If you are looking for help with your money or for financial advice or financial planning – you will be faced with a number of choices about how to access this advice or help.

You can possibly use the internet, use a telephone-led service, do-it-yourself, or you can engage a financial adviser/financial planner.

There are two reasons why someone may prefer a direct option or a do-it-yourself approach to using a financial adviser:

1. They do not want to pay the costs involved with the financial planning service provided by the financial adviser, believing they will save money by NOT using the services.

2. They think that they can get a better outcome by doing things themselves, for example, they may believe that they can achieve higher or better returns on their invested money.

There is a trend in the medical market which suggests that over 80% of people will now seek their first line of help from the internet; before they approach their doctor or other medical practitioner. This sort of trend – where the internet is the start point for information and service provision – is now commonplace in industries across the whole of the business spectrum.

However, returning to the medical example, although most people now click onto Google to start with when they first have a medical concern, the number of people visiting their doctor has not gone down. The professional medical support and advice that can be accessed face to face, in the real world, remains as important as ever.

The benefit of using a professional and qualified expert is undiminished by the explosion in online information and services.

So it is within the financial services market.

There is real value in seeking out professional advice.