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Recommendation for a good financial planner

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mech81

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hi Guys,

I know the overall feeling about financial planners in this forums. However, despite those feelings, I'm looking for a good financial planner in Melbourne that is independent of any funds and works for his/her customers based on a fee independent of whether any investment is made with that planner

I've come across Polaris financial management who are independent and I am wondering if anybody has any word about them. Also any other recommendations would be gladly appreciated.

Thanks guys
 
Forget about planners,

I take it that you may be generation y so grab the bull by the horns and map out you're own destiny.
 
'good' and 'financial planner' in the same sentence, i never thought i would see that, next you will say accountants have personality. lol
 
I was listening to the finance show on 873 which is on in the afternoons around 7pm .. (for about 15 minutes in the car on the way home) they had a guest from Knowledge bank IQ (I believe a financial planner however are unsure of his qualifications) who takes calls.

A call came in (Guy A) a and asked the following (or along the lines of) -

I bought a unit with my girlfriend and have exchanged. She has put in $20k and I put in $50k for the deposit. Its exchanged but hasnt settled we are looking at breaking up and I want to get my brother to take over her share on the unit can he take her $20k ?

The KB IQ guy says ... mmmm.. were you buying for investment purposes ?

Guy A - Yes buying for investment

KB IQ - So the problem we have here is a capital gains tax problem.. As you are buying for an investment you will be liable to pay capital gains. Capital gains is calculated by xhdjiodh blha blah blah..

Guy A - I am just looking at by brother taking out her share which is $20k is there any costs...

KB IQ - Yes capital gains is calculated whether you are selling to a friend or anyone at the transaction price..

Guy A - But she has agreed to sell her share / drop out as long as she gets her 20k ..??

KB IQ - mmmm capital gains is a complex issue ...




And so it went on ..

They 'planner' could not understand that the property had not settled, that he should refer the guy back to his solicitor, that they may be able to recind and do a new contract at the same price with the vendor, that they may be able to do a simultaneous settlement, that cgt wasnt the issue, that there was a difference between exchange and settlement .. and so on ..


My summary from hearing this coversation was a) The guy was a fruit cake who new some definitions and nothing more.. b) I would never call this company for advise .. Who knows they may have some really intelligent people there but it sounded to be that this financial planner has no practical application just theoretical knowlege .. I would not be getting advise from them..

I would suggest if you find a really good accountant they will have better knowledge in setting you up correctly for the future.. and also giving an open opinion on any investment ideas you may have ..

just my thoughts ..
 
ok ill stop being silly, i have dealt with financial planners before, i knew someone that worked for macquarie and at the time i just didnt have the time to worry about or learn about how to invest my money - he is also a family friend so some 'trust' was automatic I guess. He did a good job at the time and I dont regret it.

Since then I have decided to take control and responsibility of my own destiny, I am trying to educate myself in regards to finances and the share market by reading booking and doing a little trading.

As above advise, I would reccommend you get a great accountant and worry about the investing side of it yourself, as long as you have the time that is. I just believe financial planners are the middle men who skim money off for investing your funds into some managed fund, wouldnt you rather keep that % for yourself?
 
When you go to see your accountant, beware of recommendations of investing in forestry schemes for the upfront tax deduction.

The scheme itself may not be a good investment in its own right.

Most accountants are also not licensed to make investment recommendations.
 
Ok...so accountants may be a better option here. :) Anybody who can recommend a good accountant whom i can get in touch and also might as well let him settle my taxes with...all in the same boat

cornnfedd said:
ok ill stop being silly, i have dealt with financial planners before, i knew someone that worked for macquarie and at the time i just didnt have the time to worry about or learn about how to invest my money - he is also a family friend so some 'trust' was automatic I guess. He did a good job at the time and I dont regret it.

Since then I have decided to take control and responsibility of my own destiny, I am trying to educate myself in regards to finances and the share market by reading booking and doing a little trading.

As above advise, I would reccommend you get a great accountant and worry about the investing side of it yourself, as long as you have the time that is. I just believe financial planners are the middle men who skim money off for investing your funds into some managed fund, wouldnt you rather keep that % for yourself?
Click to expand...
 
mech81 said:
Ok...so accountants may be a better option here. :) Anybody who can recommend a good accountant whom i can get in touch and also might as well let him settle my taxes with...all in the same boat
Click to expand...

Most accountants now won't give you good planning advice due to all the news rules etc. But a good accountant is essential in developing personal wealth.

There is also more to financial planning than just investing - it is important to also consider risk management (insurance) and estate planning as well as the structuring of any debt and assets in order to optimise current and future tax considerations.

If you are truly interested in this then there are a number of ways that you can address your own education so that eventually you can manage your own affairs.

Unfortunately, as seems to be emphasised in these forums as well as the general media there are a lot of sharks feeding on the unsuspecting public so self education does seems to be the best option!

Personally I am just completing (one subject to go) an MBA from Deakin Uni with Financial Planning as my specialty - and this is purely for personal (and family) use - it has certainly been well taught, interesting and useful but a bit of an overkill for the average enthusiast. My main job provides me with enough interest & cash flow to support my personal FP activities.
 
Hi,

I have been a financial planner for around 3 months and have been working as support staff / paraplanner for over 2 years. We are a smaller/medium sized practice but we are authorised through a major dealer group.

As tassmart said there is allot more to financial planning than just investing, in my practice the majority of our business involves debt strategies, wealth protection and superannuation as well as investments. We are also fee for service so it doesn't bother us if we use a product through our dealer group or not we still charge the same fee. I believe a product is just a platform to achieve your goals. We are also heavily compliance by our dealer group so it would be very hard to be dodgy.

I believe it is some of the older generation of planners who have given us a bad name. Charging in the past high commissions was commonly accepted in the industry. But now the industry is slowly moving to fee for service.
If you are looking for a financial planner I would visit a couple for initial meetings and see if you get along with them and agree with what they are offering. As you are going to be dealing with them regularly it's important that you get along.

Look for planners who do fee for service, this is very important if you are worried about what kick backs they may receive. One thing to note is up front cost will most likely be higher.

Don't be put off if the planner is backed by a large dealer group, see what they are offering as an individual practice in making up your decision.
Don't take financial advice from an accountant unless they are adequately qualified.

I congratulate anyone who has been able to achieve set themselves up financially without the help of a financial planner. But I would be also interested to see if they are as well off as they think?
 
blazer121 said:
Hi,

I have been a financial planner for around 3 months and have been working as support staff / paraplanner for over 2 years. We are a smaller/medium sized practice but we are authorised through a major dealer group.

As tassmart said there is allot more to financial planning than just investing, in my practice the majority of our business involves debt strategies, wealth protection and superannuation as well as investments. We are also fee for service so it doesn't bother us if we use a product through our dealer group or not we still charge the same fee. I believe a product is just a platform to achieve your goals. We are also heavily compliance by our dealer group so it would be very hard to be dodgy.

I believe it is some of the older generation of planners who have given us a bad name. Charging in the past high commissions was commonly accepted in the industry. But now the industry is slowly moving to fee for service.
If you are looking for a financial planner I would visit a couple for initial meetings and see if you get along with them and agree with what they are offering. As you are going to be dealing with them regularly it's important that you get along.

Look for planners who do fee for service, this is very important if you are worried about what kick backs they may receive. One thing to note is up front cost will most likely be higher.

Don't be put off if the planner is backed by a large dealer group, see what they are offering as an individual practice in making up your decision.
Don't take financial advice from an accountant unless they are adequately qualified.

I congratulate anyone who has been able to achieve set themselves up financially without the help of a financial planner. But I would be also interested to see if they are as well off as they think?
Click to expand...

Out of interest what is the qualification to become a financial planner and what is involved in getting this qualification ?

When you say dont take financial advise from an account what aspect are you referring to ? I note you specialise in debt strategies, wealth protection and superannuation as well as investments ... Do you set up self managed super funds directly or would an account be hired to do this ? I ask this as my account handles all aspects of my fund and I thought they were the people qualified to do this .. ?

With reference to the other services you / financial planners offer can you give me a bit more info as I have always been skeptical but would welcome seeing the light .. I note you specialise in debt strategies, wealth protection and superannuation as well as investments ...

What sort of debt strategies ? What sort of wealth protection (insurance or trusts etc ?) What sort of investments ?

Do financial planners have to have an amount of industry experience before receiving the grade ? I have always been of the mind set they were a bit like business coaches whom have a book with 100 ideas that they keep suggesting but whether they have implemented these ideas themself is always of interest and whether the ideas have been tested ?

Your input would be appreciated ?!
 
adobee said:
I was listening to the finance show on 873 which is on in the afternoons around 7pm .. (for about 15 minutes in the car on the way home) they had a guest from Knowledge bank IQ (I believe a financial planner however are unsure of his qualifications) who takes calls.

A call came in (Guy A) a and asked the following (or along the lines of) -

I bought a unit with my girlfriend and have exchanged. She has put in $20k and I put in $50k for the deposit. Its exchanged but hasnt settled we are looking at breaking up and I want to get my brother to take over her share on the unit can he take her $20k ?

The KB IQ guy says ... mmmm.. were you buying for investment purposes ?

Guy A - Yes buying for investment

KB IQ - So the problem we have here is a capital gains tax problem.. As you are buying for an investment you will be liable to pay capital gains. Capital gains is calculated by xhdjiodh blha blah blah..

Guy A - I am just looking at by brother taking out her share which is $20k is there any costs...

KB IQ - Yes capital gains is calculated whether you are selling to a friend or anyone at the transaction price..

Guy A - But she has agreed to sell her share / drop out as long as she gets her 20k ..??

KB IQ - mmmm capital gains is a complex issue ...




And so it went on ..

They 'planner' could not understand that the property had not settled, that he should refer the guy back to his solicitor, that they may be able to recind and do a new contract at the same price with the vendor, that they may be able to do a simultaneous settlement, that cgt wasnt the issue, that there was a difference between exchange and settlement .. and so on ..


My summary from hearing this coversation was a) The guy was a fruit cake who new some definitions and nothing more.. b) I would never call this company for advise .. Who knows they may have some really intelligent people there but it sounded to be that this financial planner has no practical application just theoretical knowlege .. I would not be getting advise from them..

I would suggest if you find a really good accountant they will have better knowledge in setting you up correctly for the future.. and also giving an open opinion on any investment ideas you may have ..

just my thoughts ..
Click to expand...

Margaret Lomas (the self proclaimed properrty guru) did something similar the other day. She informed a would be property investor that if a block of flats were not individually metered, then all you do is add on extra rental as she does on her investments in this situation.

Any decent property developer knows that if you cannot seperately install meters on a property, then you can use monitors to read the amount consumed for each tenancy and this would stand up in a court of law.

Like everything, all advise needs to be taken with your own research and do not put any money in anything you have no understanding of.
 
Out of interest what is the qualification to become a financial planner and what is involved in getting this qualification ?
To have the qualification to become a financial planner you require what is called the RG 146 or commonly received with a diploma in financial services. This is a course which takes about a maximum of 6 months, I believe it's about 4 to 6 units. I personally got this with my University degree.
Then you need to become an authorised representative (AR) of a dealer group. You need to get accepted by a dealer group, I believe minimum requirement for my dealer group was a university qualification or X amount of years in the industry. Personally I worked for 2 years at a practice doing support work & para planning. To get accepted I was required to do several interviews, role plays & character / mental tests. Then I was required to do around 10 units around 1-2 hours each on the dealer groups policies / procedure. Then I was sent to Sydney for a 4 day intensive course to get my AR, at which point upon returning I was required to do another 5 units.
We are also required to do monthly tests mainly on industry updates and also achieve 30 continuing professional development points per year
The next level of financial planning is called certified financial planner (CFP), which requires more study as well as certain amount of years experience.

When you say dont take financial advise from an account what aspect are you referring to ?
Accountants unless they are an Authorised Representative of a Australian Financial Service Licensee should not be giving financial advice.
I note you specialise in debt strategies, wealth protection and superannuation as well as investments ... Do you set up self managed super funds directly or would an account be hired to do this ? I ask this as my account handles all aspects of my fund and I thought they were the people qualified to do this .. ?
We do set up SMSF's where we make a recommendation on if it is appropriate for you and any investment recommendations plus regular reviews.
We also help to set up an administration service and the client also has their personal accountant. So an accountant is able to help you set-up an SMSF but probably shouldn't be making the recommendation to do so or legally allowed to make investment recommendations unless they hold the relevant qualifications.

With reference to the other services you / financial planners offer can you give me a bit more info as I have always been skeptical but would welcome seeing the light .. I note you specialise in debt strategies, wealth protection and superannuation as well as investments ...

What sort of debt strategies ?
Debt strategies can be things such as how you can pay off your loan as quick as possible, or using equity in home to invest or debt recycling (turning non deductible debt into deductable debt) etc
What sort of wealth protection (insurance or trusts etc ?)
Wealth protection is mainly insurance but also setting up company or trust structures and estate planning.
Insurance is working out the amount of cover to adequately cover yourself in the event of an accident. It can also be working out funding of this such as out of your cash flow or potentially within superannuation
What sort of investments ?
Investments is more the strategy around it and how to achieve a certain goal. So we would make recommendations on gearing, managed funds, bonds, education bonds etc. Individual shares we would recommend to a stock broker
Other Services
In simple terms types of services we do are Superannuation, Setting financial goals, budgeting, savings and investments, managing debt, tax planning, wealth protection, redundancy planning, retirement planning, estate planning, trust structuring, inheritance planning etc

Do financial planners have to have an amount of industry experience before receiving the grade ? I have always been of the mind set they were a bit like business coaches whom have a book with 100 ideas that they keep suggesting but whether they have implemented these ideas themself is always of interest and whether the ideas have been tested ?

As I mentioned above in my dealer group you do have to pass the grade. I am unable to speak for any other dealer groups. Our process in our office is
initial meeting - meet client get some understanding of their goals / needs and weather we can help them
fact find appointment - to gather as much information on the client to make sure we can provide them with proper advice.
Strategy session - we meet with the client again to discuss strategies to meet their goals, this may include several strategies and some preliminary work i.e. cash flows, costs of insurance etc
Recommendation Presentation - we write up a statement of advice document with all our recommendations why, costs etc. This is about 60 to 80 pages. We present our final recommendations and if then we implement the advice
Our dealer group and from what I understand most of the bigger dealer groups (I would assume the smaller ones are as well) are highly regulated and we have to jump through allot of hoops. We have to form reasonable basis of advice for everything we do and document this why both to the clients, dealer group and if ASIC was to walk in the door. Not to mention allot of other compliance based work we are required to do. Compliance is one reason the cost of financial advice on fee for service is fairly high, but it is also required to make sure a planner does their due diligence to make sure this is the best strategy for the client. But we also would never give someone advice is it wasn't benefiting their situation.
My thoughts on commissions?
I think a big misconception with financial planners comes from older planners who never charged a high fee for the advice but they always but some sort of fee's like contribution fees on the product i.e. allot of planners would put a 4% contribution fee on a clients superannuation so every time the client puts money in the account they are getting charge extra and in some cases the planner isn't evening providing the client with on-going services.
I do not agree with these sorts of commissions and I have been lucky enough to join a practice which has always been fee for service.
I do also believe not all payments from product providers should be stopped. I believe they should make a standard rate which cannot me less or more. The reasons for this is they stop payments from product providers the cost of financial advice would increase. As well if a client rings up for simple administration changes most planners would have to start charging like solicitors or accountants i.e. $20 to fax a form etc
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any more questions
 
ChilliBlue said:
Margaret Lomas (the self proclaimed properrty guru) did something similar the other day. She informed a would be property investor that if a block of flats were not individually metered, then all you do is add on extra rental as she does on her investments in this situation.

Any decent property developer knows that if you cannot seperately install meters on a property, then you can use monitors to read the amount consumed for each tenancy and this would stand up in a court of law.

Like everything, all advise needs to be taken with your own research and do not put any money in anything you have no understanding of.
Click to expand...

I have never heard of this monitor ? Are we talking water or gas ?? And calculating individual use of each apartment to bill the tenants ?
 
blazer121 said:
Out of interest what is the qualification to become a financial planner and what is involved in getting this qualification ?
To have the qualification to become a financial planner you require what is called the RG 146 or commonly received with a diploma in financial services. This is a course which takes about a maximum of 6 months, I believe it's about 4 to 6 units. I personally got this with my University degree.
Then you need to become an authorised representative (AR) of a dealer group. You need to get accepted by a dealer group, I believe minimum requirement for my dealer group was a university qualification or X amount of years in the industry. Personally I worked for 2 years at a practice doing support work & para planning. To get accepted I was required to do several interviews, role plays & character / mental tests. Then I was required to do around 10 units around 1-2 hours each on the dealer groups policies / procedure. Then I was sent to Sydney for a 4 day intensive course to get my AR, at which point upon returning I was required to do another 5 units.
We are also required to do monthly tests mainly on industry updates and also achieve 30 continuing professional development points per year
The next level of financial planning is called certified financial planner (CFP), which requires more study as well as certain amount of years experience.

When you say dont take financial advise from an account what aspect are you referring to ?
Accountants unless they are an Authorised Representative of a Australian Financial Service Licensee should not be giving financial advice.
I note you specialise in debt strategies, wealth protection and superannuation as well as investments ... Do you set up self managed super funds directly or would an account be hired to do this ? I ask this as my account handles all aspects of my fund and I thought they were the people qualified to do this .. ?
We do set up SMSF's where we make a recommendation on if it is appropriate for you and any investment recommendations plus regular reviews.
We also help to set up an administration service and the client also has their personal accountant. So an accountant is able to help you set-up an SMSF but probably shouldn't be making the recommendation to do so or legally allowed to make investment recommendations unless they hold the relevant qualifications.

With reference to the other services you / financial planners offer can you give me a bit more info as I have always been skeptical but would welcome seeing the light .. I note you specialise in debt strategies, wealth protection and superannuation as well as investments ...

What sort of debt strategies ?
Debt strategies can be things such as how you can pay off your loan as quick as possible, or using equity in home to invest or debt recycling (turning non deductible debt into deductable debt) etc
What sort of wealth protection (insurance or trusts etc ?)
Wealth protection is mainly insurance but also setting up company or trust structures and estate planning.
Insurance is working out the amount of cover to adequately cover yourself in the event of an accident. It can also be working out funding of this such as out of your cash flow or potentially within superannuation
What sort of investments ?
Investments is more the strategy around it and how to achieve a certain goal. So we would make recommendations on gearing, managed funds, bonds, education bonds etc. Individual shares we would recommend to a stock broker
Other Services
In simple terms types of services we do are Superannuation, Setting financial goals, budgeting, savings and investments, managing debt, tax planning, wealth protection, redundancy planning, retirement planning, estate planning, trust structuring, inheritance planning etc

Do financial planners have to have an amount of industry experience before receiving the grade ? I have always been of the mind set they were a bit like business coaches whom have a book with 100 ideas that they keep suggesting but whether they have implemented these ideas themself is always of interest and whether the ideas have been tested ?

As I mentioned above in my dealer group you do have to pass the grade. I am unable to speak for any other dealer groups. Our process in our office is
initial meeting - meet client get some understanding of their goals / needs and weather we can help them
fact find appointment - to gather as much information on the client to make sure we can provide them with proper advice.
Strategy session - we meet with the client again to discuss strategies to meet their goals, this may include several strategies and some preliminary work i.e. cash flows, costs of insurance etc
Recommendation Presentation - we write up a statement of advice document with all our recommendations why, costs etc. This is about 60 to 80 pages. We present our final recommendations and if then we implement the advice
Our dealer group and from what I understand most of the bigger dealer groups (I would assume the smaller ones are as well) are highly regulated and we have to jump through allot of hoops. We have to form reasonable basis of advice for everything we do and document this why both to the clients, dealer group and if ASIC was to walk in the door. Not to mention allot of other compliance based work we are required to do. Compliance is one reason the cost of financial advice on fee for service is fairly high, but it is also required to make sure a planner does their due diligence to make sure this is the best strategy for the client. But we also would never give someone advice is it wasn't benefiting their situation.
My thoughts on commissions?
I think a big misconception with financial planners comes from older planners who never charged a high fee for the advice but they always but some sort of fee's like contribution fees on the product i.e. allot of planners would put a 4% contribution fee on a clients superannuation so every time the client puts money in the account they are getting charge extra and in some cases the planner isn't evening providing the client with on-going services.
I do not agree with these sorts of commissions and I have been lucky enough to join a practice which has always been fee for service.
I do also believe not all payments from product providers should be stopped. I believe they should make a standard rate which cannot me less or more. The reasons for this is they stop payments from product providers the cost of financial advice would increase. As well if a client rings up for simple administration changes most planners would have to start charging like solicitors or accountants i.e. $20 to fax a form etc
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any more questions
Click to expand...

Cheers for the feedback..
 
blazer121 said:
Accountants unless they are an Authorised Representative of a Australian Financial Service Licensee should not be giving financial advice.
Click to expand...

Not sure this is correct. My understanding is that accountants can give financial advice providing it isn't product specific....i.e. they can recommend setting up an SMSF and invest in managed funds, but can't recommend specific funds or receive any commission from product providers.
 
Use the financial planning association website to find a planner
Choose only a planner who is a CFP certified financial planner

fpa.asn.au/fpa_content.aspx?doc_id=9114

most have websites or can send you a FSG so you can check out their remuneration structure..
 


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