Nigel Farage has launched a new campaign to get people to "take back control" of their finances - and it's "monumentally risky" according to professionals.
Farage has launched a financial tips service called Fortune and Freedom - a few years after declaring himself "skint" and saying "there's no money in politics".
His message is simple - the financial establishment don't have your best interests at heart, so you need to take control.
"No-one cares more about your money than you," he wrote explaining his new Fortune and Freedom product.
"So it is time to wrest it back from those who simply do not have your best interests at heart. You can manage your own finances."
But the idea that you find financial freedom yourself with the help of a few tips from a newsletter is “monumentally risky”, according to the head of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory groups.
Nigel Green, chief executive and founder of deVere Group, said: “Successful DIY (Do It Yourself) investing can be possible, but for most people it is not recommended – indeed, it could be a costly and traumatic accident waiting to happen.
“Going it alone can be monumentally risky for inexperienced investors as the complexities involved can sink their portfolios."
Take Peter, one of Mirror Money's readers, for example.
He thought he found a bargain stock, with the share price lower than the value of the company's assets and less than half what it was a couple of years before.
So he put money into it, waiting for the payoff. The stock fell again, so he put more money in.
Then, the company swapped its huge debt pile for new shares - effectively making the ones he'd bought worth pennies - seeing him lose thousands.
He simply didn't see it coming.
Worse, a lot of the worst traits in investing - including emotional decisions, getting tips from mates and looking at past performance - are front and centre of what Farage appears to be offering.
There are articles on familiar Farage themes such as "Why Britain will boom after Brexit " and "Six dirty little secrets about the EU".
There are also posts asking for reader's positive experiences of going alone and negative experiences with institutions.
But Green noted a certain lack of explanations about what could go wrong if you do it all yourself.
“I would urge anyone who extols the virtues of a DIY approach to investing to also underscore the risks and potential pitfalls to be avoided,” he said.
So what should you do?
Well, with returns low on savings, investing is seen one of the better ways to help money actually grow - as long as it's done with some sense of the risk involved as well as the potential rewards.
And there are five key areas professional wealth advisers look at when helping you decide where to put your cash for the est chance of returns.
“First, helping you to diversify a portfolio. Spreading money around is vital to curb risk. However, it must be used correctly - diversification will only add real value if the new asset has a different risk profile," Green said.
“Second, investing with a plan: Unless you have a sound plan, you’re gambling, not investing.
“Third, avoiding emotional decisions. Overly emotional decisions can prove deadly when it comes to investments because they are blighted by prejudices and biases.
“Fourth, regularly reviewing your portfolio: Investments need to be consistently reviewed to ensure they still deserve their place in the portfolio and that they are still on track to reach your long-term financial objectives.
“Fifth, not focusing excessively on historical returns: The future investment situation is likely to be different from time-aged averages.”
