Getting financial advice can be one of the best financial decisions you ever make. The right adviser can help you retire with confidence, pass on wealth tax-efficiently, and steer you clear of the kind of costly mistakes that are difficult to undo.
But for many people, taking that first step can feel daunting. You’re giving someone a clear view of your finances – your savings, your pension, your plans for the years ahead – and trusting them to guide decisions that will shape your future. How do you know who’s any good? What does ‘good’ even look like? And what are the warning signs worth watching for?
The good news is that you don’t need to be a financial expert to choose a good adviser. You just need to know what to look for.
Here are five things worth checking before you sit down with anyone.
1. They should be authorised and regulated by the FCA
Any firm giving regulated financial advice in the UK must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s the law, and it exists to protect you.
You can check a firm’s status in minutes on the Financial Services Register. Search by the firm’s name or its Firm Reference Number (FRN), and you’ll see exactly what they’re permitted to do.
Why does this matter? Authorisation means the firm meets the FCA’s standards and is held accountable to them. It also means you have somewhere to turn if something goes wrong – including the Financial Ombudsman Service and, in certain circumstances, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Advice from an unregulated source carries none of these protections. If you can’t find a firm on the register, treat that as a serious red flag.
2. You should understand exactly what you’re paying
Financial advice isn’t free, and a good adviser will never pretend otherwise. What matters is that the charges are clear, written down, and explained properly before you commit to anything.
Be wary of fees quoted only as percentages. ‘1% a year’ can sound modest until you see it in pounds. A good adviser will translate their charges into actual figures – what you’ll pay up front, what you’ll pay on an ongoing basis, and what you receive in return. You should leave that first conversation knowing exactly what the advice costs and why it’s worth it.
Transparency here tells you a lot. An adviser who is open about their fees tends to be open about everything else too.
3. Good planning starts with you – not with products
A genuine lifestyle financial planner doesn’t start the conversation with investments, product names, or account types. They start with you: what you want your life to look like, when you’d like to stop working, what you’d like to leave behind, and what’s quietly keeping you up at night.
The investments come later, and they exist to serve those goals – not the other way around. Anyone who leads with a product before they understand your life has the process backwards.
This is the difference between being sold something and being planned around. Your money is simply the tool that helps you live the life you want, and a good planner never loses sight of that.
4. No one can remove risk or guarantee returns
This one is simple, and it’s important. No adviser can eliminate risk entirely or promise you a guaranteed return. Markets rise and fall, and any honest professional will tell you so.
If someone suggests otherwise – guaranteed high returns, no downside, a ‘sure thing’ – walk away. Promises that sound too good to be true almost always are, and they’re a classic warning sign of poor advice, or worse.
A good adviser helps you understand risk and take the right amount of it for your goals. They won’t pretend it doesn’t exist.
5. Look for an independent adviser
Finally, check whether the adviser is independent. It’s a word that gets used loosely, but it has a specific meaning.
An independent financial adviser can recommend products from across the whole of the market, rather than a restricted range from a limited list of providers. That matters because it removes a potential conflict of interest: their recommendation is based on what’s right for you, not on what they happen to be able to offer.
Restricted advice isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but independence gives you the confidence that nothing has been left off the table.
The bottom line
Good advice isn’t about chasing the best-performing fund or timing the market. It’s about building a plan around your life – making the most of your tax allowances, avoiding expensive mistakes, and giving you the clarity and confidence to make good decisions for years to come.
Done properly, independent financial advice delivers far more value than it costs.
At Navigate, this is exactly how we work. We’re an independent firm, authorised and regulated by the FCA (you’ll find us on the register under 919807), and our planning always begins with your goals rather than a product. It’s an approach we call LifeMap – a complete financial planning journey built around the life you want to live. If you’re thinking about taking that first step, whether for yourself or someone you know, we’d be glad to talk it through.
