Financial Advice: Costs vs Benefits

Most people delay or don’t seek advice about their finances until much later in life. Many people feel like you need to have a large lump sum of money to invest or be ready to retire to benefit from financial advice. This could not be further from the truth, and in some cases people wait too long or wish they had sought advice years before they actually had, especially after seeing the benefits it can bring.

When you first meet with a financial adviser, they will look at your current situation and help you identify what you hope to achieve from the advice. This may include reducing your personal tax, growing your savings faster, reducing your debts more quickly, buying a property, or preparing for retirement. Benefits can be seen in all stages of life by seeking advice and the sooner you start, the smaller the sacrifices are to meet the same objective.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a young professional looking to maximise savings to buy your first home, a young family looking to provide for your children’s education, or a couple wanting to make their money last throughout retirement; there are benefits for everyone who seek financial advice.

Costs

Our fee structure is set on a fee-for-service basis which means after the free initial consultation, we agree on a price for the advice based on the amount of time it will take to research and prepare a strategy that is tailored to your needs. If you decide to proceed, we construct the advice into a report called a Statement of Advice detailing proposed strategies and options of products from different providers, along with complete disclosure of costs for each option. The cost to prepare this document starts from $2,200 and can increase depending on the complexity and time it takes to prepare.

In the next meeting we will go through the report and answer any questions you may have in regards to the advice proposed so you can make informed decisions on the strategies and products presented for your particular circumstances.

Benefits

In some cases the cost of the advice is less than the benefits people see within the first year. Our clients often tell us they wish they’d sought advice years before because they would be in a much better position now. These benefits include maximising savings, reducing the amount of tax you are required to pay through tax-effective strategies, paying off your mortgage sooner, growing your investment portfolio, reducing personal insurance premiums, or just having a sense of confidence knowing you're on track to realising your financial goals.

If you would like to find out more about how we can help you, contact us to arrange a free consultation.

Women live 4 years longer with half the superannuation of men

Did you know that recent studies have shown women have significantly less super than men and are living 4 years longer in retirement on average?

The reasons behind this shortfall are often pointed towards raising children, returning to the workforce part-time after having kids, looking after elderly family members, resulting in a gender pay gap of approximately 17.3% in Australia.

The Facts

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency compiled evidence that showed women to have an average of 46.6% of the amount of superannuation men have when they retire.

The average life expectancy in Australia is 80 years old for men and 84 years old for women. The interesting thing is life expectancy actually increases as a person gets older. For example, when a person reaches the age of 60 years old, there is a life expectancy increase to 83 for men and 86 for women. These figures do not include further medical advancements and it is believed that many people retiring today will live to they’re 90 years old.

These alarming figures call for everyone (especially women) to be more mindful of long-term savings goals and to have a strategy in place which will balance affordability and lifestyle, both now and in retirement.

Actions

For some, the idea of retirement is a lifetime away and something that you can worry about in the future because now you’re concentrating on owning a home, buying an investment property or going overseas on holidays. However, a recurring conversation we have is that it’s always better to start sooner rather than later, as the sacrifices are much smaller in working to achieve the same outcome. It is possible to create a strategy that allows you to do the things you want now, while also contributing towards your future and ensure you continue to do the things you will want to do later in life. Imagine the feeling of confidence knowing your future goals and finances are on track to be where you want to be.

We can identify your current situation and work with you to determine what you will require to live the life you want now and have the retirement you had planned on when the time comes. A combination of super contributions, investment, debt management, tax strategy and low operating costs will all contribute to you meeting your needs in the later stages of life without having to rely on a partner or work much longer than you had anticipated.

Want to Know More?

Contact us for a free consultation that will help you meet your financial goals both short-term and long-term.