A quarter of UK adults would invest £50,000 without advice

Reacting to

One in four UK adults would invest up to £50,000 without professional advice (Professional Adviser, 19 October 2026)

An accountant does not see this decision as a survey finding. An accountant sees it as a dividend drawn in one sum, a sale completed, a sum sitting in a current account for the first time, on a return already in front of them.

What the research found

YouGov surveyed 2,078 UK adults for Mattioli Woods between 2 and 3 September 2026. The findings, published by Mattioli Woods on 19 October 2026:

26%

of UK adults would feel comfortable investing between £10,000 and £50,000 without speaking to a financial adviser.

44%

do not feel financially prepared for major future life events.

41%

would turn to family or relatives first when facing an important financial decision.

21%

would feel comfortable making pension and retirement decisions without professional advice.

YouGov for Mattioli Woods, fieldwork 2–3 September 2026, published 19 October 2026

Only 30% of respondents said they would seek professional advice for all financial decisions, and only 31% said they would turn to a financial adviser first when facing an impactful decision, behind family or relatives on 41%. A bank or building society came next, ahead of friends or colleagues, and 10% said they would decide alone. The research also found 40% of respondents fearful of rising costs and housing expenses, 39% worried about unexpected health or long-term care costs, and 33% concerned about an inability to work or losing income.

Where this shows up before the client mentions it

A client does not announce a decision to invest £30,000 without advice. The accountant preparing the next return sees it anyway: a dividend voted in a single sum, a capital gain on a disposal the practice did not advise on, interest or dividend income appearing on a return for the first time from a sum that sat in a current account the year before, or a director’s loan cleared in full after a property sale. Each of those already passes through the practice preparing the accounts and the return. The accounts show what a company director does with surplus cash in the business, set out in what to look for in the accounts.

A couple reviewing paperwork and a laptop at home

Amit Joshi, Managing Director of Wealth at Mattioli Woods: “Decisions around investments, pensions and long-term financial planning can have unanticipated and significant consequences that last decades.”

A worked example

This example uses a made-up client and made-up figures.

The example is a self-employed graphic designer who sells a small buy-to-let property for a net gain of £46,000 after costs. The capital gains tax allowance for 2026/27 is £3,000, taxed at 18% or 24% depending on the rest of the client’s income (gov.uk, Capital Gains Tax rates). The client puts £20,000 into a cash ISA, leaving the annual ISA limit untouched otherwise, and decides on their own to invest the remaining £26,000 directly in shares through an app, without discussing the decision with their accountant or anyone else.

The property sale

Made-up client and made-up figures

Net gain on sale£46,000

Capital gains tax allowance, 2026/27£3,000

Cash ISA£20,000

Invested directly, without advice£26,000

The following year’s self assessment return will show dividend and interest income from the £26,000 for the first time, alongside the capital gains tax due on the property disposal. That is the point at which the practice preparing the return already has both figures in front of it: the gain that funded the investment and the income the investment has started to produce. Nothing about raising that with the client requires the practice to comment on what was bought.

Accountancy work

Seeing the dividend, the gain or the new income on a return, and asking whether the client has thought about pulling it together with their wider plans, is an accountant’s work.

Regulated advice

Weighing whether the £26,000 belongs in shares, a pension or somewhere else, and at what risk, is regulated advice, and sits with the Equity & General financial planner.

The division is set out in who does what.

Two things to do this week

Look for the single-sum entries on returns already in progress. A dividend voted in one sum, a capital gain with no matching advice file, or dividend or interest income appearing for the first time are each visible on the return the practice is already preparing.
Ask the question once, at the meeting that is already booked. “Has this been looked at alongside your pension and your ISA allowance?” is a fair question about a figure on the client’s own return, and asking it is not regulated advice.

What is not yet settled

Mattioli Woods published age and gender breakdowns for some of the findings but not a full regional or income breakdown, and the fieldwork ran over two days in September 2026, a short window for a survey of this size. The research measures what people say they would do. What a specific client goes on to do once a lump sum arrives is a separate question. Treat the percentages as Mattioli Woods’ own research, reported as such.

Common questions

Can an accountant tell a client not to invest without advice?

No. Recommending for or against an investment decision is a regulated activity, and an accountancy practice without FCA permissions cannot give that recommendation. What the accountant can do is notice what is in the file: a dividend drawn in one go, an inheritance received, a property sale completed, and ask whether the client would like to talk to the Equity & General financial planner before deciding what happens to the money. Noticing the figure is accountancy work. Advising on what to do with it is regulated advice. The division is set out in who does what.

Where would this show up in a client's accounts or return?

A dividend voted and paid in a single sum. A capital gain reported on a self assessment return where the disposal proceeds do not match anything the practice advised on. Interest or dividend income appearing on a return for the first time, from a sum that was sitting in a current account the year before. A director’s loan repaid in full after a property or business sale. Each of those is something the practice already sees preparing the return, before the client mentions it in conversation.

What if the client has already made the decision themselves?

The YouGov research for Mattioli Woods found 41% of UK adults would turn to family or relatives first when facing an important financial decision, ahead of a bank, friends or colleagues, with 31% turning to a financial adviser. A client who has already invested a lump sum without advice is not a lost conversation. The next tax year still has an ISA allowance, a pension annual allowance and a capital gains position to plan around, and the accountant preparing that year’s return can raise it then.

Why would someone who feels unprepared still decide not to take advice?

The YouGov research found 44% of UK adults do not feel financially prepared for major life events, yet only 30% said they would seek professional advice for all financial decisions and 21% said they would feel comfortable making pension and retirement decisions without guidance. The same research found 40% of UK adults fearful of rising costs and housing expenses, 39% worried about unexpected health or long-term care costs, and 33% concerned about losing income. Feeling unprepared and seeking advice are two separate choices. That gap is where a conversation already under way with an accountant has a reason to happen, because the practice already holds the figures that show whether a plan exists.

Does this research break down by age or gender?

Yes. Mattioli Woods reported that 34% of men and 19% of women would feel comfortable investing between £10,000 and £50,000 without professional advice, and that adults aged 55 and over were more likely than younger respondents to turn to a financial adviser first. The same research found that UK adults believe long-term financial planning should begin at an average age of 28.5, rising to 30 among respondents in London and Wales. Put together, younger and male clients are, on this research, both the group most likely to say planning should start early and the group least likely to raise a lump sum decision with anyone before acting on it. That combination is a useful guide to which client to raise the conversation with first.