What Is An Advice-only Financial Planner?

An advice-only financial planner is a financial professional who provides financial planning and generic investment advice to clients but does not provide recommendations or opinions on particular investments, sell financial products or manage investments directly. Instead, they offer financial planning and unbiased, objective, general advice on a wide range of financial topics, including retirement planning, estate planning, risk management, and tax planning.

Advice-only financial planners typically charge fees for their services, which may be based on an hourly rate or a flat fee for a specific project.

Advice-only financial planners may work with clients on a one-time or ongoing basis, depending on the client's needs. They may be independent practitioners or work for a financial planning firm.

There are several benefits to using an advice-only financial planner:

1. Unbiased advice: Advice-only financial planners do not sell financial products, so they are able to provide unbiased, objective advice to their clients. This can be especially helpful for clients who are trying to make important financial decisions and want to consider a wide range of options.
2. Greater flexibility: Because advice-only financial planners do not sell financial products, they are able to describe the pros and cons of a wide range of investment options to their clients. This gives clients greater flexibility to choose the investments that best meet their needs and goals.
3. Fee-based compensation: Advice-only financial planners charge fees for their services, rather than earning commissions on financial products they sell. This can be beneficial for clients because they know exactly how much they are paying for the planner's services, rather than having to worry about hidden costs or conflicts of interest.
4. Comprehensive planning: Advice-only financial planners can provide comprehensive financial planning services, including retirement planning, estate planning, risk management, and tax planning. This can be especially helpful for clients who are looking for a holistic approach to managing their financial affairs.
5. Expertise: Advice-only financial planners are typically highly trained and knowledgeable about a wide range of financial topics. They can provide valuable insights and guidance to help clients make informed financial decisions.

Advice-only Financial Planning stops you from worrying about money so you can focus on personal development.

Here's how:

• You do it yourself with the right support, financial planning and investing.
• We put you in control with the world's first financial planning app - linking to your bank account.
• We provide planning templates to design your favourite future.
• Make money, not just save money you already made. Whatever your age.
• Optional coaching support from market-leading professionals.
• Take control of your finances from just £6.99/ month.

Most financial planning advice is attached to an investment adviser's investment recommendation by the investment industry. For most people, regulated investment advice is the only financial advice they get. Even tax planning advice is elusive, given that most people's accountants do their tax returns and nothing more. No one advises on other financial matters. That is until now.

But investment advice is not financial planning.

According to the UK ONS wealth and Asset survey, regulated investments constitute only five per cent of the nation's wealth. Therefore, financial planning is not solely about saving wealth but creating it. At its core, it entails developing a comprehensive financial plan that covers 100% of an individual's finances. This approach involves reviewing productive assets, leveraging entrepreneurial opportunities, creating sustainable livelihoods, and optimising vitality asset allocations for longevity.

Our firm aims to reduce the risk to sustained livelihoods by investing in transformational assets that can promote long-term growth. We provide a comprehensive asset audit to ensure that our clients have a complete overview of their assets.

One of the challenges of traditional investment advisory is the conflict of interest it creates, as advisers are often paid by the investments they recommend. This compensation structure can lead to a misalignment of incentives and obscure the actual fees charged to the investor. We believe this creates a perception of value that does not always reflect reality.

We take a different approach. Our primary goal is to provide comprehensive financial planning unencumbered by investment advice. This approach ensures we remain objective and focused on our client's best interests. We believe that individuals with the right support can confidently manage their investments, and we strive to provide them with the tools and resources they need to achieve their financial goals.

At our firm, we believe that direct investment in ones-self is often the most effective way to create wealth. We understand that not everyone has the same financial literacy or confidence level in managing their investments. Still, we are committed to providing our clients the support they need to take control of their financial futures. Our approach to financial planning is transparent, unbiased, and designed to empower our clients to create their best lives.

We recommend you read How To Fund The Life You Want, by Robin Powell & Jonathan Hollow.

Perhaps now financial planners can be ... well ... financial planners!

The Right Support: Conflict-free advice.

Advice-only financial planners offer independent and conflict-free financial planning services without any investment recommendations. This type of service provides a wall between the financial plan and the investments used to achieve financial goals, ensuring transparency and disclosure of all fees paid. By focusing exclusively on financial planning, advice-only planners can add the most significant value to their clients by creating holistic life plans and helping them reach their financial and life goals.

Proper financial planning is a process that integrates all aspects of an individual or family's finances, including retirement, tax and estate planning, investment, and insurance strategies. When selecting a financial planner, it is crucial to ensure they hold the highest level of professional certification, such as a Chartered Financial Planner or a Certified Financial Planner.

An advice-only financial planner is a comprehensive adviser who can help clients fit together all the different pieces of their financial puzzle without selling any products. This approach emphasises integrating all areas of personal finance and makes it the sole goal of the client-adviser relationship. By compensating the planner solely through fees paid by the client, advice-only financial planning ensures objectivity and eliminates any hidden costs, third-party financial motivations, or kickbacks.

While fee-based investment management charges investors an annual fee based on a percentage of their investments, advice-only financial planning separates advice and potential products. Thus, most clients who work with an advice-only financial planner may also have a separate investment adviser and insurance agent.

Advice-only financial planning fees are charged for comprehensive financial advice based on the expertise required, complexity, and time required. These professionals charge fees much like other professionals, such as lawyers or accountants, and do not base fees on a client's income or assets, making advice-only financial planning accessible to anyone.

The return on investment from working with an advice-only financial adviser may vary from case to case. However, clients can expect explicit returns in the form of better tax efficiency and other financial benefits, along with implicit benefits such as working with a trusted adviser with no conflicts of interest who can answer many questions that others cannot or will not.

In summary, advice-only financial planning offers clients the opportunity to receive comprehensive and independent financial advice from a trusted professional who is committed to their financial success.