We pay our financial adviser $26,000 a year. Is that too much?

My husband and I are retired with about $3 million in financial assets managed by an adviser. Their fees have risen each year and are now $26,000 annually (equivalent to 0.85 per cent of the portfolio).

Is this reasonable? Our funds are split between two pension accounts (formerly super) and a joint investment account. Returns often trail benchmarks, though I’m unsure what benchmark is appropriate. What is the usual range for adviser fees, and how can we judge whether we’re getting good value?

The financial planning landscape is diverse. Some practices focus on strategic advice and engage specialists to manage money on behalf of clients, while others take on full portfolio management responsibilities.

A fee of 0.85 per cent isn’t unreasonable for a full-service solution including portfolio management. But the question is whether you need that level of service, and whether the portfolio management is actually producing tangible benefits, over outsourcing that function to a specialist. I suggest you shop around.

My partner is due to receive a workers compensation payout this year, and needs assistance to manage the money. He is hopeless with money and has asked me to take control of it. Does a financial product exist where he can deposit the money and receive a regular (say monthly) payment, while the balance earns a respectable amount?

Yes, there is. Managed fund and wrap products offer regular withdrawals which can be set to pay you income each month. His money could then be invested in a balanced fund or similar, depending on your partner’s comfort around risk.

Some thought needs to be put into the investment allocation, particularly if the amounts are large. To facilitate the monthly payout, the fund administrator will typically sell down investments, and that triggers a capital gains tax assessment.

This is not a significant impediment, but just something you want to be aware of. If the amounts are large, you might want to have a cash fund within your portfolio that receives all dividends and interest, and pays out the monthly drawing. This will minimise the capital gains tax incurred.

How would you suggest I invest $200,000 from a maturing term deposit? I am 65, debt-free and have $500,000 in accumulation mode super. Commentary online seems to favour super, but as the stock market is close to record levels and I plan to retire in two years, is this advisable if the market falls significantly between now and then?

The first important thing for me to share with you is that superannuation is a tax regime, not an investment in the stock market. Within super, you choose how your money is invested.

If you wish, you could invest your money in a cash option. Some funds even offer term deposits. Therefore in making your decision, split the investment/risk element from the ownership element.

The next item to address is the stock market being at record levels. Stock markets are at record levels a lot. Picture a standard market graph, and you will see that it goes up and to the right. As businesses make profits they reinvest a portion back into their business, so there is an inbuilt element of compounding occurring.

Finally, you are two years out from retirement. Yes, that means you should have a plan to address the potential for a market correction – they do happen.

But once retired, your money will continue to be invested for hopefully another 20-plus years. You can still invest with some exposure to normal market ups and downs.

Paul Benson is a certified financial planner at Guidance Financial Services. He hosts the Financial Autonomy podcast. Questions to: paul@financialautonomy.com.au

• Advice given in this article is general in nature and is not intended to influence readers’ decisions about investing or financial products. They should always seek their own professional advice that takes into account their own personal circumstances before making any financial decisions.

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