Aussies refuse to dig deeper for financial advice

The amount Australians are prepared to pay for financial advice has slipped over the past year, with the gap between expected and actual cost of advice widening.

At the same time, interest in seeking advice from superannuation funds is growing at a rapid pace.

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This is according to the November 2011 Advice and Limited Advice Report from Investment Trends, which was based on a survey of 1,443 Australians.

The report found the amount Australians expect to pay in total for financial advice is $590, down from $670 in 2010.

Those expecting to develop a comprehensive financial plan for the first time expected it would cost $770.

"With planners estimating that it costs $2,550 to provide comprehensive advice, there is a clear gap between the expected and actual cost of advice," said Investment Trends senior analyst Recep Peker.

"Planners recognise this, and two in five intend to provide more transactional and single-issue advice in the future," Peker said.

Those who have already received advice expect to pay $970, which shows better appreciation of the value of advice, but Peker said the gap was still there.

At the same time, a rapidly increasing proportion of clients plan to turn to their superannuation fund for super-related advice, while interest in contacting their financial planner is falling.

"Australians are not willing to pay as much for financial advice, which makes the low-cost advice provided by super funds more attractive," Peker said.

However, planners are still the preferred source of advice, and Australians' ratings of their financial planner on value for money remain unchanged despite diminishing satisfaction with fees.

"This means that despite being more fee-averse, those who use a financial planner value their advice as much as they did in previous years," he added.

Approximately 34 per cent would turn to their super fund, up 9 percentage points from November 2010. The number of people planning to seek super-related advice from their planner is still the highest (36 per cent), though down 4 percentage points.