redirect specific personal questions to qualified sources. 

For details of how your data is handled, please see the [Privacy Policy]. 

 

If something I've written is wrong 

If you spot a factual error, please tell me. I'd much rather know. You can reach me via the [Contact page] and I read everything. 

 

The short version 

If you take one thing away from this page, take this. 

This site is one person's honest research and experience. It's a starting point for your thinking, not a substitute for professional advice. Where real money is involved, talk to someone qualified. 

That's not a get-out clause. It's the actual point of the site. The honest version is the only one worth telling - and the honest version is that I can show you what I've worked out for me, and you have to do the work for you.