Most Britons feel unprepared for major life events

Research from Mattioli Woods, based on a YouGov survey of 2,078 UK adults and reported by Professional Adviser on 28 September 2026, finds that 44% of Britons feel financially unprepared for a major life event. An accountant already has the earliest view of many of those events: in a director's loan account, a change of address, or a return that stops halfway through the year.

9 min read · 29 September 2026 · Altro Partners, by Equity & General

44%

of UK adults feel financially unprepared for a major life event, rising to 53% of those aged 45 to 54.

Mattioli Woods, research by YouGov, 28 September 2026

Reacting to

Most Britons feel financially unprepared for major life events (Professional Adviser, 28 September 2026)

Major life events include a house move, a separation, a redundancy, a bereavement and a business sale. Each one changes what a client needs to do with their money, and Mattioli Woods' research finds that close to half of UK adults do not feel ready for their next major life event. Many of those events pass through the return or the accounts, sometimes before the client mentions them to anyone.

How unpreparedness varies by age and region

The figures, as reported by Professional Adviser on 28 September 2026:

44%

of UK adults feel financially unprepared for a major life event.

53%

of 45- to 54-year-olds feel unprepared, against 32% of those aged 55 and over.

48%

of women feel unprepared, against 40% of men.

49%

of adults in Scotland and the North West feel unprepared, the joint-highest of the regions surveyed, with Yorkshire close behind at 48%.

Mattioli Woods, research by YouGov, 2,078 UK adults, reported by Professional Adviser, 28 September 2026.

People aged 45 to 54 can be carrying several of these events close together: a mortgage still running, children part-way through education, and parents who may need care. This age group includes directors and partners already known to an accountant. Those who are self-employed or run their own company have no workplace pension scheme built around them.

What shows up in a director’s loan account first

A major life event has a cost, and a director who runs their own company may pay it from the company’s bank account. The record of that payment is the director’s loan account. A balance that sat near nil for two years and then moves by a large amount in a single month is the first place a house purchase, a legal bill, a family settlement or a funeral bill becomes visible to anyone outside the client’s own household.

The same is true of the tax return. A change of address. A change of marital status. Self-employment income that stops mid-year, which can mean redundancy from a separate employment, a health event, or a business that has been sold or wound down. A pension lump sum or drawdown appearing as income for the first time. Each is an entry the return and the accounts already have to record.

A couple going through paperwork at their kitchen table

Mattioli Woods, research by YouGov, 28 September 2026: 44% of UK adults feel financially unprepared for a major life event, rising to 53% of those aged 45 to 54.

A worked example

This example uses a made-up company and made-up figures.

A design consultancy, one director-shareholder, turnover £310,000, net profit £96,000. The director’s loan account shows a nil balance at the start of the year. In March, two withdrawals totalling £42,000 take it into debit. The same month, the tax return being prepared for the previous year lists a change of address. No board minute records a reason for either.

The design consultancy

Made-up company and made-up figures

Director’s loan account, start of year£0

Withdrawn in two payments in March£42,000

Balance at year end£42,000

Under section 455 of the Corporation Tax Act 2010, a company charge applies if the loan is not repaid within nine months and one day of the year end, released once the loan is repaid; a loan over £10,000 is also a benefit in kind unless interest is charged (gov.uk, Director’s loans). The accountant handling the year end already has to raise the repayment date with the client. Whether the £42,000 was a house deposit, a legal fee or something else is not something the accountant needs to know to ask whether the client would like a conversation with the Equity & General financial planner about what happens next.

Accountancy work and regulated advice

Accountancy work

Reading the loan account, the return and the accounts, and noticing a movement or a change that has no explanation on file.

Regulated advice

Working out what the client should do about the event behind it, whether that means a mortgage, a protection policy, a pension contribution or an investment decision, sits with the Equity & General financial planner.

The division is set out in what the accountant does and what the financial planner does. An introduction, where the client agrees to one, is made through the partner portal in the firm’s name, and the firm sees it tracked from the first call through to advice implemented.

Few adults take regulated financial advice

The FCA’s Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 8.6% of UK adults had taken regulated financial advice on investments, pensions or retirement planning in the previous twelve months, and 13% of self-employed adults had. The lang cat’s State of Advice Report 2025 counts fewer than 5,000 IFA firms serving the whole of the UK. Set against Mattioli Woods’ 44%, the gap between feeling unprepared and having spoken to anyone regulated about it is wide. A self-employed client sees an accountant on a fixed annual basis whether or not they have a financial adviser.

The self-employed client whose only regular financial relationship is the person preparing their return is described in more detail in the self-employed client nobody has protected. Bereavement and inheritance, another of the life events in the Mattioli Woods research, is covered from the accountant’s side in HMRC’s inheritance tax checks on estates.

Two things to check this week

Scan director’s loan accounts for large, unexplained movements. A balance that moved by a five-figure sum in a single month, with no minute or note attached, may record a life event the client has not raised.
Read the personal details page of the return alongside the figures. A change of address, a change of marital status, or a year with no self-employment income are each a reason to ask, at the next meeting, whether anything has changed that the client would like to talk through.

What is not yet settled

Mattioli Woods’ research measures how prepared people feel. It does not measure the savings, cover or plans they hold, so the 44% is a measure of confidence. The coverage available at the time of writing did not give the fieldwork dates or a full regional breakdown beyond Scotland, the North West and Yorkshire. The figures should be cited as Mattioli Woods’ research, reported by Professional Adviser, and the full report checked before they are used in anything client-facing.

Common questions

Can an accountant tell a client they seem financially unprepared?

Yes, as an observation about what is on the file. An accountant can say that a director's loan account moved by a large amount with no note explaining why, or that a tax return shows a change of address, a change of marital status or a year without self-employment income, and ask whether the client would like a conversation with the Equity & General financial planner about it. Saying what is visible in the accounts is professional judgement. Naming a product, a provider or an amount to save is regulated advice, and an accountancy practice without FCA permissions cannot give it.

What life events show up in a set of accounts before anywhere else?

A director's loan account moving by a large amount in a short period, often the first sign of a house purchase, a legal bill or a family arrangement. A change of address or a change of marital status on the tax return. Self-employment income stopping mid-year, which can mean redundancy from an existing employment or the end of a contract. A pension lump sum or drawdown appearing as income for the first time. A property disposal on the capital gains pages. Each of these is recorded because the accounts and the return have to record it, months or years before the client raises it in conversation.

Why do self-employed clients get less regulated advice than employees?

The FCA's Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 8.6% of UK adults had taken regulated financial advice on investments, pensions or retirement planning in the previous twelve months, and 13% of self-employed adults had. Employees are more likely to have a workplace pension with default guidance built around it and a payroll department that records a change in circumstances. A self-employed client’s only regular financial relationship may be the accountant preparing the return, so the year-end meeting may be the only time a professional looks at their finances.

What if a client says they already have a financial adviser?

The accountant can still tell them what is on the file, without offering an introduction. Saying that a loan account or a change on the return looks like it is connected to something significant is useful to a client whether or not they act on it with the Equity & General financial planner, an adviser they already use, or nobody at all. The accountant is not checking whether the client has advice in place before deciding whether to mention what is on the file.

Is raising this the same as recommending a financial product?

No, provided the accountant stops at the observation. Describing a movement on the loan account, a change of address, or a lump sum appearing as income is reading the accounts and the return, which is accountancy work. Recommending a pension contribution, an investment, a protection policy or a specific provider is regulated advice. The introduction, made through the partner portal in the firm's name with the client's consent, is how the two stay separate while the client still gets a joined-up answer from one file.

Financial planning for your clients, alongside the accounts and tax work

Equity & General holds the FCA authorisation. There is no charge to your firm, and a named partnership director works with you from the first introduction.