Where to Get Investment Advice in Australia | Evidence-Based Guidance
Not All Investment Advice Is Equal. Here’s How to Choose Well
“Most people don’t get investment advice too late. They get the right advice too late.”
For many Australians in their 40s, 50s and early 60s, investing starts to feel different. The decisions carry more weight. There’s less time to recover from mistakes, and more at stake if things go off track.
At this stage, the question is rarely whether to invest. It’s “where to get investment advice you can actually trust”.
Banks, online platforms, accountants, friends, social media. The options are everywhere. But knowing which advice is reliable, relevant and aligned to your long-term plans is where many people get stuck.
As retirement approaches, knowing where to turn for investment advice becomes critical. Here’s how to separate quality guidance from everything else.
Why investment advice matters more as retirement gets closer
When retirement is on the horizon, investing is no longer just about growth. It’s about balance.
You’re thinking about:
- Protecting what you’ve already built
- Generating future income, not just returns
- Managing risk without stepping away from opportunity
- Making decisions that still work 10, 20 or 30 years from now
At this stage, advice based on tips, trends or short-term thinking can do more harm than good. That’s why where you get investment advice matters as much as the advice itself.
Where do people usually go for investment advice?
Before looking at what good advice looks like, it helps to understand the most common sources people turn to, and where they can fall short.
Banks and large financial institutions
Banks feel familiar and accessible. Many Australians start here because it seems safe.
The limitation is that advice is often restricted to approved products or in-house solutions. While this doesn’t automatically make the advice wrong, it can narrow the range of strategies considered.
For pre-retirees who need flexibility, tax awareness and long-term planning, that restriction can matter.
Online platforms and robo-advisers
Automated investing platforms and robo-advisers are often appealing because they are low cost, easy to set up, and require little ongoing involvement. For people with simple needs or who are early in their investing journey, they can be a useful starting point.
Where they tend to fall short is as life becomes more complex, particularly in the years leading up to retirement. These platforms rely on standardised assumptions and algorithms, which means they can’t easily adjust for:
- Complex goals, such as balancing growth with future income, managing multiple timeframes, or coordinating investments with broader retirement planning and long-term lifestyle objectives.
- Behaviour under market stress, including how you’re likely to react during market downturns and whether you’ll stay invested when volatility increases.
- Tax and retirement timing, such as when to access super, how investment decisions affect tax outcomes, or how income will be structured later on.
- Life changes like downsizing or stopping work, which often require coordinated decisions across investments, super, tax, and cash flow.
For pre-retirees, these factors matter more than ever. While online platforms can be convenient, they rarely provide the personalised guidance needed when decisions are harder to reverse.
Friends, family and online forums
This is where many real questions show up:
Who do you follow for investing tips and market sentiment?
The honest answer is that market sentiment changes constantly. Advice shared online is often based on opinion, emotion or recent performance, not long-term evidence.
What worked for someone else may not fit your timeframe, risk tolerance or retirement goals.
Accountants and other professionals
Accountants play a critical role in tax and compliance, and some offer general investment insights.
Unless they’re licensed to provide personal financial advice, however, their guidance may stop short of a full investment strategy. When it comes to investing and financial advice, decisions made in isolation from broader planning can lead to gaps over time.
How to get investment advice that actually fits your situation
One of the most common questions people ask is simply, how do I get investment advice that’s right for me?
A good starting point is to look for advice that begins with your life and goals, not with market movements or product recommendations. Investment advice is most effective when it’s built around your personal circumstances and evolves as those circumstances change.
Quality investment advice should take into account:
Your retirement timeframe, including how close you are to stopping work and how long your investments may need to last.
Your income needs now and later, particularly how investments will support your lifestyle both before and after retirement.
Your risk tolerance and emotional responses, especially how comfortable you are with market ups and downs and how you tend to react during periods of uncertainty.
Tax implications, so investment decisions are made with an understanding of how returns, withdrawals, and timing affect your overall tax position.
How investing fits into your broader financial plan, including superannuation, insurance, estate planning, and other long-term goals.
Advice that skips this broader context often focuses on short-term performance rather than long-term outcomes. Over time, that kind of advice can lead to decisions that feel disconnected from the life you’re actually planning for.
Who can I ask for investment advice?
Investment advice is best sought from someone who is properly licensed to give personal advice and accountable for the guidance they provide. That means working with an adviser who bases recommendations on research and long-term evidence, rather than market trends or predictions.
Just as importantly, they should be able to explain their thinking clearly, so you understand why decisions are being made and how they relate to your goals. Advice should feel considered and transparent, not rushed or sales-driven.
It also helps to choose someone who is not paid to recommend specific products. When advice is free from product incentives, the focus stays on strategy, suitability, and long-term outcomes.
Independent advisers are often well-placed to do this because they’re not tied to particular providers.
Senior Financial Adviser Kristy Coulin says”
“Most people feel they understand investing – but it’s hard to see the gaps in what you don’t know. Qualified financial advisers use tools, research, and strategies that everyday investors simply don’t have access to, and they apply them consistently to not only grow your wealth but minimise risk along the way”
Who gives the best investing advice?
This question comes up frequently, especially online. People want to know who to listen to, who to follow, and who to trust with decisions that can shape their future.
The reality is that there is no single “best” adviser for everyone. What matters far more is whether the advice fits your situation, goals, and stage of life.
The best investing advice is evidence-based, not trend-driven
Strong investment advice is grounded in research and long-term data, not headlines or short-term market sentiment. It focuses on what has been shown to work over time, rather than reacting to the latest trend or prediction.
For pre-retirees, this matters because there is less time to recover from decisions driven by hype or fear.
The best investing advice is long-term, not reactive
Markets move constantly, but good advice doesn’t change direction every time they do. Instead of reacting to volatility, quality advice keeps your strategy aligned to long-term objectives and adjusts only when circumstances genuinely change.
This long-term perspective helps reduce unnecessary decision-making and emotional stress.
The best investing advice is tailored, not generic
Advice that works well for one person may be completely unsuitable for another. The best advice reflects your goals, timeframes, income needs, and tolerance for risk, rather than applying a one-size-fits-all solution.
For people approaching retirement, this level of personalisation becomes increasingly important.
The best investing advice is focused on outcomes, not products
Good advice concentrates on what you are trying to achieve, not on selling or promoting specific investment products. When the focus stays on outcomes, decisions are easier to understand and more likely to remain aligned with your long-term plan.
For many people, this is also where trust is built.
Behavioural support matters more than most people expect
For pre-retirees in particular, the best investing advice includes support around behaviour. Market volatility can trigger anxiety, hesitation, or the urge to act quickly.
A good adviser helps you stay disciplined during these periods, providing perspective and reassurance so decisions are not driven by emotion.
Where can I get reliable investing advice?
Reliable investing advice has a distinct feel to it. It is consistent, transparent, and calm, even when markets are unsettled.
Rather than creating urgency, it creates clarity.
Reliable advice helps you understand why decisions are made
You should be able to clearly explain, in your own words, why your strategy looks the way it does. Reliable advice takes the time to walk through the reasoning, assumptions, and trade-offs behind each decision.
Reliable advice helps you stay invested when markets move
One of the most valuable roles of an adviser is helping clients remain invested during periods of uncertainty. Reliable advice reinforces the long-term plan when short-term noise becomes distracting.
Reliable advice allows strategy to evolve without abandoning the plan
Life changes, and good advice adapts accordingly. The key difference is that changes are made thoughtfully, without discarding the overall strategy every time something unexpected happens.
If advice feels rushed, overly complex, or driven by pressure to act immediately, that is often a signal to slow down and ask more questions.
Investment advice doesn’t stop with markets
For many people, particularly those closer to retirement, investment decisions are no longer just about returns. They’re also about control, clarity, and what happens next.
How your investments are structured can influence tax outcomes, income flexibility, and, eventually, how wealth is passed on. This is where investment advice begins to overlap with estate planning and intergenerational wealth planning, ensuring decisions made today don’t create unintended outcomes later.
When investing is considered alongside plans for beneficiaries, superannuation, and long-term family goals, advice becomes less about individual products and more about creating continuity. That broader view helps reduce complexity, minimise disputes, and ensure wealth is transferred in line with your intentions rather than left to chance.
Behaviour matters more than most people realise
Investment outcomes are shaped just as much by behaviour as by asset allocation or returns.
Even well-constructed portfolios can fail if decisions are driven by fear, impatience, or overconfidence.
Helping clients avoid panic during downturns
Market downturns are uncomfortable, especially when retirement is closer. Advisers play an important role in helping clients avoid panic and maintain perspective during these periods.
Helping clients resist chasing returns
Chasing what has recently performed well is a common mistake. Good advice helps keep decisions grounded in strategy rather than recent performance.
Helping clients stick to long-term plans
Consistency over time is one of the biggest contributors to successful outcomes. Advisers provide structure and accountability, helping clients stay aligned to their plans.
Helping clients adjust thoughtfully, not emotionally
As retirement approaches, decisions become harder to reverse. Thoughtful guidance helps ensure changes are made deliberately, with a clear understanding of the long-term impact.
This type of support often becomes more valuable, not less, as people move closer to retirement.
Coastal Advisory Australia’s Chief Advice Officer Ben Calder explains, “Market ups and downs are a natural part of investing. Over the past century, markets have experienced many significant drops and every single time, they’ve gone on to recover. If you’re invested long enough, you’ll likely see a few sharp declines along the way. That’s simply the reality of being an investor.
What history shows us is that the real risk isn’t being invested when markets fall—it’s missing the rebound when they rise again.”
Questions worth asking before choosing an adviser
If you’re deciding where to get investment advice, these questions can help clarify whether it’s the right fit:
- How are you paid for your advice?
- Is your advice independent or product-aligned?
- What evidence supports your investment approach?
- How do you support clients during market downturns?
- How often will my strategy be reviewed?
Clear, confident answers matter.
Warning signs to watch for
Be cautious if you encounter:
- Promises of above-market returns
- Pressure to act quickly
- A focus on products before strategy
- Lack of discussion about risk
Investment advice should feel steady, not urgent.
Making the right choice as retirement approaches
For pre-retirees, investment advice is not about beating the market. It’s about making informed, confident decisions that support the next phase of life.
The right place to get investment advice is one where:
- Your goals come first
- Decisions are grounded in evidence
- Risk is understood, not ignored
- Guidance continues over time
Moving forward with clarity
Knowing where to get investment advice is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll make as retirement gets closer.
When advice is objective, evidence-based and aligned to your life, it becomes less about reacting to markets and more about moving forward with confidence.
If you’re unsure where to start, the most valuable first step is a conversation focused on your goals, not products.
Book an appointment for clarity and confidence.
Disclaimer:
This article is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances unless otherwise stated.
