How much does a financial advisor actually cost?
In Australia in 2026, initial advice typically costs $3,500-$6,000 and ongoing advice $3,000-$8,000+ a year. Almost nobody publishes their numbers, which is why every search for a financial advisor turns into "contact us for a quote". Here are the numbers, including ours.
| What | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| First conversation at LINK Wealth | $0 | Free, no-obligation discovery meeting. We get to know you and your goals. |
| LINK strategy workshop | $660 inc GST | 90 minutes one-on-one with a licensed adviser, modelling your numbers. Value Guarantee: full refund if you don't find it worthwhile. |
| Initial advice document (SoA), industry-wide | ≈ $3,500-$6,000 | Industry surveys put the average cost of initial advice around $5,000-$6,000 in 2025-26. Complexity moves the real number. |
| Ongoing advice, industry-wide | ≈ $3,000-$8,000+ / yr | Annual strategy, portfolio and insurance reviews. Scales with complexity (entities, SMSF, property). |
| Hourly / one-off scoped advice | ≈ $250-$450 / hr | Some firms offer scoped, pay-as-you-go advice on a single question. |
| Free general guidance | $0 | Moneysmart.gov.au (government), your super fund's intra-fund advice line. |
Industry-wide figures are indicative ranges from published adviser fee surveys and move with complexity: a couple with a company, trust and SMSF pays more than a single person with one super fund. Every licensed adviser must disclose their fees in a Financial Services Guide before you commit; ours is linked in the footer.
Richard Leal quotes every engagement himself.Managing Director, AR 327265. The free first meeting and the $660 workshops above are his, and so is the number on any advice quote that follows them.
What moves the fee.
- Entities: companies, trusts and SMSFs multiply the modelling and compliance work.
- Scope: a single question costs less than a full plan across super, investments, debt and insurance.
- Implementation: advice that must be executed (rollovers, structures, insurance underwriting) carries more work than a strategy paper.
- Ongoing vs one-off: a standing relationship costs more per year but catches problems while they are cheap.
The honest version of "is it worth it?"
Paying $5,000 for advice to shuffle a simple index portfolio is poor value. Paying $5,000 before an SMSF property purchase, a business exit, or a decade of debt recycling is usually the cheapest insurance you will ever buy: one structural mistake in any of those costs multiples of the fee. If your situation is simple, start with the free tools: Moneysmart.gov.au, your super fund's advice line, and our own equity and debt recycling calculators. When the numbers get big, get advice.
Or answer it with your own figures rather than ours. Is a financial adviser worth it? models a coordinated strategy against your current course over 10, 20 and 30 years with every advice fee on this page deducted from the result. It is built to be able to tell you the fee is not worth paying, and on a modest surplus it frequently does.