Five times a one-off advice meeting could help

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Some savers enjoy managing their money. Others would happily never look at a pension or bank statement again. Plenty of us sit somewhere in the middle.

Whichever camp you are in, there may be times when another set of eyes is useful. You don’t need to hand over control of your finances or sign up for a lifelong deal, but an adviser could check that you are on the right track.

If you think you might benefit from a helping hand, you’re not alone. Quilter found that almost half (49%) of those who were not already taking advice said they would consider a standalone review of their finances, and 57% said they were likely to seek advice in the future.

So, when could it be worth speaking to an adviser? Here are five times when a conversation could help.

1. Retirement suddenly feels real

For years, the question may have been simple: how much can I save, and where should I invest it? As retirement approaches, the questions are likely to change.

You may start considering when to take your pensions, which pot to draw from first, how much income you will need, or how tax could affect your choices.

If you’re at the very start of planning for retirement, an adviser could help you work out how much money you have and what sort of retirement your current finances could support. If you’re further along in your decision-making, an adviser can simply sense-check your direction of travel - you don’t need to hand over the keys to everything you’ve built.

It’s normal to need a bit of support around this time of your life. Quilter found that 41% of savers and investors said they could see themselves needing advice when approaching retirement, and while 75% said that working out how to best take an income in retirement was important, just 63% said they felt confident handling it themselves.

2. Tax is no longer simple

As your finances grow, tax has a habit of becoming more complicated. Perhaps you now have investments outside of an ISA, several pensions, or joint assets with a partner or spouse.

And tax can be notoriously tricky. Just 50% of savers and investors said they were confident managing their own tax arrangements, according to Quilter’s research. And many recognised that they had missed potential tax-planning opportunities: 32% were not keeping savings or investments in an ISA and 54% weren’t actively using their pension as a strategy to benefit from tax relief.

There are all sorts of allowances and tax-efficient ways of holding money, and an adviser can help you understand which might be relevant to you. Advice isn’t only about growing your money but keeping more of it too.

It’s important to note that tax treatment varies according to individual circumstances and may change in the future. Investments have the potential to grow over time, but their value can also fall and returns are not guaranteed. If you’re unsure whether investing is right for you, a financial adviser can help you assess your options and identify an approach that aligns with your goals and circumstances.

3. You’ve come into some money

It might seem like an uncomplicated boost to your finances, but suddenly having more money than you’re used to can bring a whole new set of decisions.

Whether from an inheritance, a bonus, a property sale, or even a lucky lottery win, an instant large sum can result in you feeling more lost than before. When the options suddenly seem endless, it can be harder to pin down the goal.

Before worrying about stocks and shares or the most tax-efficient home for the money, an adviser could help you take a step back and start with simpler questions: what do I want this money to do, who is it ultimately for, and how does it work with my existing finances?

More than a third (35%) of savers and investors said that coming into a large sum of money could prompt them to seek advice, according to Quilter’s research, while 63% said that planning for inheritance or passing on wealth was important.

4. Your finances are in a tangle

Finances can easily become a mass of moving parts: a pension from an old job, a savings account attached to your old student bank account, and an ISA you opened a decade ago. Sometimes, the best thing you can do for your finances is an untangling.

And while you might picture financial advisers mainly helping wealthy investors choose what to invest in, their role can be much broader than that. Quilter’s research found that 60% of savers and investors didn't realise an adviser could help combine pensions, while 44% didn't know they could help people avoid paying too much tax.

In reality, an adviser can help you make sense of your financial life as a whole - not because of any mistakes or mishaps, just because your finances became more complicated along the way.

5. You’d just like a second pair of eyes

Whether you’re an experienced investor or just starting to get your finances in order, financial decisions can often feel heavy. It’s normal to want a second opinion.

Perhaps you have an investment portfolio that is performing well, but you would like to get a better overview of how it fits with your wider finances. Maybe you are just starting to invest and simply want to work out exactly how much you can afford to put away each month.

There’s nothing unusual about wanting a steer with either. More than a fifth (21%) of savers and investors said that losing confidence in managing their investments could prompt them to seek advice. Among investors, almost eight in ten said they had made at least one investment mistake, such as panic selling or waiting too long to start investing.

And remember, getting financial advice does not need to be all-or-nothing. Whether you need help creating a financial plan or an expert’s steer on a particularly complicated decision, taking a small first step with a one-off financial review is a great way to get started.

Approver Quilter October 2026