The value of Advice - What Does a Financial Planner Actually Help With?

Elite athletes know the value of having a coach, and when it comes to your finances, the benefits of ongoing, personal advice are proven. These benefits can stem from an increased knowledge of the tax rules or strategies available, or even simply having someone to provide the discipline or motivation you need to get ahead.

For many years, Russell Investments’ Value of an Adviser research has measured the benefit of professional financial advice, highlighting how it can help clients achieve their long-term goals. In 2025, they surveyed 700 Australian investors (both advised and unadvised) and nearly 200 advisers.

Key results from the survey

Clients who receive advice report strong financial and emotional benefits: 89% say advice makes them feel more confident and knowledgeable about their finances, 85% feel supported to make decisions aligned with their lifestyle and values, and 86% believe advice has improved their overall financial position.

In contrast, 57% of unadvised investors are only moderately or slightly confident about managing their money, and three quarters (76%) say they would feel more in control if they engaged an adviser.

The research also shows advisers are generally meeting expectations: 81% of advised clients rate their adviser at least eight out of 10, a strong indicator of satisfaction.

The following infographic highlights a number of the other key findings.

© Russell Investments 2025

Case studies: Improved tax outcomes

• Opportunities to debt recycle: all too often, we uncover clients with (non-tax-deductible) home loan debt, along with shares or other investments build up from staff share schemes or surplus savings. While it’s noble to want to do something to get ahead financially, doing so within a debt-recycling strategy framework can achive the same investment outcomes with huge ongoing tax savings.

• Shifting super to the pension phase: certain trigger events, such as a job change after 60, or turning age 65, create the opportunity to transfer super from the accumulation phase to the pension phase. Most people wouldn’t think of doing this, especially if the focus is still on working and building wealth for the future. However this is often a huge opportunity to cut down the taxes within the super environment, ultimately boosting the performance of your super savings.

• Reducing estate taxes - the Recontribution strategy: while super’s #1 job is providing for your own retirement, it’s common that some leftover will remain for your children or estate, with significant (often in the hundreds of thousands) lump sum death benefit taxes to pay. In many cases this can be reduced or eliminated through careful planning & execution of a recontribution strategy.

Avoiding costly mistakes: key examples

Sometimes the value of advice is in a cool head, and a different perspective to help avoid mistakes. Comon examples include:

• Letting emotions interfere with your plans: reacting to market volatility for instance is usually a costly mistake. It’s human nature to want to avoid risk, but typically an appropriate amount of risk is essential for long term performance, it just requires patience and discipline.

• Scams, cons and the next big thing: on the other end of the spectrum, greed opens us up to exploitation, and planners can bring a healthy dose of scepticism to avoid the lastest investment offering that may prove to be too good to be true.

• Family & money: we all want to do what we can to help our family, and our professional advisers know the ways this can be done safely and optimally in terms of asset protection and tax efficiency.

Did you know that the team at AGS Financial Group can provide you with whatever level of advice and assistance you need to make the most of your financial situation, and achieve your dreams? This not only incorporates advice from our team of financial planners, but also our in-house accountants and mortgage brokers, and external estate planning and property buying experts.

If you’d like to be achieving more, contact AGS for a free initial discussion.