Yesterday, I covered off how to actually pick a planner. Hopefully, when looking around, you will be lucky enough to find one local in your area. This post today is to cover off who you shouldn’t pick as a planner.
There are thousands of planners and advisers in the market today. The industry itself has a bad reputation for some reason, but I think it’s unfairly earned. Many years ago, the industry had many rogue traders, but were since traded out by the government through strict licensing regimes called Policy Statement 146 (PS146). This requires anyone advising on money and insurance to have the appropriate diplomas called ‘Diploma of Financial Planning’ which takes much study and complex tests to complete.
There are expetions to the rule in many cases, and I believe there is one when talking about this area. Banks! Yes, they are a bunch of Bankers.
Banks have been immune to many of the rules and regulations set on the financial services industry that has kept it clean for the past few years.
One of the rules is that ‘independent’ advisers MUST offer independent advice to clients from several financial institutions, making it unbiased of course. Bank employees are influenced by the banks products, limiting their choice in advice to you.
When choosing a planner, make sure you look into their product offering, which can be obtained by asking them for their Financial Services Guide (FSG), and that will give you an idea of what they can offer.
If you are in a small town and the only planner available is bank staff, then you may want to also ring another town or city and discuss over the phone so you can compare.
No more than 3 planners will be enough for you to get a feel of what is acceptable. And above all else, make sure you feel comfortable with the person, but remember, they are qualified and if you take their advice, FOLLOW IT. They don’t say it for nothing.
Good luck. I would love to hear any stories from you about success stories of visiting a financial planner. If you haven’t visited one and would like contact to one, please Contact Me and I will give you a list of some you can interview.
PD
