Traditionally, financial advisers concentrate on selling you a financial product to fix a ‘problem’, rather than focusing on financial planning. Financial planning is a service revolving around YOU, not your money.
When it comes to considering future financial goals, most people don’t want to be sold a product. Instead, they want someone to understand them and their dreams and goals. This is someone who can articulate how they get from where they are now, to where they need to be.
People want clarity about their financial futures and a service that relates their life plans to a financial plan. A good financial adviser will do this by supplying a comprehensive roadmap which realises the lifestyle they want to achieve or maintain.
A financial plan includes your life goals, lifetime financial cash flow projection, and an analysis of how your financial position might change.
For this type of service, you need a financial planner, not just a financial adviser.
So…why would you need a financial adviser?
Once you have your financial plan, there may be shortfalls you want to address or funding options you require, but don’t have. You’ll more than likely need someone to advise you about financial products and investment vehicles that can bridge the gaps in your portfolio and make sure you can fund your goals. This is where a financial adviser comes in.
How does good financial planning and advice work in practice?
It’s best to view the different components involved as three stages:
Many traditional financial advisers only provide services within the ‘Investment Consulting’ stage, but typically won’t help you with the first two stages.
A financial planner will cater for the first two stages but generally won’t help with the third stage.
A holistic approach to financial planning
Some businesses, like United Advisers, adopt a hybrid approach that provides services within all three stages. We take you through the entire process; we believe we can only provide you with the right investment advice once we have taken you through the first two steps.
Our goal is to spend the time to get to know you; what you want, what you need to achieve, what makes you tick, your aspirations, your fears and your concerns.
Doing this builds a firm relationship that lets us take your ideas and turn them into a plan. We then develop and implements a strategy, build a portfolio, and manage your financial landscape into the future.
Discover how we deliver financial lifestyle planning: HERE
Should you get a financial planner or a financial adviser?
You could hire two separate people to fulfil the roles of planner and adviser. An alternative is to find someone who works with you to develop a financial plan designed for your lifestyle and then helps you find the best financial solutions tailored to your plan.
Strategic planning is where all the real value is derived, and lifestyle financial planning ensures a meaningful outcome that will positively affect your life.
Investment consulting identifies appropriate investment and insurance vehicles to suit your circumstances and your plan.
Working with a company that uses a comprehensive three-tiered approach that always focusses on you and what you want to achieve makes sure you get the best of both worlds – Financial Planning when you need it, and Financial Advice when it’s appropriate. It enables the right help, at the right time, to achieve the right results.
If this is your first time working with a financial adviser or planner and you want to know what questions to ask, see our blog ‘7 questions to ask your financial adviser‘.
In conclusion…
Everyone needs a little help and advice sometimes… a unique perspective is always valuable and you never know where it might lead!
At some point in your financial journey, you’ll likely need the help of a financial planner or a financial adviser. Using a service that combines each of these disciplines to provide a seamless experience, rather than trying to weld together a financial framework from disparate sources, is worth considering.
If you could do with a little help and would like to talk to us, get in touch.
