Choosing advice
What does Chartered Financial Planner mean?
What Chartered status signals and why it is still only one part of adviser fit.
Read guideFind the answer you need.
Practical explanations for the decisions ahead. Search by question or explore a topic.
Latest guides and practical reading
198 articles
Choosing advice
Your first financial adviser meeting: what to expect
Know what happens before, during and after a first financial adviser meeting. Prepare your questions and understand when a conversation becomes paid work.
Read guide
Choosing advice
Financial adviser meeting documents: a preparation checklist
Prepare for a financial adviser meeting with a checklist of pension, investment, income and debt information. Know what to gather and how to share it safely.
Read guide
Choosing advice
How many financial advisers should I speak to?
How many UK financial advisers should you compare before choosing, and what should you compare between them?
Read guideChoosing advice
Free financial adviser consultation: what is included?
Understand what a free financial adviser consultation covers, what it usually leaves out and the questions to ask before agreeing to paid advice.
Read guideFees and value
Ongoing financial advice costs: what should the fee include?
See what ongoing financial advice can cost in pounds, what the recurring fee should cover and how to test minimums, tiers and total annual charges.
Read guideChoosing advice
Can you stop paying ongoing financial adviser fees?
Understand how to discuss ending ongoing advice, confirm which charges stop and arrange a handover. Separate advice fees from platform and investment costs.
Read guideChoosing advice
How to change your financial adviser
A practical checklist for changing your financial adviser in the UK, including fees, records, investments and checking the replacement.
Read guideChoosing advice
How to complain about a financial adviser
How to complain about a UK financial adviser or firm, when the Financial Ombudsman Service may become involved and what records to keep.
Read guideChoosing advice
What is an appointed representative?
What appointed representative status means in UK financial services and what a principal firm is responsible for.
Read guideChoosing advice
Checking an adviser's qualifications
Understand qualification levels and the checks that professional titles cannot replace.
Read guide
Retirement and pensions
Do I need a financial adviser for my pension?
Compare pension guidance, one-off advice and ongoing retirement planning. Understand what each can deliver, the fees to check and what to prepare.
Read guide