Financial advice is not about “products” or “retirement strategies”. Even “wealth management” and “wealth creation” don’t make great descriptors. They all sound so dull.
So let’s go back to “dreams”. Whether yours are modest or broader than a Michelangelo canvas, your financial adviser’s job is to understand them, reflect them back to you and do her bit to help you achieve them. A good adviser is right by your side, the whole way. It’s a relationship and friendship between the two of you for life.
Clearly, achieving your dreams takes a mix of ingredients including guts, commitment and focus. That’s your contribution, alongside the capacity to earn money and keep your spending in check.
You also need a decent set of strategic and tactical financial management skills and an eclectic mix of probing and coaching skills to draw out and bring to life your deepest desires. Those are her skills.
She’s quite an unusual character, right? You’ll make a good team though, choose her carefully like you would a friend since you’re going to be having some really interesting conversations along the way. She’s going to be your ally.
I made the mistake of using a transactional approach a while back when I needed to sort out some life insurance quickly and was unable to do so directly. I went along to a financial adviser, we completed the application process, but long periods of time would pass before he’d call me with progress updates. It turned out after much probing by me that he was afraid to have a conversation with me about paying an increased premium to reflect my increased breast cancer risk, in case I got upset. Sweet, but kind of useless since I had initially raised these concerns with him. You need to be able to have those conversations openly, your money matters are not for the playground.
On another line, let’s say that you’ve a dream to buy a weatherboard cottage on the Margaret River. You’ve seen the house and it’s on the market now, a distressed sale at a good price.
You have a real goal to work towards now which is exciting. Your adviser’s job is to squeal with delight at your dream, weave it with you but get you well on the way to making it happen. Will you use your savings, borrow, access your self managed super fund, negatively gear, positively gear? That’s the stuff she can help with, so you can stay focused on the house itself and the career that’s helping you fund it.
It’s not all about retirement either, as a new client reminded me last week. “I know retirement is important,” she said. “I will plan for it with you. It’s also important to live the best life I can with my husband and children now and not scrimp and save for the next 20 years so I can retire in luxury. I could be dead by then.” Fair point, it’s a balance too and the conversation is two-way never a show and tell.
The same client was with me at the AWCCI conference last week where the formidable AWCCI CEO Yolanda Vega closed with the words: “Today there are almost one million women trading in Australia, however many of these women are economically disadvantaged with more than half being unable to pay themselves a wage.”
That’s right, “Unable to pay themselves a wage”. I’ve been there, while setting up businesses, and it’s a scary place to be. Have you? There’s no comfort and security in that situation.
Yolanda goes on to say: “To continue to overlook this growing sector of our economy will be a threat to our nation’s economy. As a result, if no improvement is made, more than one million women could soon be living below the poverty line: with no superannuation, no savings, no exit strategy, few prospects for employment at the end of their career and no income from their business at retirement age.”
We are our own best investment so let’s get on with it shall we? It starts and stops with you, with a little help from a great adviser.
Sara Lucas is an Authorised Representative of Fitzpatricks Dealer Group Pty Limited ABN 33 093 667 595 AFSL 247429
This information is of general nature only and is not intended as a personal advice. It does not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation and needs. Before making a financial decision you should assess whether the advice is appropriate to your individual investment objectives, financial situation and particular needs. We recommend you consult a professional financial adviser who will assist you.