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What people really want from personal financial planners

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Another Brisbane business building tip!  It pays to see things from the customer’s point of view.

What do most customers really want when they seek personal financial planning services?  Although they want to achieve a desirable level of financial wellbeing, what they really want often differs from the services that most financial planners want to provide.

There is growing demand in Australia to make financial advice affordable, easily accessible, easily understood and deliverable in smaller portions (as apposed to large complex financial plans).

The industry is changing and this requires a complete change of thinking on the part of financial advice providers.

I know from experience that the majority of people:

  • Don’t always want huge, expensive and hard to read Statements of Advice containing complex advice that attempts to map out the rest of their lives. (Why?  Because life can change so quickly)
  • Appreciate an expert resource with a depth of knowledge and experience they can draw on
  • Would really like to talk to someone who would simply answer questions
  • Appreciate having risks and opportunities that are not obvious to them, drawn to their attention
  • Like to browse for factual and current information without sales pressure
  • Have a continuing love affair and well founded belief in direct property, particularly residential property, even though it is not commonly addressed or recommended by financial planners
  • Are not necessarily wanting to buy a financial product when they seek advice

People who seek financial advice crave it with no strings attached.  They are looking for guidance and advice that is independent any particular product, and not given by someone who is employed by a product provider.

For more business building tips in Brisbane and to read more on this subject read the article “Navigating Life” at http://www.aikido-secrets-to-calm-success.com

If you want to try Aikido, try Griffith Aikido at http://www.griffithaikido.com.au

Until next time!

Gary

Financial wellbeing – what is personal financial planning?

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The point of personal financial planning is to work out a way of achieving the things that are most important to you in life.  So what is important to you?  The answer is different for everyone.

For some it could be the dream of winning an Olympic gold medal or taking an around the world holiday.  For others it could be a house in the suburbs and a good education for the children, or saving for retirement.

Regardless of the broad range of individual goals, the common thread to goal achievement is financial wellbeing.  That means having enough money to do the things you really want to do, staying healthy and not having to sacrifice the fun in your life.

That is a long way from making the bland statement, “I want to be a millionaire!”  Accumulating money just for the sake of it is simply being greedy.  If your focus is 100% on being rich, then you are likely to be sacrificing your health and missing the fun in life.

For example, (and this example happens often) if your partner leaves you for someone else while you were always working on accumulating riches, where’s the fun in that?

What is the point of being rich if you are in poor health and having no fun?  Is that really what you want your life to be about?

Many people dream of riches but most would happily settle for enough money to do the things they want to do now, and the means of generating enough money to finance the future they want as it arrives.

In the process, you may or may not become a millionaire, but does that really matter?  These days, you can own 3 residential properties and be a millionaire on paper, but it is a meaningless concept.  You won’t be the first or the last millionaire who is desperately unhappy or unhealthy.

Financial wellbeing equates to balance in your life.  It means having focus on money to finance your life, leading a healthy life, and having fun in your life.

If the three can be combined in the same activity, that’s great!  But most often, they can’t.  So there must be room for all; and getting to where that balance feels right for you is the point of personal financial planning.

If you are looking for information on the calm positive mindset requires for financial wellbeing, check out http://www.aikido-secrets-to-calm-success.com

Until next time!

Gary

Financial wellbeing – the demand for financial advice in Australia

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Australians are becoming more concerned about their financial wellbeing and the demand for financial advice is changing.  In December 2010, ASIC (The Australian Securities and Investments Commission) released Report 224, titled ‘Access to Financial Advice in Australia’.

The report identifies a number of key issues that adversely impact access to advice.  They are:

  • Cost of advice – a significant gap exists between what consumers are prepared to pay for financial advice and how much it costs industry to provide advice
  • Scale of advice provided – Many Australians, particularly those who have never previously accessed financial advice, want piece-by-piece simple advice rather than holistic advice
  • Consumer perceptions that advice is out of their reach – evidence suggests that some people do not seek financial advice because they feel their financial circumstances do not warrant advice
  • Consumer mistrust of financial planners – lack of trust in financial planners to provide unbiased, professional advice limits the number of consumers who seek advice and the value they place of financial advice
  • Access to general advice and information – the provision of general advice or factual information is less extensive than it could and should be.  For many consumers general advice or factual information may be sufficient to meet their current advice needs
  • Financial literacy – gaps in financial literacy especially among certain demographics and in relation to certain financial topics, limits some consumers’ engagement with financial matters and so stops them from seeking advice

In a nutshell financial advice must be affordable, easily accessible, easily understood and delivered in smaller portions.

Check out http://www.aikido-secrets-to-calm-success.com

Until next time!

Gary

Be your own financial planner

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Looking for business building tips in Brisbane?  If you are really interested in your own financial wellbeing, become your own financial planner.  Sound impossible?  It’s not as difficult as you may think.

An extraordinary amount of knowledge is required to be a professional financial planner in Australia, but only a fraction of that knowledge is required when you only have one client – yourself!

Think about it!  With only one set of circumstances to understand and one set of goals to achieve (i.e. your own), and no compliance issues to worry about, you only need sufficient knowledge to plan your own financial future.

Let me say upfront that while it is desirable to be involved in the planning of your own financial future, it is dangerous to do the same for others because their circumstances and aspirations are different to yours.  Please refer them to a licensed professional.

In financial planning, the big knowledge areas are taxation, insurance, superannuation, retirement, Centrelink & DVA payments, and estate planning mainly because each is a broad area and there are so many rules to understand.  The other important knowledge area and one that causes a lot of frustration for people, is ‘investment’.

There are so many products and so many options that even the most knowledgeable financial planner does not know them all.  Also, people assume that if a financial planner recommends an investment product, it is guaranteed to make money.  Such is not the case as the GFC has recently demonstrated.

Therefore, if you are seeking to improve your financial wellbeing, it is important to understand the concept of risk.  Risk exists in all investments, bar none.  The value of investments can go up and they can go down.  There are different types of investments and different types of risk, so the real skill is to uncover and understand the risks that are relevant to your particular investment.

Understanding risk requires thorough research – deeper than the glossy brochure.  Also, the closer you are to managing the investment yourself, the clearer the risks are likely to become.  However, that requires some experience.

For more business building tips in Brisbane, check out my Aikido Secrets blog site at http://www.aikido-secrets-to-calm-success.com

Next time – Starting with a budget

Gary