27 August 2026
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As FCA research indicates prevalent AI use, especially amongst young investors, Quilter unveils three key tips to assist with prompts and personal finances
As people increasingly turn to artificial intelligence (AI) for help with their investments and personal finances, Quilter is providing helpful advice to assist with prompts to ensure the output is accurate and useful.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s latest research* found that young investors are trusting AI when it comes to considering investments, with 56% trusting the tools – more than currently trust (TV and radio (47%), press (46%) or social media influencers (29%).
Quilter’s own research** found that 67% of savers and investors are comfortable using AI to support financial decision-making. Currently many are using the technology for informational purposes, with more than four in 10 (42%) comfortable using AI to explain financial concepts, 40% helping understand tax rules, and almost a third (29%) to sense-check their thinking.
However, more than one in five (22%) already use AI to get more accurate recommendations via personal information, whilst comfort in providing personal information to get more accurate suggestions is greatest amongst the under 45s (37%).
Sam Christopher, proposition director at Quilter, commented: “As AI gets more sophisticated, and people begin to use it more in their daily lives, then we can expect AI agents will become one source of information used by many in their financial planning and likely in a much more personalised way.
“AI does have the potential to be transformative for a number of people, although personalised, and regulated, financial advice from a human is still likely to result in the most positive outcome for consumers, especially when there are big decisions to be made. But we cannot ignore that large swathes of the population are now turning to AI to some extent for their personal finances, and they need to understand where the drawbacks are, what they may be getting wrong and how to actually get the best of the technology.
To help people with navigate AI and their personal finances safely, regardless of which large language model they use, Sam Christopher has given her three tips and some good/bad practice to implement today:
- Give enough context
“When it comes to AI, context matters hugely. You may have heard that the output from AI is only as good as the prompt itself, so important context can ensure you don’t just receive vague or irrelevant information. Especially when asking about tax or portfolio construction, being specific about things, even if just hypothetically, and what you are trying to achieve will likely result in a better outcome.”
Good practice: "Imagine you're helping a 49-year-old woman in the UK who wants to retire at 67. She has a workplace pension and would like to know whether increasing her monthly contributions could improve her retirement income."
Bad practice: "How much should I save for retirement?"
- Protect your personal information
“While context and detail are important, you need to remember your personal information should remain personal. That means avoid divulging bank account details, passwords or security information, home addresses and the like. Many good prompts can be constructed without this information, and as the technology advances at pace, privacy concerns will continue to exist.”
Good practice: "I'm looking for general information about pension tax relief for someone in their 40s earning around £50,000 a year."
Bad practice: "My name is John Smith, I live at 1 High Street, my date of birth is 1 January 1977 and my pension account number is 12345678. How much tax relief can I claim?"
- Fact check
“AI is well known for its hallucinations and can sound confident and authoritative, even when it's wrong. AI, therefore, should be a starting point for research rather than a source of definitive answers. Don’t be afraid to challenge the technology and interrogate the sources it has used, then compare this across multiple sources and check it rings true. Remember, AI is not currently regulated to the same extent as financial services firms, and as such there is no recourse should things go wrong.
Good practice: "Can you explain the pension annual allowance and tell me which sources you've used?" Then check the information against a trusted source such as GOV.UK or HMRC.
Bad practice: “Can you explain the pension annual allowance?” Then take action with your pension, using the information as fact.
