FAQs

• Financial management from basic budgeting to complex portfolios.
• Investment strategies, including recommending investment categories and specific products.
• Superannuation strategies to help you accumulate enough money to retire with the lifestyle you’d like and strategies to help you minimise the tax you pay right now.
• Retirement planning for people who are retiring soon or many years from now – the sooner you plan the better.
• How to use a redundancy payout most effectively, including how to make it last as long as possible.
• Insurance to make sure you adequately protect what you’ve achieved so far, whether that’s a property, assets or your income.

A financial planner is like having a personal coach for your money. We aim to help you protect and get more out of the money you have, so you can have more of the things you want – today and in the future. After finding out who you are, your current circumstances and where you want to be, we will help you make informed decisions about how to make the most of your money, investing and protecting it to your advantage, using financial products that suit your needs. Our job is to take the 7 key building blocks and mix and match these elements to suit your personal situation. The result will be a personal Financial Plan.

The Australian Investments and Securities Commission (ASIC) says that a good financial plan should:

• summarise your financial position.
• list your goals.
• explain how you will reach those goals.
• show how carefully chosen investments mesh together as working parts of your overall strategy.
• disclose and explain any risks and how they can be overcome.
• state all the costs.
• reveal the commissions your adviser might receive from the recommended investments.

We will ask you about you – about where you are now, about your expectations, about how you would like to live your life. Then we will conduct something called ‘fact finding’ – we will ask you about your personal circumstances and help you to determine your attitude towards risk. Your attitude to risk means whether you are conservative in the way you invest, aggressive or somewhere in between. We will ask you for detailed personal information; we need it to put together your financial plan. We will ask things like your

• age
• current personal income
• family income
• future income (inheritances included)
• day-to-day expenses
• your family circumstances (number and health of dependants, dependants from previous relationships etc)
• future expenses
• assets and liabilities
• tax paid and tax owed
• super and insurance situation
• current investments
• state of health.

You will also need to have considered your goals and current financial position. We will ask you things like

• when you want to retire
• how you want to educate your children
• whether a second home, like a holiday house, is important to you
• do you have dependents you need to provide for if you are unable to work or if the unforeseen happens
• whether you have an up-to-date Will
• whether you are expecting any large expenses.

• A Financial Services Guide, which outlines who we are, what we can advise on and how we are paid.
• A written Statement of Advice that outlines the relevant information that you have provided, the advice you have been given and why it is suitable for you (along with how we get paid and any other benefits we may receive).
• A Product Disclosure Statement – if we recommend a financial product. The Product Disclosure Statement gives you information about the product features, fees that apply, any adviser commission, benefits and risks of investing and what to do if you have a complaint.

The financial services industry has changed over the years and it has become very compliance orientated and heavily regulated. Financial Planners are not usually allowed to give verbal personal advice. Personal Advice usually needs to be given in the form of a written recommendation, also known as a Statement of Advice (financial plan). This is not a bad thing as it ensures both clients and financial planners are really clear on what was originally wanted (by the client) and what was recommended (by the Financial Planner) and both parties then can sign off on this.