Monday 9 April 2012

Tips On How To Decide A Financial Planner

Choosing the right financial adviser should be a difficult process.  How can you locate a professional together with the expertise you need?  Someone you can trust to assist you in planning your financial future.   Where should you start?  What should you look for?
Here are some things you should consider:
your current situation - prior to meeting a financial planner, get a good plan of where you are currently at financially.  You may like to use these free online calculators to help you get started: Free Financial Position Calculator  Free Budget Calculator
your goals - What are your financial goals in the short, moderate and long term?
what do you need a e&l insurance adviser to do for you?  There exists many of choices when it returns to financial advice.  Some people just need help with a specfic region of concern (eg divorce), or at a critical life stage (eg retirement).  Other people should obtain financial advice in all parts to help them get ahead financially - the decision is yours.
You should take your time and do your studies prior to you choose your financial adviser.  Some things you may like to ponder about prior to you decide on one are:

are they properly licensed?  In Australia, financial advisers should be the holder of or authorised below an Australian Financial Services Licence.
do they have appropriate experience?  Are they experienced in all the parts you identified you need financial advice in? 
are they recommended?  Do you have knowledge of anyone who has had skills development with this financial adviser?  Do they return recommended?
how do they charge?  Some advisers receive commissions from product providers.  Others charge the client directly for their time (known as fee for service).  Do you have knowledge of and are you comfortable with how this adviser charges?  Be aware that financial advisers who charge commissions shall have an added conflict of interest as they receive payment when selling you an products
who are they owned by/affiliated with?  Sadly in Australia, the overwhelming majority of financial advisers work for or are affiliated with larger financial institutions and banks.  This poses a difficulty where many of these groups impose restrictions on the variations of products and advice that these financial advisers can release their clients.  If this concerns you, you should seek out the advice of a financial adviser from a privately owned financial planning firm.  Remember that this details should be disclosed within the Financial Services Guide (FSG) so be sure to view the fineprint.
For more details on how to decide a financial adviser, be sure to download our free ebook Choosing a Financial Planner

No comments:

Post a Comment