In recent years BDRC has supplied deep, actionable interpretation of the issues faced by consumers of financial services and the implications for product providers and their partners. The financial marketplace and the consumer mindset keep evolving, and we have to undertaken a great deal of innovative research into the really important issues:

• How consumers manage their financial lives day to day and longer term
• The current malaise in saving and investing, linked to consumer thinking and behaviour
• Provision of financial advice for consumers, and the effects of depolarisation
• Consumer perception of financial providers and increasing levels of consumer cynicism
• Opportunities and threats for financial providers

Financial Pathfinder brings together our most contemporary insights and is a fusion of varied sources, designed to stand as a detailed reference resource for customer insight managers and their clients.

Throughout this report we:-

• Bring to life the key issues with consumer case studies
• Assess the implications of our findings for financial providers
• Provide solutions

At the end of it we provide further recommendations and conclusions. Overall, our largest conclusion is that, given the changes in life stages, there are significant opportunities in product design and targeting that are going unnoticed by many financial providers.

Financial Pathfinder is available as a hard and soft copy report (the soft copy having dynamic content links for speed of navigation) for £1,700.

Table of Contents Executive Overview 1
A Dozen Insights 3
Introduction 5

Life Stages
1. A New Life Stages Model 10
2. Splinters in Life Stages 15
3. Applying the Life Stages Model 25

Consumer Attitudes & Behaviour
1. Financial Services in Context 28
2. Money Management 29
3. Consumer Experiences 33

Financial Products
1. Savings & Investment 38
2. Pensions 42
3. Credit 45
4. Property 48
5. Protection 49

Topical Issues
1. Inheritance Tax 52
2. The Advice Chasm 55
3. Communications 58

Conclusions 61

Appendices 65