When the world's stock markets took another turn for the worse last month, £24 billion was wiped off the value of London shares in one day.

It completed, in a fairly painful way, the cycle which began with the hugely-popular privatisation share issues of the Eighties.

For almost 20 years, the share buyer has prospered in the world of high finance which was formerly a dark and mystical place.

A whole generation has yet to see wealth, both personal and in funds held by the institutions, wiped out on a massive scale.

Any investment, anywhere, in fact, has looked good, sooner or later, so long as it wasn't in a boring old building society.

Now, suddenly, cash is king and pessimists fear London shares slumping even further.

Finance writer Jonqul Lowe said there might be an argument for buying shares as everybody else gets out.

He said: "Now is probably a good times to invest and it is certainly a better time than two years ago when prices were sky high.

"Only time will tell if this is definitely a good time. But private investors invariably buy near the top and sell after prices fall."

Rather better timed is the publication of Ms Lowe's book Be Your Own Financial Adviser. It appears as millions of savers contemplate the wreckage of clapped-out equity individual savings accounts (ISAs) and crumbling tracker funds.

Where investors go from here is a puzzle. Most pay financial advisors through commission and, if we take fright at shares and stop buying their standard products, like unit trusts and with profits bonds, we could face fees of about £100 an hour.

Ms Lowe said: "In this environment, financial advisors have more incentive to push products on to clients.

Profits bonds, for example, are popular with older investors, despite high commission levels, perhaps six per cent, against three per cent on many unit trusts.

"The commission system, in theory, may have the client's best interests at heart. But there is a built-in incentive for advisors to recommend products or actions that produce high commissions or encourage consumers to invest more or buy more insurance cover than is strictly necessary."

More than 28,000 financial advisors registered in Britain are hardly likely to accept amateurs can do the job as well as them.

Ms Lowe, who worked in the City before going into financial journalism, takes a different angle. Financial DIY expertise, she says, is much more than smart share tips.

She says: "We need to promote the concept of holistic financial planning which includes building an emergency fund, protecting the main earner's income and family dependants, buying a home, investing to build up a nest egg and pensions planning."

Ms Lowe says DIY financial planning begins with sound and sensible foundations:

Take stock of your assets:

Investments, Premium Bonds, insurance policies (possibly part of the job package), income protection, the level of support which the state might provide towards mortgage repayments in a crisis.

She says: "People are inclined to take out life assurance because it is something people do. Protecting income is badly neglected."

Prioritise your goals. Building
an emergency fund of £1,000 to £5,000 is more important than saving for a holiday.

Decide the level of risk
acceptable to you. This is the key factor, says Ms Lowe, which causes so many people to make bad investments.

"Until they suffer a big fall in shares, people don't really think it can happen. Now the true nature of shares is being revealed and many investors have been very naive. A lot of chickens came home to roost with Railtrack."

Pension planning must be
totally re-thought if low inflation remains. If it does, those just starting careers will either have to work much longer, perhaps going parttime between 65 and 75, or be prepared to save up to a quarter of income to give up work earlier.

The next step is to turn savings into long-term investment income.

Ms Lowe identifies four different strategies: Building a lump sum through regular saving; investing a lump sum to make it grow; using a lump sum to produce income immediately and using lump sum or regular savings to provide income later.

Depending on personal attitude to risk, the risk pyramid offers safe investments -

National Savings, all-in-one mortgages which combine debts and savings, mini cash ISAs - at the bottom and virtual gambles, like hightechnology shares and traded options, at the top.

Do your homework, advises Ms Lowe.

She says: "Find the sorts of products that meet your goals.

Look at newspapers, personal finance magazines and web sites. Examine the best buy lists on FSA Comparative Tables (call 0845 606 1234 or www.fsa.gov.uk/tables).

Make sure the firm providing the products is authorised by contacting the FSA Register on 0845 606 1234 or Firm Check Service at www.fsa.

gov.uk/consumer.

Investing for growth has become more difficult and could get tougher still. You need all the help you can get.