The right kind of financial advice can really make a big difference. It can help you:

• set your financial goals and achieve them
• make the most of your money
• build your wealth
• get any government assistance you’re entitled to
• feel more in control of your finances and your life
• avoid expensive mistakes
• protect your assets.

Financial advice can give you confidence that your future plans are achievable.

If you’re not on track to achieving your goals, financial advice can help you put the right strategies in place, or come up with more realistic goals.

There are some turning points in your life where professional financial advice is particularly useful:

1. If you’re approaching retirement.
2. If you’re thinking about starting a family.
3. If you’ve been made redundant.
4. If you’ve inherited money.

These and other life events might prompt you to look at your financial future.

A financial planner (also known as a financial adviser) is a person who specialises in providing advice on how to manage your finances and build your wealth. A financial planner will usually be an authorised representative of an organisation, licensed by ASIC, to provide and implement advice on financial products, such as investments, superannuation and insurance. As part of a holistic financial plan, a financial planner may also provide advice on retirement planning, estate planning, risk management and taxation, to the extent that it relates to financial products.

Check out: 5 Questions to Ask a Financial Planners

Financial advice can help you:

• Set and achieve your financial goals
• Make the most of your money
• Get any government assistance you’re entitled to
• Feel more in control of your finances and your life
• Avoid expensive mistakes
• Protect your assets

You may have avoided getting financial advice because you’re not sure how a financial adviser can help you. You may also think you’ll have to pay for a comprehensive and expensive financial plan. Depending on the kind of advice you need, you may not.

The financial planner should tell you that they regularly attend courses or seminars run by industry associations, professional bodies and universities or registered training organisations.  Quarles BFS financial planners have structured training plans and regularly attend seminars and conferences to keep their professional development up to date.

The financial planner should talk about how they’ll get a full picture of your circumstances and needs. They should explain that they need to ask questions about your current situation as well as your financial goals, both long term and short term. At Quarles BFS we like to start things off with a conversation about you.

A financial adviser should help their clients prioritise their financial goals, explain and discuss their choices and develop a strategy to achieve their goals. They should also help a client refine their goals if they are not realistic and achievable. At Quarles BFS our process beings with a fact finding session to gather information about you. We perform a needs analysis and risk assessment, followed by a proposal, a statement of advice, plan implementation, monitoring of the plan and periodic reviews.

You should be able to contact your financial adviser if you have any questions or concerns about your investments. If the adviser won’t meet with you or return your calls, you can complain. See problems with a financial adviser for more information. At Quarles BFS we intend to answer all phone calls and emails within 24 hours, but it is usually resolved much more quickly than that.

If you’ve agreed to ongoing financial advice, you should receive regular reports about your investments as well as regular reviews with the financial adviser. Check to see what other updates you’ll get, and when you can expect to receive them.

Don’t be afraid to contact your financial adviser if you have any questions between reviews. Be aware that the adviser might charge you extra for services that are not part of the ongoing financial advice agreement that you have entered into.