What is their role? To help with financial control of your money and/or assets, to help with investments
What do they do? They can do as little or as much as you like them to do. So if you want some guidance with your super, they can help. If you need some assistance with managing your money and/or assets, they can help. They can help you sort your life out financially.
Where do I find a good one/what should I be looking for? Finding a good one, best thing is word of mouth. Failing that, shop around. The bigger companies are not necessarily the better companies.
Do they cost money? Yes. There is no flat rate for a fianancial advisor. I know some banks (usually the big 4) have financial advisors. I'm not sure that they charge a fee though. But private ones certainly do.
They can also advise you re: appropriate insurance products (life, income protection, etc.). Often, say if you have a mortgage, this is really all a good one should be talking to you about as the honest ones will tell you that there's basically no investment that will return (after taxes) an amount equal to the interest rate on your mortgage. Therefore, the best thing one can do if one has a mortgage is pay it off or, put excess cash into the offset account.
They also can advise re: super and help you project what you will need and whether you should increase the mandatory contribution.
Last edited by buliej; June 21st, 2010 at 05:14 PM.
: I forgot about the super part of their advice
We've just appointed one in the last month and so far he has advised up on super and has set up new funds for us and we will be rolling our super into them. He is also arranging new life and income protection insurance.
We found ours though a relative and he came highly recommended so perhaps ask around your family
Hi Sunshine, I work with financial planners, and DH & I have been to see one. We primarily went there for insurance, so the first thing he asked us was how much debt we have. He made sure our life insurance, TPD & trauma insurance was enough to cover all debt plus a bit extra should anything happen to either of us. He also got us sorted with income protection (the premium for this is tax deductible too, so that's handy).
Next he asked us about our financial goals - which at the time were to pay off our personal loan, then start working on reducing our home loan so we can build equity in our house and maybe one day have an investment property. He was great, helped with working out small steps to reach our goals.
If you need I can also explain a little better what all the types of insurance are and how they work.
As for choosing one, I just went with the local fella at the bank cos that's where I work. But I'd have a good look at their fee structures, some get paid more for offering particular products, and some get paid more for selling larger insurance packages, even if you don't need it. I agree word of mouth is a good way to go
Registered User
Financial Planners - new at this. Lots of questions
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