Feedback

Thank you for letting me try out AIB Future Sorted online tool – I hadn’t heard of it before I saw it on Mummypages.
The tool was easy to navigate with attractive imagery / interface. It was simple and didn’t tax me, so it felt like I was browsing through options without having to commit to anything. This felt nice as I’m not sure what frame of mind you need to be in to shop for financial products. To date anything I have purchased has been either by obligation from a lending institution or from an opportunistic sales person.
I understood what I was being asked, but for the most part – I wasn’t sure I needed financial planning advice so the only bit I was unsure of was when it asked what I would most like advice on. I suppose this is the reason why you should do it – you don’t really think about it so you don’t realise what you need.
The procrastinator type resonated with me, we previously have a financial advisor call last year when my husband turned 50 to see what pension plans we had in place. Because we are self-employed, a pension never seemed to be on our radar, which is really unwise considering the tax incentives available. But of course we procrastinated. From completing the brief test online, I became really aware that this was something I needed to understand better.
It created a sense of urgency to stop putting off financial planning and to request a call back.
As a mother of 4 with myself and my husband self-employed and working together It made me really face up to the fact that we needed to get a handle on this from a holistic perspective.
Completing the financial review over the phone was super, efficient, informative, I felt bad taking so much of my advisor’s time, but he was so helpful and I had so many questions, I just felt I had to keep the answers coming while I had an expert opinion.
Really appreciate being able to get this advice remotely too. I would never have found the time to go to a branch to meet with someone, and my last financial planner called to the house which was very convenient but a little intrusive. I much prefer the online & call option. The irony being that, I probably spent longer on the call than the face to face, but when disclosing personal information as is required for this review, it is nice to have a voice/relationship established but still maintain a little distance, if this makes sense.
The advisor, Kenny, was informative and friendly, he took me through the whole process without it feeling cumbersome – time flew we were on the call for 80 mins.
I found the review easy to follow, and if I got stuck on anything, Kenny was able to remind me of where each of the figures were coming from - left to my own devices I would have given up quicker.
Overall I found this very useful and now finally understand what cover I have in place, what additional cover I need and even had a sit down with my husband to explain what cover we have, what additional cover we need for critical illness etc – should anything happen me or him at least we have some plans in place and are ready to put more in line.
I would definitely recommend other mums to do this and will be recommending Kenny to friends.
The tool was a lovely soft intro to the package. It felt light and easy and didn’t require too much work on my behalf which is always off putting at the start of this process. For the call, I was conscious that I needed to have some preparation done so I was a little anxious as I literally had 2 minutes to scrabble together my financial information. I needn’t have worried though as Kenny was patient and helped me dig out the knowledge that I had stored away in my head to fill the gaps of the policies I had in place, which was all needed to complete the review.

I recently engaged with the AIB Customer Financial Planning department. As I am getting older I am so conscious that I should really understand all my pension arrangements but I have to put my hands up and say it all seems terribly complicated and so I keep putting it on the long finger.
Having chatted with Cathal in AIB, I must say I don't feel like that anymore. Cathal explained my pension options to me in a simple, easy to understand way. He was very approachable in his manner and easy to talk to. There was no jargon and I felt I could ask plenty of questions. He not only discussed how I should approach my pension, but also looked at the issue of providing for the college years that are looming. Not only that, but I never realised the investment options open to me - no matter how small that investment might be.
The one thing I took away from our conversation was that the earlier I address my pension the better and the more financially manageable it all is. It was great to be able to chat to AIB - the best part was that it felt like a conversation, not a meeting I had to be prepared for or know all the answers beforehand. It was just a 'chat' but I came away with a much clearer picture of what my future could look like with a little bit of planning,
I would definitely recommend engaging with the AIB Financial Planning department on these issues to give a bit of peace of mind for the future.

The online tool to start the process was very user friendly. Both it’s simplicity and graphics were inviting to the user. The questions were straightforward and not intrusive in any way. I understood throughout what I was being asked at the same time, helping me to think about my future financial planning.
The process helped me to think about my future finances and pension options. It made me want to have a call back and to face up to thinking about the future.
I received my call back from a lady called Stacey. She was both polite and professional. She clearly explained the product on offer, what would be on offer to me and the advantages of such a product. Stacey also explained the tax implications that would work to my advantage associated with this product.
As a result, I would definitely recommend this process to anyone in doubt about securing a pension for the future as I have a much better understanding of my financial circumstances.

Firstly, I would like to say that I was genuinely surprised at how much I took from this phone call. The gentlemen caller guided me carefully through the opening process of the app on the second computer, so I didn’t feel in any way overwhelmed. We took it slowly. I found the functionality of the tool very easy to use. I was also carefully guided through the steps, so it wasn’t intimidating at all.
The gentleman caller made it clear for me to understand what I was being asked. It was all made it all very evident and transparent. He was very calm and concise, so I appreciated that.
I’m the procrastinator type so that very much resonated with me. I am a very busy mum living in the now, and not thinking about the future. So, it was great to get some guidance towards this period of my life and what is needed to get there. I’m actually quite glad I took the call. To be honest I was doing it to just to take part, but now I will be setting up a pension with AIB, so I’m happy about that.
The call certainly made me pontificate my future finances and what I was doing about it. After he explained the benefits of a pensions and building a pot it seemed to be a no brainer. I felt compelled to listen to the whole call and stayed on to start the process of applying for a pension. I will be returning the forms to the caller to start it all off.
This is the first time I have done a financial review over the phone, so for me it was a success. As I mentioned before I am a very busy mum, between working from home on my new business and collecting my children from school just after lunchtime in the day. The days fly by. So, to speak to qualified personnel about this from my kitchen was just ideal.
I understand that some may be weary of over the phone and remote appointment, however once I saw the branded screen, it legitimised the call. The concept is very handy. It saves you having to go into the bank itself and it was clear and easy to use. For me I am very much in favour of the remote consultation as it saves so much time.
I definitely think there needs to be an element of trust with your caller though. They must make it clear who they are, what they’re doing and somehow prove their stature. The advisor I had was very good. He explained everything very well and was very non-judgemental about the whole thing. It didn’t matter that my business was only beginning, we forecasted from the meagre early days to where the business might go, and how I could adapt with it all for saving for the pension. I found it all easy to follow, and quite interesting indeed to be planning that far ahead. It was great to have a look at my finances in terms of the future like that. My only critic was it went on a bit too long perhaps. My concentration waned a little, but not much. I think a scenario like this would suit many of my peers. So, I would recommend this to a friend. And yes, I would recommend the tool also to a friend. We are living in a fast-paced world and we are all becoming very used to streamlined services so I think this is very in line with current styles. Very insightful.