Despite Australians’ forking out on average between $4,600 to $5,000 in annual financial advice fees, a new study suggests that for the vast majority this outlay returns in spades through improved financial wellbeing.
Recently released research by the Financial Advice Association Australia (FAAA) found convincingly that Australians with a financial adviser are more likely to express confidence in their perceived quality of life.
According to the FAAA's 2025 Value of Advice Index, only 7% of advised Australians claim not to have been better off due to their adviser.
Meanwhile, the 93% who said they were materially better off due to their adviser, attributed improved financial wellbeing to better peace of mind and time saved on financial decisions.
"Good financial advice isn't just about the numbers. It's about giving people confidence, support, and a sense of control, even when times are tough," FAAA CEO Sarah Abood said.
According to Value of Advice research, the top three ways Australians say that financial advisers help are:
• nearly two in three flagged a reduction in financial stress and worry
• nearly two in three were able to build a realistic plan for a comfortable retirement, and
• nearly three in five were helped to get the most out of a current financial situation.
Advice not just for the rich
Equally encouraging, 81% of respondents felt their adviser's value increases when markets get jittery.
"Nearly all advised consumers say their financial adviser has made them tangibly better off financially, proving that financial advice is not too expensive to be worthwhile," Abood noted.
She believes the latest survey data also puts paid to the commonly held misnomer that only the rich can afford financial advice.
Nine in 10 of those surveyed who earn $120,000 a year or less and work with an adviser feel financially secure.
Abood reminds the market that this is well above the level of unadvised consumers on the same income.
Nexus between advice and financial security
Despite economic uncertainty and cost-of-living pressures, Abood believes survey data vindicates the value of financial advice, with Australians attributing greater financial security to financial advice during current market volatility.
"The difference between those who have advice and those who don't is growing as Australians are seeing the value of financial advice, not despite uncertain markets, but because of them," Abood said.
The quantitative study undertaken in July to August 2025 involved an online survey of 1,226 respondents from Australia, each of whom was over 25 years and earning over $90,000 a year or holding over $50,000 in investable assets.
A ‘real person’ adds value
The FAAA’s research also found that given the choice between fully digital advice, human led advice, and a hybrid model, Australians are most likely to prefer human-led advice, with limited use of digital tools.
Three in five Baby Boomers prefer human-led advice over digital advice, compared with one in two Gen X, and fewer than one in two Gen Y.
A total of 80% of Baby Boomers also believe personalised guidance can only be provided by humans - not digital-only advice, compared to fewer than three in five Gen Y and Gen X.
Overall, its Gen X and Gen Y who are most open to AI being used as part of the advice process for things like administrative tasks.
While the research also dispels some long-established myths around financial advice, what resonates strongest within the latest data is the trust in financial advice and advisers from Australians to help keep them on track and achieve their goals, Abood said.
“It’s not simply outsourcing your financial decision-making, it’s helping with financial literacy and supporting consumers to make the best financial decisions they can,” she says.
Failing roboadvice
Unsurprisingly, the findings within the FAAA's 2025 Value of Advice study are consistent with spiralling distrust Australians have in digital advice – aka roboadvice - in recent years.
A 2022 survey by the CFA Institute found that 82% of retail investors in Australia are more likely to trust human advice than robo-led advice.
This distrust has only widened as 62% of investors in 2020 said they want professional advice from a human.
This distrust has been reflected in the string of fintechs, like Creativemass, Six Park, Upstreet and Advice Intelligence that have either folded or were acquired since Stockspot burst onto the scene in 2014.
In the last 10 years market excitement over Robo-advice has failed to deliver on the initial hype due largely to an undercurrent of investor hesitation.
Enter super funds
While Raiz Invest and Stockspot are two roboadvice platforms that remain standing, late last year saw super funds take the lead on the digital advice front.
Given their advice, several super funds have put digital advice offerings high on their agenda and are partnering with leading technology specialists.
While Hostplus released Super Smart, Colonial First State (CFS) and Otivo launched a digital adviser that charges $88 per year to access guided advice on investments, contributions and insurance.
Jo Brennan, the group executive of member engagement, education and advice at Aware Super, says the $198.6 billion fund wants to scale how it can make digital advice meaningful and work across the full spectrum of help.
Aware Super’s entrée into roboadvice follows feedback from members who believe that while $4,000 for comprehensive advice is too much, they still haven’t rule out receiving financial advice all together.
Also set up as a hybrid model, Insignia Financial's digital advice provides members an outcome but also the option to speak to a coach or intra-fund adviser.
Slow boat
However, given that they are conservative by nature, Finura joint managing director Peter Worn expects super funds' gravitation to digital advice to be slow.
“No one wanted to be first, but equally, no one wants to be last," he explains.
In light of other priorities that have made national headlines – notably sorting out death benefit claims and cybersecurity issues – he suspects delivering digital advice will take time.
"It's no good offering digital advice if it's taking six months to pay a death benefit. You have to get the fundamentals right before people should consider going to you for other services," Worn notes.
Based on their initial brush with digital advice tools, Worn has yet to see two critical measures from super funds.
Firstly, statistics on the number of people who engage with it and secondly the people who went through that advice journey; how many people executed or implemented that advice?
Worn questions the benefits of having millions of people using these digital tools if no one implements and executes on the advice.
“That is probably the KPI that the whole industry should be aiming towards - we shouldn't be spending tens of millions of dollars building digital tools if no one's going to deploy the recommendation,” he said.
“That's an element that I don't think any fund has demonstrated progress on."
