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

Churchill once said that when you are at the top, you only have to think about policies. When you are number two, you have to think about what your boss is thinking, and what your opposite number is thinking, before you begin to think about policies.

Start your own company, then you can have control of your own destiny. It makes you number one from the start!

In today’s digital age, there is no time better than to look at starting your own business. Whether you’re into making things for others to buy, or buying a selling, or even dropshipping if you like!

The media is constantly telling us that unemployment is set to rise to 7%, which is it’s highest in over 30 years. This can breed fear into people’s lives, and it doesn’t always have to be that way. If you had something ‘on the side’, you can start to learn about how to secure your own lifestyle. I ask many people why they don’t go out on their own. Their response is generally ‘I like the security of being employed’. If you’re thinking like that, you have got it the wrong way around! If you’re employed, who is in charge of your earning capacity? Your employer. Who is in charge of whether you get a payrise next year? Your employer. And who is in charge of whether you are sacked due to ‘market conditions’? Your employer. No matter how good you may be, or how valuable you may be to your employer, son’t underestimate how easy it is to dismiss your position.

A great way to start a business is to start something that you are interested in. You will never get bored or lose motivation on something that you are either passionate about, or just simply love. Nudie Juice is a perfect example. Tim Pethick developed a taste for fresh fruit juice with no preservatives, straight from the bottle while living overseas in the UK and US.

When he got back to Australia in 1999, he found he had to make juices at home to feed his habit as there was nothing similar in the Australian market. Frustrated that he simply couldn’t go out and buy fresh bottled fruit juice, Tim decided to do it himself.

Nudie products hit Australian shelves in January 2003. In the process of creating the nudie products, Tim became a fruit connoisseur, learnt all about manufacturing and the retail industry. Despite a factory fire in early 2004, the nudie brand has continued to flourish. With almost $12 million in annual sales, it has also announced export contracts to New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Your small business may not reach the milestones of ones such as Nudie, but if you don’t try, how would you know? All you need is an idea. What’s yours?

PD