Independent · UK advice fees, in pounds
Financial advice, with the price tag showing.
What advice costs, what you get for it, and how to check who you're paying. Free, independent and in plain English. We never sell products or take a cut.
What would advice cost on
£150,000
- Initial advice (1–2%)
- £1,500–£3,000
- Ongoing advice, per year (0.5–1%)
- £750–£1,500
- Initial plus 10 years' ongoing
- £9,000–£18,000
Estimate, not a quote. Typical UK ranges from FCA and industry research, last reviewed June 2026; ignores investment growth and platform and fund charges. Sources and the full benchmark.
- Hourly advice £75–£350
- Fixed-fee projects £1,000–£5,000+
- Around 70% of advice firms don't publish fees
- Ongoing fees 0.5–1% a year
- Commission we take: none
Start with the question you actually have
Most people don't know whether they need an adviser, what one does, what one costs, or how to tell a good one from a salesperson. Each guide opens with the short answer.
-
Do I need a financial adviser?
Often not for simple saving. Advice tends to earn its fee for pensions, large sums and tax.
Take the five-question self-test → -
How much does a financial adviser cost?
Typically 1–2% up front and 0.5–1% a year, or £75–£350 an hour for one-off work.
See the fee benchmark → -
How do I check an adviser is genuine?
Look them up on the FCA Register before any money moves, then ask the right questions in the first meeting.
Open the vetting toolkit → -
What's the difference between advice and guidance?
Advice is a personal recommendation from an authorised firm, with protections that guidance doesn't carry.
Read the guide →
Run your own numbers
Simple tools with every assumption on screen. They show how the maths works; they don't tell you what to do with it.
- Fees
Fee impact
The long-term difference between low and high annual charges on the same pot.
0.25% vs 1.5% over 30 years: −£96,000 - Saving & investing
Compound growth
What regular saving could grow into, and how much of it is growth.
£250 a month, 25 years at 5%: £148,877 - Retirement
Retirement gap
Where your pension pot is heading against the pot your target income needs.
Target £30k a year: gap £182,000 - Retirement
Pension tax relief
What a pension contribution really costs you after tax relief.
£400 in the pot costs £320 at 20% - Retirement
Drawdown
How long a pension pot could last at your withdrawal rate.
£300k at £18k a year: lasts to 89 - Property
Mortgage repayments
Monthly payments, total interest, and what overpaying could change.
£250k, 25 years at 4.5%: £1,390 a month
Where are you right now?
Thirty-seven guides is a library, not a path. Pick the situation that sounds like yours and follow the sequence.
Suggested sequence
- 01Check your State Pension firstGuide
- 02Understand your income optionsGuide
- 03Stress-test your potCalculator
- 04Decide if you need adviceGuide
- 01Park it, then plan: the order of operationsGuide
- 02Know what advice should costBenchmark
- 03Vet anyone before money movesToolkit
Our books are open too.
You should know who pays for the website you're reading. Here is every way we make money, and what we refuse.
How we make money, in fullWhat funds this site
What we refuse
-
We never recommend products
No fund picks, no pension provider rankings, no "best buy" tables for regulated products. Personal recommendations are regulated advice — that's an FCA-authorised adviser's job, not ours.
-
Your details are never for sale
No auction-style "get matched" funnels that sell you to the highest bidder. We teach you to find and verify an authorised adviser yourself on the FCA's own register — and if we ever offer an introduction to an advice firm, it will be one named, FCA-authorised partner, our fee disclosed up front, and only ever at your request.
-
We show our funding
Advertising and brand sponsorship, clearly labelled, with no influence on content — explained in full on our how we make money page.
Worth repeating: FinancialAdvisor.co.uk is an education site. We are not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, our content is not regulated financial advice, and using this site does not give you access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. For a personal recommendation, see an FCA-authorised adviser — our toolkit shows you how to find and check one.
The Plain Money Letter
One short email a fortnight: a money concept explained properly, a calculator worth running, and what's changing in UK personal finance. Education only — never product promotions.
Free. Unsubscribe any time. We never share your address — see our privacy policy.