speaking as an IFA, who has sat 11 professional exams through the CII plus obtained the Certified Financial Planner Status from the IFP, we should not all be tarnished with the same brush. Like any field of work, there are some people who are not as good or dedicated to their job as the rest, but to dismiss an entire industry founded on ethics and so heavily regulated to provide best advice, is i fear rather foolish. I am not just directing that at the OP, but at others who have commented on our profession.
From January, the minimum level of qualifications that an adviser needs to hold in order to keep advising will be raised from a basic 3 exams (or 5 if qualified in the last few years) to a more advanced Diploma level, and as a result there will be an exodus of older advisers from the industry. The industry is also moving from a commission or fee basis to a purely fee basis environment, where everything regarding the cost of advice is made clear and visible to a client. We can only hope that this flushes out some of the weaker/greedy individuals.
If you were one of my clients, i would be wary of you investing into just one asset class, and particularly into direct property of any kind. Property is rarely a liquid asset, and there are the other additional risks that it may not be let, and the costs of setting up such an investment are high, when you take into account legal costs, stamp duty, plus ongoing maintenance and insurances. Generally my clients do not invest into direct property unless the property is being leased to their own company or one which they are strongly connected to.
My clients would be more likely to hold a wide and diversified portfolio, which would include immediate access savings accounts with a bank or building society, ISA's, pensions, and then depending on their circumstances, and attitude to risk, they may hold unit trusts, OEICS, investment trusts or bonds, which enables them to invest either directly or as part of a collective investment fund into for example gilts, corporate bonds, uk and overseas equities for growth or income, commodities, property funds, absolute return funds. These investments could be invested for any period of time without being tied in, and i would never recommend anything that has an exit penalty as life is unpredictable and my clients like the knowledge that they can access their money whenever they need to (apart from pensions where you can rarely just get all of the money withdrawn).
Some clients will just want to invest for growth, and reinvest any natural income, other clients may have a specific level of income that they need from the outset. It is these needs that will determine exactly what the recommendations are, along with their attitude to risk. For the more speculative client, there are other specialist invesments that could be considered, some of which have many tax advantages. In addition to creating a diversified asset allocation in terms of asset class, sectors and geography, tax planning is a large part of what we do, as it is one common goal that clients have, to minimise the tax that they have to pay on their investments, which generally stems from money that has already been taxed by the time they receive it in the first place, and to take steps to minimise what their future inheritance tax bill might be on their estates, to lessen the cost to the people they leave behind. It isn't just Jimmy Carr who doesn't like paying tax!