I've been managing my own investments for years. The core is index funds — boring, effective, largely on autopilot. Workplace pension sorted. And then a handful of individual stocks, because who doesn't like a bit of risk when the fundamentals look right.
My track record there has been decent, honestly. I hold a few consistent dividend payers for some certainty — lower-yield, reliable, the kind that just quietly show up every quarter. And one slightly spicier one: Rio Tinto. I'm sitting around 60% up on that position. Not complaining.
I track everything monthly, have a rough sense of my FIRE number, and generally know what my money is doing.
I've never paid for financial advice.
That's not a badge of honour. It's just the reality of being a self-directed investor at a certain stage — the complexity hasn't warranted it yet, and the cost of good advice is real. But I do have a number in my head. A threshold. And when I hit it, I'll pick up the phone without hesitation.
That number is £100,000.
Here's my thinking — and why yours probably isn't that different.
Why most self-directed investors don't have an adviser (yet)
It's not laziness. Most people managing their own money are genuinely engaged — they're reading, tracking, making conscious decisions. The reluctance to get an adviser usually comes down to one of three things:
- It feels unnecessary when you're just buying index funds every month
- The cost feels hard to justify relative to where you are right now
- There's a nagging feeling that an adviser will just tell you what you already know
And honestly? For a lot of people at an earlier stage, those instincts aren't wrong.
If you're in your mid-twenties, putting £300 a month into a Stocks and Shares ISA and letting it compound, you don't need someone to validate that. You're doing the right thing. An adviser at that point might cost you £300 an hour to tell you to keep going.
But there comes a point where that changes. And it's worth knowing roughly where that point is for you.
The £100k trigger
A hundred thousand pounds isn't a magic number. But it's a useful one.
Below that threshold, your main job is simple: save consistently, invest broadly, don't panic. The decisions are relatively straightforward, and the cost of getting them slightly wrong isn't catastrophic.
Above it, the complexity starts to compound alongside the money.
At £100k+, questions that were once theoretical become real:
- Am I holding the right balance of ISA vs SIPP vs GIA — and in the right order for tax efficiency?
- Is my ISA allocation actually optimised, or am I leaving tax-free growth on the table?
- Should I be doing anything differently with my pension beyond auto-enrolment?
- What happens to all of this if I die tomorrow?
These aren't questions Google answers well. They depend on your specific income, your specific accounts, your specific goals. That's what you're paying an adviser for — not generic wisdom, but someone who looks at your actual picture and finds the gaps you didn't know existed.
Or a life event — whichever comes first
The £100k threshold is about complexity. But life events can trigger the same need regardless of your portfolio size.
Having kids is the obvious one. Suddenly you're thinking about protection — life insurance, income protection, what happens if you can't work. You might be thinking about whether to save into a Junior ISA or a pension on their behalf. You're probably thinking about your will for the first time.
None of that is complicated in isolation. But getting it all to work together, efficiently, in a way that reflects your actual situation — that's where an adviser earns their fee in a single session.
Other triggers worth taking seriously: a significant inheritance, a property purchase or sale, a job change that involves a pension transfer, or getting close enough to retirement that the drawdown decisions start to matter.
Any of these changes the game enough to be worth a professional set of eyes.
What I'd actually use an adviser for
When I do get there, I'm not looking for someone to manage my money day-to-day. I already do that. What I want is a thorough sense-check — someone to go through the whole picture and tell me honestly where I'm being inefficient.
The specific things I'd want covered:
- Tax efficiency across my accounts. ISA allowance, SIPP contributions, the interaction between them — getting this wrong year after year is a slow, quiet drain on your wealth.
- Protection. Life cover and income protection are things most people underestimate until they need them. With dependants in the picture, this becomes non-negotiable.
- Pension consolidation and contribution strategy. Most people have a trail of old workplace pensions doing not very much. An adviser can look at whether it makes sense to consolidate, and what contribution level actually makes sense at your income.
- Future-proofing. Wills, Lasting Power of Attorney, inheritance tax planning. None of this is exciting. All of it matters.
One session covering those four areas could genuinely save thousands — or at least make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Is the cost actually that scary?
A good independent financial adviser typically charges £150–£300 per hour, or a flat fee for a one-off review (often £500–£1,500 depending on complexity). Ongoing management costs more — usually a percentage of assets, typically 0.5–1% per year.
That sounds like a lot until you put it next to the alternative.
If you're holding £120,000 in a suboptimal ISA structure and losing 0.5% to unnecessary tax drag or fees every year, that's £600 annually — quietly, invisibly. A one-off review that fixes it pays for itself in year one and keeps paying every year after that.
The cost of advice is real. But the cost of not getting advice — especially once your money reaches meaningful size — can be a lot higher. It just doesn't feel as visible.
Local IFA vs. big name firm — the honest take
This is where I'd urge some logical thinking rather than brand recognition.
The big household names — St. James's Place being the most prominent example — are restricted advisers. They can only recommend products from their own range. They're not wrong to recommend those products, but they're not comparing the whole market either. Their advisers also typically earn commission on what they sell you, which creates an obvious tension.
An independent financial adviser (IFA), by contrast, is required to search the whole market. They have access to every product, every provider, every fund. Their recommendation is based on what's best for you — not what's available from their parent company.
A local IFA is often a genuinely good option. They tend to be whole-of-market, more personally accountable, and often more flexible on fees than the big outfits. They also don't have targets to hit on product sales.
That said, reputation and credentials matter regardless of size. Always check that any adviser is registered with the FCA. And look for the Chartered Financial Planner designation (from the CII) or Certified Financial Planner (CFP) status — these signal someone who's taken their professional development seriously.
- VouchedFor — rated and reviewed IFAs, searchable by location and specialism
- Unbiased — whole-of-market IFA finder with transparent fees
- FCA Register — verify that any adviser is properly authorised before you engage
- MoneySavingExpert's IFA guide — a solid plain-English rundown on what to expect and what to ask
Most advisers will offer a free initial consultation. Use it. You want to feel like they're genuinely curious about your situation — not rushing to sell you something.
Walking in prepared makes a real difference
One thing that gets overlooked: the quality of advice you receive depends partly on how well you can explain your financial situation.
Walk into an adviser meeting and say "I've got some ISAs, a pension, a bit of property" and you'll spend the first 30 minutes doing admin. Walk in with a clear, structured picture of your net worth, your account breakdown, your income, your debts and your trajectory — and the conversation skips straight to the interesting part.
This is one of the more quietly useful things WealthR does. The adviser share link (a WealthR Pro feature) lets you generate a read-only snapshot of your entire financial picture — net worth, investments, property, pensions, debts, FIRE progress — and share it with a link. Your adviser sees everything, can edit nothing, and can revoke access whenever you want.
Most advisers, when they see one, are visibly impressed. Not because it's flashy — but because the majority of their clients cannot tell them their actual net worth on the spot. Walking in prepared signals that you're a serious client who values their time. That tends to produce better advice.
Know your number before the meeting
Track your net worth, investments and FIRE progress in one place — then share a read-only link with your adviser when you're ready. No bank linking, no faff.
Start tracking free →The honest summary
If you're self-directing and it's working, you don't necessarily need to change anything right now. But it's worth knowing your own trigger — the number or the event that tips the calculation.
For me it's £100k or a significant life event, whichever arrives first. Below that, I'm confident in what I'm doing. Above it, I want a professional to look at the whole picture — not because I think I'm getting it wrong, but because at that point the cost of finding out I was wrong the hard way is too high.
Advice isn't admitting defeat. It's just scaling your approach to match the stakes.
And a good IFA — independent, whole-of-market, properly qualified — isn't there to take over. They're there to check your work, find the gaps, and send you back out with more confidence than you had going in.
That's worth something.
⚖️ Disclaimer: Nothing in this post constitutes financial advice. All content is for informational and educational purposes only. Always do your own research or consult a qualified financial adviser before making decisions.