A lot of people wonder whether they actually need a financial planner. With investment apps, super dashboards and endless money advice online, it’s a fair question.
The short answer is this. Some people can manage on their own. Most people think they can, but quietly make expensive mistakes along the way.
Doing your own finances usually works best when your situation is simple. One income, no kids, straightforward super, no tax complexity and plenty of spare time to stay on top of it all. Even then, it assumes you’re comfortable making decisions when markets fall and sticking to a plan when emotions kick in.
Where things start to unravel is when life gets more complicated.
Multiple super funds. A growing family. Business income. Investment properties. Redundancies. Inheritances. Tax thresholds you didn’t know existed. These are the moments where small decisions can snowball into big long term outcomes.
A financial planner doesn’t just pick investments. That’s the part everyone focuses on, but it’s rarely the most valuable part.
Good advice is about structure. Making sure your money is set up properly across super, personal investments, debt and cash flow. It’s about tax efficiency, not paying more than you need to and avoiding traps that only show up years later. It’s about risk management so one bad event doesn’t derail everything you’ve built.
There’s also the behavioural side, which most people underestimate.
When markets drop, people panic. When markets rise, people chase what’s already gone up. Planners spend a lot of time stopping clients from doing things that feel right in the moment but hurt them long term. That alone can be worth more than any clever strategy.
The other big benefit is clarity.
Most people aren’t short on information. They’re overwhelmed by it. A planner filters the noise, helps you focus on what actually matters and gives you a clear plan so you’re not second guessing every decision.
That doesn’t mean advice is right for everyone at every stage. But if your finances are starting to feel messy, stressful or time consuming, that’s usually the sign you’ve outgrown the DIY phase.
At the end of the day, financial planning isn’t about being smarter than you. It’s about giving you confidence that you’re on track and freeing up headspace so money stops being something you worry about.