Finder’s 2022 Financial Advisor Report

16% of Australian adults, the equivalent of 3,200,000 people, have a financial advisor or planner, according to a Finder survey of 1,054 adults in October 2022.

Who is most likely to use a financial advisor and why aren't more Aussies getting financial advice? Read on to find out.

Quick summary

• 16% of Australians, the equivalent of 3,200,000 people, use a financial advisor or planner.

• The top reason most Aussies don't use a financial advisor is that they prefer to manage their own money (42%). The second most common reason is that it's too expensive (39%).
• The majority of Australians (57%) aren't prepared to spend anything to receive financial advice.

• The rest of the country is prepared to pay $1,164 on average for financial advice.

Financial advisor adoption statistics

• • 16% of Australians, the equivalent of 3,200,000 people, use a financial advisor or planner.
  • Men are more likely than women to use a financial advisor. Nearly 1 in 5 (18%) Aussie men use a financial advisor compared to just 13% of women.
  • Baby boomers are the most likely to use a financial advisor or planner and generation X the least. Just under a quarter of baby boomers use a financial planner (23%) compared to 16% of generation Y and generation Z and just 10% of generation X.

Why do Australians seek financial advice?

• • • Of those who said they use a financial advisor or planner, the leading reason they use one is that they trust them (51%).
    • However, men are much more likely than women to say they trust financial advisors. 64% of men who use a financial advisor say they trust them, compared to just 34% of women.
    • The older generations are the most likely to say they use a financial advisor because they trust them. 64% of baby boomers and 60% of generation X say they trust financial advisors compared to only 38% of generation Y and generation Z.
    • The second most common reason Aussies use a financial advisor is that they share one with a family member (26%). This is more common with women (34% of women vs 20% of men) and younger Australians (35% of generation Z vs 16% of baby boomers).
    • The third most commonly cited reason for using a financial advisor is people saying they make more money from the advice than they do from the fees (24%).
    • 17% of those who use a financial advisor said they have complex money arrangements and 17% also said they have a high net worth – both of which justify the use of a financial advisor.
    • 14% said they use a financial advisor because they don't like to manage their own money and 4% say they use a financial advisor or planner because they received an inheritance.

Why don't more Australians use a financial planner or advisor?

• • • The top reason most Aussies don't use a financial advisor is that they prefer to manage their own money (42%).
    • The second most common reason is that it's too expensive (39%), followed by people not thinking their net worth is high enough to warrant the expense (29%).
    • Over a quarter said they don't see the benefit of using a financial advisor (27%), 17% said they don't trust financial advisors and 8% said they don't know how to find one.

How much are Aussies prepared to pay for financial advice?

• • • The majority of Australians (57%) aren't prepared to spend anything to receive financial advice. This attitude is slightly more common among men than women (59% vs 55%). It's also more common among baby boomers (69%) and generation X (70%) than it is for generation Y (44%) and generation Z (43%).
    • The rest of the country is prepared to pay $1,164 on average for financial advice.
    • Men are prepared to pay more than women. On average, men are prepared to pay $1,393 compared to the $973 women say they would pay.
    • Baby boomers are prepared to pay the most for financial advice – $1,396 on average. This is followed by generation Y ($1,207), generation Z ($1,113) and generation X ($977).

Written by

Susannah Binsted

Head of Finder Awards

Susannah Binsted is the head of the Finder Awards program. Previously she was the head of public relations for the international division at Finder. Susannah has a Bachelor of Communication and a Bachelor of International Studies from the University of Technology Sydney. See full bio