What can I expect to pay when meeting my first financial planner?
My suggestion would be to ask the planner as an initial question as there could be a couple possible explanations for a free meeting: Initial consultation - Within some industries there will be that first meeting which is free to see how well do two people work together.  In Canada there are some lawyers that will give a half-hour of their time and I'd imagine some financial planners may have a similar practice.  This would be where that first meeting is a half-hour or hour to see what is your situation and what expertise do you want that the planner would have. Straight commission - There is also the possibility that the planner is compensated by the products you purchase through him.  In this case, the mutual fund companies, insurance companies and other institutions that he recommends will be handling his compensation.  While this does present a conflict of interest, you have to decide whether you want a fee-only planner which wouldn't have this issue though you'd have to pay out of pocket. Something to consider is what are you bringing to this meeting and how long is it intended to be.  If you are bringing a lot of paperwork then it is definitely worth asking upfront while if it is an informal chat for a half hour then things may be different. A complete analysis of your current situation, goals, and formulating a plan to meet those goals, including discussing your risk tolerance cannot be completed during the initial meeting. The first meeting should be him trying to convince you of his skills and services, he will also be collecting the required data from you.  You could inquire a few days before the meeting what information he needs from you. The less he asks for the less though the analysis at the initial meeting. This would also be a good time to ask about fee structure. Some planners make money on the initial plan, others make money on the execution of the plan. What fee that is expected for the initial analysis can vary greatly. You should ask, but most will consider this first meeting as the cost of doing business.
"EDIT: TLDR I Can promise you they will lose sight again because it was never regained in the first place. They aren't the first company to do it [and it wont be the last time.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ypUz1WYens)   The company I work for (Office Depot) is doing this practice. We have insane goals that no one can reach, and often more daily responsibilities than an individual can finish. When anyone tries to speak up against it at any level the reply is ""we dont want excuses"" or ""dont be negative"". Completely ignoring any issues presented to them. Instead rather than problem solving those who bring issues to light are treated as having created the problem.  We (the company) [got in trouble a while back for our ""PC Tune Up""](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cEfYibkHjM) because the tool didn't accurately portray the condition of a customers system. If you ran the tool it would ask ""do you have x or y symptoms (pop ups, slow, etc)"" and if you selected yes it would tell you that it found possible infection symptoms. It didn't make it clear that the scan didn't detect this. They then paired this with techs that weren't trained in any way other than selling using the tools diagnosis and unrealistic sales goals. When you couldn't reach numbers you were eventually replaced. If the store didn't reach numbers it came down on management (who would fake numbers by returning items and reselling them as service sku's). Every tech I knew complained about the awful diagnostic tool, and the unrealistic goals and what they were causing. Many of us refused to use the tool on the grounds of it being misleading and immoral, depot responded by requiring a minimum amount of logged uses of the tool per week. Depot did nothing but treat it as negativity until it was brought up in the news after a disgruntled tech let the word out. Then suddenly it's ""were sorry"" acting like they had no idea what was going on and  the roll out of a new tool that simply had a remote technician give the same diagnostic. (which has since changed again). We still have the same push for sales goals and attach rate (push for office, service, and square trade sales) and zero accountability. They train no one, create goals, and act surprised when they figure out how people are meeting these goals.  Nothing has actually changed in a relevant way, the same core problem still exists they've only changed the face.  These issues are prevalent in the company as we have minimal payroll for staffing at all times and high expectations with poor tools across the board. I've watched many people get fired for not meeting goal expectations and many more quit. I've watched the people who could meet the goals praised only to be fired a short time later when it's found they only met the goal through cheating of some sort.   Every single strategy corporate tries has still followed this same format of over promise and under deliver. They pile more on while cutting resources constantly and they still haven't learned the lesson that the result is the same every time regardless of game plan. The best part is the higher ups all switch out every 3 - 6 months it seems. I've had at least 4 District managers in the short time i've been here, multiple RVP's and LP's. Everyone comes in for 6 months then jumps ship to somewhere more stable. Meanwhile we cut costs to appear more profitable.   The whole retail side of the company is a sham." "Exactly what you do with the money depends on various personal choices you'll have to make for yourself.  Investing your money in Vanguard index funds such as the ones you mentioned is certainly one smart move.  However, I think you're quite right to be suspicious of an advisor with a 1% fee.  In many cases, such advisors are not worth their costs.  The thing to remember is that, typically with that type of fee structure, you always pay the costs, even if the advisor turns out to be wrong and your money doesn't grow. One thing to check is whether the advisor you mentioned is paid only by the fees he charges (a ""fee-only financial planner') , or whether he also makes money via the sales of financial products.  Some advisors earn money by selling you financial products (such as mutual funds), which can create a conflict of interest.  You can read about fee-only financial advisors and choosing a financial advisor on Investopedia." You're extremely fortunate to have $50k in CDs, no debt, and $3800 disposable after food and rent. Congrats. Here's how I would approach it. If you see yourself getting into a home in the next couple of years, stay safe and liquid. CDs (depending on the duration) fit that description. Because you have disposable income and you're young, you should be contributing to a Roth IRA. This will build in value and compound over your lifetime, so that when you're in your 70s you'll actually have a retirement.  Financial planners love life insurance because that's how they make all their money. I have whole life insurance because its cash value will be part of my retirement. It may also cover my wife if I ever decide to get married. It may or may not make sense for you now depending on how soon you want to buy a home and home expensive they are in your zip code.  Higher risk, higher reward- you can count on that. Keep the funds in the United States and don't try to get into any slick financial moves.  If you have a school in town, see if you can take an Intro to Financial Planning class. It's extremely helpful for anyone with these kinds of questions. "The definition I use for financial independence is 99% confidence that, at a specific estimated spending rate per year (allowing for estimated inflation, and budgeting for likely medical emergencies, and taxes on taxable investments), the money will outlast me. This translates to needing an average annual return on investment which covers the average yearly spending. For my purposes, that works out to my relying on being able to draw only a 4% income from the money each year, which should give me good odds of the money not just being sufficient but being able to deliver that rate ""forever"". (Historically, average US stock market rate if return is around 8%.) That is overkill, if course, I could plan on the money just barely lasting past my 120th birthday or something of that sort, but the goal us to be pretty sure not only that I won't run out but that I will have some cash unexpected needs. Which in turn means that I estimate I need investments 1/.04 times the yearly spending estimate to declare the ""forever"" independence/retirement, or 25x the yearly. From that, I can calculate how much longer, at a given savings rate and rate of return, it'll take for me to reach that target.  Obviously you need to adjust all these numbers to reflect your opinions/understanding if the market, your own needs, your priorities and expected maximum age, and the phase of Saturn's moons. But that's the basic rationale. Or you can pay a financial planner to give you this number, and a strategy for getting there, based on the numbers you give him or her plus some statistical analysis of the market's overall history." I won't make any assumptions about the source of the money.  Typically however, this can be an emotional time and the most important thing to do is not act rashly. If this is an amount of money you have never seen before, getting advice from a fee only financial adviser would be my second step.  The first step is to breathe and promise yourself you will NOT make any decisions about this money in the short term.  Better to have $100K in the bank earning nearly zero interest than to spend it in the wrong way. If you have to receive the money before you can meet with an adviser, then just open a new savings account at your bank (or credit union) and put the money in there.  It will be safe and sound. Visit http://www.napfa.org/ and interview at least three advisers. With their guidance, think about what your goals are.  Do you want to invest and grow the money?  Pay off debt?  Own a home or new large purchase?  These are personal decisions, but the adviser might help you think of goals you didn't imagine Create a plan and execute it. I can't speak about the UK, but here in the US, 1% is on the cheap side for professional management.  For example Fidelity will watch your portfolio for that very amount.  I doubt you could claim that they took advantage of her for charging that kind of fee. Given that this is grandma's money, no consultation with the family is necessary. Perhaps she did have dementia at the time of investment, but she was not diagnosed at the time.  If a short time has past between the investment and the diagnosis, I would contact the investment company with the facts.  I would ask (very nicely) that they refund the fee, however, I doubt they under obligation to do so. While I do encourage you to seek legal council, there does not seem to be much of substance to your claim.  The fees are very ordinary or even cheap, and no diagnosis precluded decision making at the time of investment. In terms of building the initial investment using some kind of mutual fund, I'd suggest you see my answer to this similar question https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/9943/cheapest-or-free-online-broker-for-beginner For buying individual stocks later, you could look at sharebuilder, or a low cost broker, however most of them charge between $5-$7 per trade, and if you are doing small dollar value trades then that can really really eat into things if you try to trade a lot. Is my financial status OK? If not, how can I improve it? Based on the fact that you have $100K in the bank and no debts your situation is OK. You don't have credit card debt or an underwater car loan, though the fact you are thinking about a car and a home shows you have started to put some thought into planning. Is now a right time for me to see a financial advisor?  The fact that you don't mention retirement savings: 401K, IRA, or pension, means that you have not planned for retirement, and you need to do so. The ESPP can be a part of a plan, but if that is you only investment you are focusing too much of your current and future income on one source of income. Is it worthy? It can be. you want to avoid working with a planner that makes money only if you invest in specific investments they suggest. You want to find a planner that takes a fixed fee for developing the plan, and only provides advice on types of investments. How would she/he help me? They will look at where you are. Where you can quickly make adjustments. And where you want to go over the next year, decade, and lifetime. Then they will provide guidance on those steps you should follow.  If your situation changes in the future because of marriage or kids, you can then revisit with a planner and make changes