What to do with 25k

Blah99

ricll wrote: »

what does an IFA do that you can't do yourself with some study and research? I mean, is there something else they can do apart from giving advice?

Nothing, with the exception of products that can't be sold direct due to regulations (in which case you can use an "execution only" style IFA to access them anyway).

The only barrier between Joe Public and an IFA is, as dunstonh says, time and desire.

If you have the desire to understand financial products, and you are willing to invest the time to learn about them, you can absolutely manage your finances without an IFA's input. You of course need a basic level of intelligence, the ability to understand simple maths etc, but anyone can do it. If you can understand and remember football statistics, you can do the same for financials - it's just a question of whether you're motivated enough to do so. Personally, as it's my money and I worked for it, I don't need much motivation.

There are specialist, costly (to the individual) tools that an IFA will have access to, but this difference can be almost entirely negated by using the various websites and online resources. Most are free or have minimal fees for the level of info you require, and you can get creative with how you use them (eg: someone here posted a great tip on using a CFD platform to get free level 2 data - maybe it was sabretoothtigger?)

I'll make two caveats. First, if you have high net worth and complex financial affairs, a qualified IFA is essential. Second, an IFA provides an independent point of view that can sanity check your own though process. Some people don't need that, but some will benefit from talking through their options with an IFA who does it all day, every day.