Airtractor:
Forgive me if I contradict your statement that "the best financial advice you can ever get is to have your own online brokerage account:"...
Proper financial advice and planning covers all types of insurance, pensions, wills and estate planning, mortgages, specific savings for specific things (like the kids education, retirement etc), actual investment often makes up a small area of a complete profile...having an online brokerage account doesn't address half of the issues that will and do come up in life. Sound financial planning is an ongoing process and sadly one shoe doesn't fit all people since we all have different goals and situations in life.
And as for being cheaper - few things in life are free. There are fund manager fees which are ongoing until you change funds or encash the investment completely- get the wrong kind of vehicle for investing and you'll be paying high fund fees, switching fees, ongoing management fees, early redemption fees and all sorts of things without any professional advice or servicing.
On top of that if you don't set up an investment correctly you will be opening yourself to problems with taxation, including inheritance and captial gains tax at a later stage...even if you work in a tax free country at present. If you think having it "offshore" is enough to not worry about such things you're mistaken, especially if you're an EU or US citizen.
Online brokerage accounts suit some people - especially those with time to actually check them regularly, have the amounts on hand to open them and learn how things work. There are still charges for these things but they go to the bank and/or investment house rather than to an advisor who you can speak to at any time (assuming you have an advisor who sees you every few months and not a salesman who is only in the business for a few years flogging the same savings plan to everyone he meets).
N.