Hargreaves Lansdown , the daddy of the DIY platform world , has offered financial advice for many years and believes in the hybrid ( DIY and advice ) strategy . It provides a range of advice options such as retirement , inheritance tax and full financial planning , as well as straightforward investment advice , either on a one-off or ongoing basis . Its advisers typically charge 1 to 2 % of assets advised upon for complex areas such as retirement advice . That ’ s £ 10,000 on a £ 500,000 pension pot . I can still run the rest of my portfolio on Hargreaves Lansdown ’ s highly rated , if pricey , investment platform .
On paper at least ,
Bestinvest is closest to the ideal platform for someone who wants to run their money themselves most of the time , with a little help every so often . It offers the standard DIY platform ( perhaps a little more expensively than the cheapest platforms in town ) but augments it with a free investment coaching service and a personal financial advice service available on a pay-as-you-go basis . For advice around achieving a goal ( such as retirement ) there ’ s an advice fee of £ 295 , while for a portfolio health check it ’ s £ 495 . Pretty reasonable in the grand scheme of things .