Finding the right financial planner for you can be challenging, especially if you have never worked with a financial planner before. It is important that you consider several factors when choosing your financial planner, including the type of guidance they will offer you and whether their service and budget align with your needs. Wading your way through this can be challenging, but with our brief guide today, you can easily find the right financial planner for you.
What To Look For When Choosing Your Financial Planner
When choosing your financial planner, we recommend that you follow our four points to help you narrow your choice and find the right planner. When choosing your financial planner, you need to consider what you want from your financial planner, their qualifications, and the different services they can offer to see if they are the right choice for you. Each consideration you need to make is detailed below:
Consider what you want from them
Before you begin your search, set aside some time to consider what you want to achieve with the financial advice. Consider carefully, based on your stage of life, how much money you have, and the goals you want to achieve.
Financial planners can help you make financial decisions and plan for your future, including guidance on budgeting, super, investing, estate planning, retirement planning, taxation, and insurance. Deciding what you want from your financial planner will help you find the right one for you.
Do you want general or personal advice?
When choosing your planner, you will want to consider whether you want general or personal advice. General and personal financial advice varies, and it is essential that you consider carefully the type of advice that you want. We have outlined the type of support you get from both types of advice below:
General financial advice
General financial advice does not take into account your goals or personal situation and does not look at how it might affect you personally.
Personal financial advice
Personal financial advice is more tailored to your goals and situations and is considered to be in your best interests. Personal financial advice can include the following:
- Simple, single issue advice – helping you with contributing to your super, handling shares, or another single financial issue
- Comprehensive financial advice – including developing a financial plan to reach your financial goals, like savings, investments, retirement planning, and insurance
- Ongoing advice – including regularly monitoring and reviewing your financial plans
Narrow down your choices
After deciding what you want, you can look for an advisor who offers the right services for you. Financial planners can be found through a financial advice professional association, your lender, your super fund, or recommendations from people you know.
When looking for a financial planner, you will want to ask for the Financial Services Guide (FSG). The FSG will show you the following:
- How they charge, earn commissions, and benefits
- How do they deal with complaints
- Their AFS license number
- Links to product providers
- The services they offer and the products they advise on
- Who owns the company
You can find a financial planner FSG on their website, or you can ask them directly for a copy. Using their FSG, you can narrow down your choices and find some financial planners that could be suitable for your needs.
Meet and compare potential advisors
After you have narrowed down your choices, you can meet with potential advisors to compare them. Most financial planners won’t charge for the first meeting, so you can meet them and see if they align with your needs before parting with your money. When meeting a financial planner, we recommend asking them about the following:
- How will they manage your money
- How often will you meet
- How will they consult you on decisions
- How will they manage your investments
- How will they deal with complaints
- How to end your agreement with them
- Their qualifications, speciality areas, and main client base
- The fees you will pay
- What information will you receive and how often
- What commissions or incentives do they receive if they sell a financial product
- Who will look after your account if they are away
Knowing the answers to these can help you find the perfect financial planner for your needs.
Find Your Financial Planner In Brisbane Today
Finding the right financial planner is essential to ensure you get the right support and guidance for your financial needs and goals.
When looking for financial planners in Brisbane, we recommend Solace Financial. Their expert services can help you manage your wealth, plan for your retirement, and offer investment advice for any new wealth you have come into. These Brisbane-based financial planners will ensure that you get support with your finances, helping you to achieve your goals.
