Hillel (60 B.C. – A.D. 10)
“When, If Not Now?”
The entire quotation reads: “If I am not for myself then who is for me?
If I am only for myself what good am I?
If not now, when?”
The second line gave me the motivation necessary to write this article, and the third line is meant to give you motivation to do something about your life.
Many people feel they cannot afford professional advice when it comes to planning for their productive and financial future. In reality they cannot afford to be without this advice! The purpose of this article is to educate you to the fact that you can benefit from professional advice and to show you that such advice should save rather than cost you in terms of time and dollars. What can advice do for me? How much will it cost (or benefit me in terms of savings)? How do I choose an adviser? Today, I’ll answer one of the most important questions – who should be your financial adviser?
You must have come across many sales people in your life – some trying to sell as much insurance cover as possible; while others motivate you to borrow money even beyond your means. They come in the disguise of ‘financial advisers’ and you end up losing confidence in the whole community of financial sales people. Well, nobody can be blamed for this since the financial sector in New Zealand has been more or less unregulated – till now. That was an insult consumers in New Zealand had to suffer for so many years resulting in financial advisers being pushed to the bottom of ‘trustworthy’ professions. This has changed since the when a new regulatory regime comes into force 2023. Your financial adviser will have to complete a National Diploma in Financial Services, and follow a certain process while providing financial advice.
So, here are some guidelines to follow about choosing your “Financial Adviser:
- Ask for a complete and formal Disclosure Document. Every financial adviser should provide you one on the very first meeting as mandated under the Securities Act by FMA
- Check for qualifications and experience of the adviser – just to make sure you are not dealing with ‘fly by night’ operators. Your adviser should have qualifications in finance or related discipline, preferably in personal finance.
- Check if you are getting an independent advice – your adviser should not be tied to any particular product provider. This should, anyway, be disclosed in the Disclosure Document.
- Service quality – you should ask for testimonials from other clients of the adviser and cross-check with them about the quality of service provided.
- Professional memberships – ask if your adviser belongs to any professional bodies, their code of conduct and dispute resolution process.
- You must also complete a Scope of Service agreement with your adviser. This clearly spells out the arrangement you are going to have with your adviser in the future.
- Insist on completing a needs analysis as an advice provided without understanding your needs is invalid, and under new regulatory regime, even illegal.
- Have more clarity whether the advice is commission based or fee based.
- Insist on filling out the forms and applications yourselves, not just signing the declaration page. Follow the above mentioned guidelines and expect a safe landing.
Isn’t it time to take charge and WINN!
I am a qualified and well experienced Financial Adviser and can help you to have a
successful and prosperous Life.
Contact me TODAY for an ethical, environment friendly and professional advice.
