The Government of Australia encourages you to actively engage in your financial planning and to use financial advisers and financial planners – check out MoneySmart.
Clearly, just like you use professional help in health matters or fixing your car, you need the support of financial professionals to help you achieve your financial goals.
So what options do you have? How do you choose the best financial planner to suit your needs?
The good news is that there is an abundance of financial advisers around. Some gigantic organizations can help you invest in Peru or The Netherlands. Such are PWC, EY, Deloitte, and the like international financial advisers. For them, however, the common small or medium business is insignificant, and advising individuals with a net worth under a couple of million is “a waste of time”. So the international advisers are not exactly the go-to financial planner. Furthermore, chances are that they are likely to miss some of the local financial threats and opportunities around you – after all these may be oceans away from you.
Whom else can we approach?
You could try national financial planners. These guys will cover every state, city, and area in Australia. They are specifically good for large businesses with branches around the country. They however are a bit of overshooting, when it comes to individual or small business needs.
Your best choice is to seek out a local financial planner and here are the top five reasons why:
- Local attestation
With international financial consultants and national financial planners most likely you will be working with an account manager. With all due respect, account managers are junior just-out-of-college employees, who more or less will be coordinating the answers to your questions by superior staff. Usually, your account manager will not be with you for more than 6 months, as by that time she will be moving along the company ladder.
It is also difficult to ask friends and family for recommendations for a “good international financial planner”, as even if they did use one, they wouldn’t know whom to direct you to.
The case is a world apart with local financial advisors. Chances are that everyone around you will be working with local small business tax accountants or a local tax accountant, or simply having their bookkeeping done by local accountants or a local accounting firm. All of these may prove suitable to support you in your financial planning and reaching your financial goals.
Whatever your financial needs, it is more likely for you to find a local financial advisor by word of mouth. Then you will know exactly what these consultants have done right for someone near you. What better way to start a relationship?
- Local knowledge
As great as the giant international financial consultants are, it is quite unlikely that they will be in the know about the local tax incentives for overcoming the Corona crisis. The international giants are good for their kin – giant international companies. For local businesses and individuals, the best choice is to choose a local financial advisor who will be able to offer local financial knowledge.
The local financial knowledge is important for you as it will help you with your tax planning, super fund management, local investment opportunities, suiting your needs and preferences, local savings, and loan advice. Your local consultant will be knowledgeable about all local threats and perspectives and will advise you accordingly.
When it comes to financial advice, local is king. You need not know what the tax incentives in Mongolia are. You need to know what yours are and what they are expected to be next year. This is information available with your local financial advisor.
- Customised service
Should you be serviced by an international or a large national financial adviser, most likely you will receive parts of your service from various departments within the company – some from the tax department, some from the accounting department, some from legal, and so on. If you omit to ask for something, chances are that they will not notice it and will not offer additional service.
Local financial advisors, especially long-standing ongoing ones will be more like a part of your family. After all, you do consult with them to prepare for every major event in your life, all of your financial goals, your financial growth, and eventual wind down at retirement. Hence local financial advisers will offer a much more customised service to your needs.
- Listening to you
International and national financial advisers will usually offer a one-size-fits-all approach. Actually, they most likely will have all of their service described in their relevant procedures. This naturally means that their employees will be listening to you only as much as to fit you inside one of their boxes. Nothing more.
Local financial advisers are much more likely to have a personalized approach to you. They will be the ones who are likely to listen to your financial needs and goals. And they are the advisers most likely to help you achieve these needs and goals.
Most importantly there is also the question of proximity and face-to-face communication. Even in the age of Zoom and Skype, on the topic of financial planning a sit down with your financial consultant is the way to go. This will not be as easily arranged should you go for an international or even a national adviser.
As financial planning has to do a lot with communicating your financial goals and aims, you will do your best to choose a local listening financial adviser.
- Comprehensive approach
You will be in need of various financial advice in the course of your life. Initially, you may need a loan to get you through college. Then you may need support with your first home purchase. Then you may consider planning for retirement, starting your super fund, and managing its growth. Then you may need to start your own business. Then comes savings and investment. After that comes, travel. Then having your first child. And so on until retirement. All such needs are important to each of us. The giant consultants are very unlikely to even hear the above list, much less support us with successfully achieving each and every financial goal on our to-do list.
Local financial advisers are much like our doctors. We go to them for whatever aches and pains we may have. And they will offer a comprehensive 360 approach to our finance. They will take care of:
- our taxes and tax planning,
- our bookkeeping,
- support the growth of our income,
- help us to plan our expenses,
- help us set up a business,
- help us find the best lender when we need a mortgage,
- help us with our comprehensive insurance cover and the choice of a good insurance company,
- help us manage our Super funds,
- help us with our investments.
Most importantly, financial advisers will help you to achieve your financial goals – as ambitious as they may be.
Now you know why it is reasonable to look around yourself and choose a local financial advisor – be it for one-off consultations, be it for ongoing support. You know that local financial advice will be able to best cover your needs and help to achieve your financial goals.