Hi Everyone,
I thought this was worth posting – The front page headline of Melbourne’s Age today says;
Damning Report on Financial Planners
…In just over half the cases studied, advice offered by financial planners was rated “very poor”, “poor” or “borderline”. Fourteen per cent of plans did not meet minimum legal requirements, the report by the Australian Consumers Association and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission says.
Out of 124 financial plans studied, the study rated only two as “very good”. A further 23 plans, or 19 per cent, were ranked “good” and 29 per cent were “OK”.
Ten per cent of plans were rated “very poor” and 17 per cent “poor”. Major deficiencies were identified in the 24 per cent rated “borderline”…
The full article can be found here;
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/10/1044725735533.html
I’ve been hearing a lot of people out there complaining with their financial planners’ performance, or how their financial planner is just a glorified salesman whose job is to sell managed funds.
It’s probably the reason so many people are choosing to take responsibility for their own financial future now, rather than rely on the advice of others.
But there have to be good financial planners out there.
Does anyone use a financial planner? What makes you want to/not want to?
Brent Hodgson
PropertyInvesting.com Crew*********
“The real measure of your wealth is how much you’d be worth if you lost all your money.”
-Anon.I’ve been to two or three, they mostly flog their own products, you pay managed fund entry fees to them and a usually hidden trailing commission. If you want to invest into a managed fund, there is so much info on their performance now, you can select yourself.
It is virtually impossible to get a big picture idea and how to link everything together, tax structures ,protection etc. A planner doesn’t know or if they do they will charge, I was quoted 7500 in my case. I’ve worked it out myself now, talking to a solicitor, accountant and doing my research and reading. It has taken me years and many mistakes to reach this point, but slowly its coming together. Unfortunately we never had a mentor, nor the plethora of info that’s available now.I have two good friends who are financial planners in their early 30’s and neither of them has any investments bar their own property (which they are not paying of actively). It brought home the point that they are just salesmen. These guys are great mates but they do not get it. I will have left the rat race long before them and yet they had all the training……..is the training a hinderance or a help……I think we know the answer.
Enjoy
AD [:0)]“A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.”
-David BrinkAbout 10 years ago I completed the Diploma in Financial Planning (through the Financial Planning Association) and the Certificate in Financial Markets (through the Securities Institute of Australia). Whilst they were interesting, I found that they mainly covered the regulations, legal aspects and boundaries of financial planning. I knew everything concerning what you couldn’t do…however, I found that they didn’t actually teach me how to make money! The scary part of this is the fact that at the time most financial planners only completed a small fraction of one of the courses!!
From the moment I gave my personal financial planner the flick and started investing for myself…well…that’s when I started to actually make some money.
I should point out that I am NOT and never have been involved in the financial planning game. I completed the courses for my personal edification.
Cheers,
SteveHi Brent,
All the good financial planners I know, hide that fact! Hmmm!
I used a couple and basically they wanted $500+ just to come up with a stratergy for spending our money. The next step was to sell us their managed funds.
Needless to say, I waved him goodbye.
The best financial planner is yourself, sitting down with a pencil and paper and writing down goals, short term and long term. Then finding creative ways to implement them.
Where’s that sharpener??? [:0)]
Cheers
Sooshie [
]There are no problems, only solutions!
G’day everyone,
I work in the IT section of a major bank. Part of my role is to help fix the problems that the financial planners have with their software / computers. I speak to at least 5 planners ( and usually more ) across Australia every day.
As a result, I have come to a similar conclusion the Steven Parker mentioned in his comments above.
In general, they know a fair bit about the regulations of what a financial planner can and cannot do, but they know very little, if anything, about making money.Many of them cannot even do their job without the fancy software – they follow the “bouncing ball”, but if the ball stops bouncing, they have absolutely no idea ! I have a copy of the latest and greatest financial planning software on my machine at work, and I fed in my details at one end, and a “plan” came out the other. Scary.
Maybe I should offer “cheap” financial advice ?!? I have the bouncing ball software, but as I am not trained in financial planning, I cannot interperet the results !! [
] The “plans” actually do recommend to buy this, and this, and that, based on the input. Biased ? You be the judge. ( In case you are wondering, the answer to the biased question is YES ).Mind you, there are exceptions. There are one or two planners who are actually worth their weight in gold, but they are a rarity.
BDM
[
] If you want a good financial planner you should have a look at Steve Navra. I went to one of his seminars in Brisbane last weekend, maximum of 40 participants, absolutely magnificent, under $300 to boot. If you get the opportunity to go I would sugest that you don’t miss it for anything. Find more at http://www.navra.com.auTopnotch
On The Sunshine Coast Of Queensland Where Our Bones Are Always Warm
]
] The “plans” actually do recommend to buy this, and this, and that, based on the input. Biased ? You be the judge. ( In case you are wondering, the answer to the biased question is YES ).
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