Financial Plan

[MarkB]

I am not at all surprised by the poll results (I made a similiar comment recently).

To be honest, given my background and the time I spend researching the market and on forums like this, it would be a very accomplished financial adviser who has the capacity to accelerate the achievement of my financial goals.

Mark

ps. I'm a big believer in backing ones own abilities.

pps. I'm also a big believer that no one has as much a stake in your financial interest than you do, so why turn it over to others?

 

[vandalic]

Regarding your PS comments, I completely agree. Great comments.

I am not at all surprised by the poll results (I made a similiar comment recently).

To be honest, given my background and the time I spend researching the market and on forums like this, it would be a very accomplished financial adviser who has the capacity to accelerate the achievement of my financial goals.

Mark

ps. I'm a big believer in backing ones own abilities.

pps. I'm also a big believer that no one has as much a stake in your financial interest than you do, so why turn it over to others?

 

[kero]

spoke to about four and common denominator.... managed funds. i am always skpetical about professionals that gets paid by commission... hope i don't offend any forumites here... just my personal opinion.

i agree with vandalic... read books, talk to people (especially people who uses financial planners), self-study all these methods are helpful even if you have a finanical planner already. information and knowledge gain keeps you updated and educated and prevent any con-man from selling any crap.

investment decisions are eventually yours to make...

 

[grossreal]

hi All
couple of thing that interest me with this post.
1.investEd sorry Rixter but anyone that charges me to give me advice I give a miss but ha thats me.
2.but the question is are financial advicers any good, yes is the answer just don't pay anything for their advice.
3. I have many that I ask and they ask me
Have I paid $1 ? no its a you help me I help you.
sorry again but I only pay for something I can't get for free and advice is not something that I can't get for free.
and as for polls I don't do them as the variables are to great.
my advice is "buyer beware" and a good saying is "when a rich man meets a poor man the poor man gets a little richer and the rich man gets a little poorer" I don't think a financial advicer will give you this advice but remember it.
I do
It helps if you go into a meeting with people you don't know.
Told to me by the only Australian national that also carried a chinese red seal there is no higher seal with the chinese goverment a very good friend who has pastaway but is still remember within the chinese goverment community and ran the Australian chinese trade commission for 15 years

 

[alwayscurious]

Thanks,

Thanks all for your very informative replies.

Thanks for being open & honest.

FYI - it wasn't $1200 per month - it was per year. $2000 in the first year.

I read and absorbed your replies with much interest.

There are many levels of wealth represented here, and I am interested to see what people from all backgrounds think.


My leaning is to not go with this guy, even though he isn't "trail" based but is trying to earn his money up front with no promise of performance.

Thanks for your replies, and I'll monitor the poll until it closes.

Seems to be fairly skewed at the moment though.

Cheers
Alwayscurious.

 

[alwayscurious]

Quiggles 12k/year..

I'm with Lizzie - met a bank appointed financial planner. It was hilarious - he brought along his spreadheets and we brought along ours and what do you know - at the end of 10 years we each had a comparable payout figure!

The only difference was that his spreadsheet required the contribution of $12,000 in after tax dollars every year and mine required the acceptance of around $2,000 in after tax profits every year.

He asked if he could have a copy of our spreadsheet.

This sounds eerily familiar

A friend of mine gave me a copy of a very similar spreadsheet.

Average 12k per year for X years = over 1M in fund for retirement @55, then drawn down in retirement, still some left for kids.

WOW! It opened my eyes at the time and made me think.

But then I thought Do I want that for me and my kids or do I want more?

However, I want something different for me & my children.

What I want:

I want time with my kids while they are young, teenagers etc.

I want to be generous with my time and money and pass that on as a heritage to my children.

I want to be able to help them financially to learn & earn
while they are young, building familes, building homes, getting married, kids, uni etc etc.

I don't want to give them a lump sum of moth eaten money when we die at 110 and kids are are 80 or so years old themselves! approximate figures

At that stage the kids are already setup, retired or nearly and they want their parents time, advice & companionship instead.

The time they need money is in the early part of their lives.. at least that's what I am finding now in my life!.


Thanks again all for replying -
I feel guided and more assured in the decision I had already leaned towards.

As the proverb goes - paraphrased.

In the mouths of many advisors lies wisdom.

 

[Glebe]

I guess I have a financial advisor. I paid $5000 for a financial plan, which cost more than it was worth in my instance (since I already knew where I was heading over the next couple of years) but it did allow me to seek asssistance from them in establishing a margin loan via special income units in a hybrid trust. I was getting out of my depth there.

 

[redwing]

Hey quiggles..

I'd be intrested in a copy as well

I dont have a financial adviser, however, MLC sent me some information regarding my super so i went and saw their advisor who promptly showed me better products with other companies, I changed over to ING which from memory usually pays their advisors well, but I was happy with the structure for Super and included my term life insurance in with Super to the value of my loans (if i pass away, loans get paid out).

When MLC asked why I was leaving I told them their advisor suggested it (they didn't seem to care )

REDWING

 

[The Y-man]

We have an advisor, and their advice has been useful to us in getting into investment vehicles we would not have previously considered.

While the bulk of the products pushed has been managed investments (albeit quite interesting ones), the CEO of the advisor company in a recent presentation talked of (if I am reading my notes correctly ) : real estate (rural), cattle, gold, and firearms, in long term preparation for a major downturn in the economy

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[Gabriel Conroy]

Y-Man ... thanks for the tips

care to detail this long term 'down turn' of which your advisor speaks??
Gabriel

 

[The Y-man]

care to detail this long term 'down turn' of which your advisor speaks??
Gabriel

Sorry, may have not expressed it correctly - not "long term down turn" - but rather a downturn that might happen somewhere long term into the future

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[alwayscurious]

reading between the lines

Sorry, may have not expressed it correctly - not "long term down turn" - but rather a downturn that might happen somewhere long term into the future

Cheers,

The Y-man

Buy some cows, a farm & some guns. Head for the hills.

You'll need some gold too, to pay off the locals.

Dagnabit.

Sorry. It's late.

Once again - thanks everyone for contributing to this poll Very interesting results..

 

[The Y-man]

Buy some cows, a farm & some guns. Head for the hills.

You'll need some gold too, to pay off the locals.

..

I believe the idea behind the gold was that it was more likely to be accepted by invading armies than the ozzie peso.....

Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[Pitts]

just paid for one

I've only just started working with my second one.

The first one I sacked a few years back. I was paying a set monthly fee, which entitled me to see her often as I wanted for her financial advice and services. At the time I was pretty much a "couch investor" preferring her to take care of my interests. She convinced me to sell my house to purchase managed funds of which I only just managed to sell for a neutral gain (this was 9 months prior to the rise of real estate boom) and convinced me to sway away from property in general even though my gut instinct said to stick with it.

Now this new one,

I pay her on a service basis. I tell her what I would like to invest in she gives me advice (the pros/cons) and I make the decision on which way to go, she then discusses with me the best way to achieve it and she always rings back after receiving my messages (sometimes she rings me at 7.30 in the evening).

She's a little bit more expensive, but the more I learn the less I will require to need her services.

best of luck

 

[alwayscurious]

That sounds good.

I've only just started working with my second one.

The first one I sacked a few years back. I was paying a set monthly fee, which entitled me to see her often as I wanted for her financial advice and services. At the time I was pretty much a "couch investor" preferring her to take care of my interests. She convinced me to sell my house to purchase managed funds of which I only just managed to sell for a neutral gain (this was 9 months prior to the rise of real estate boom) and convinced me to sway away from property in general even though my gut instinct said to stick with it.

Now this new one,

I pay her on a service basis. I tell her what I would like to invest in she gives me advice (the pros/cons) and I make the decision on which way to go, she then discusses with me the best way to achieve it and she always rings back after receiving my messages (sometimes she rings me at 7.30 in the evening).

She's a little bit more expensive, but the more I learn the less I will require to need her services.

best of luck

That sounds pretty good actually. Hope it really works out for you.

I am meeting with a trusted mentor today, and am going to talk to him about what HE does for advice.

What I am leaning towards is employing the services of a coach/mentor who can bend an ear to my ramblings - knows when to say STOP and
has a more holistic view:
Family / Career / Investment / Spiritual / Personal Goals..

 

[Ralph]

Once Off

I've spoken to several and am yet to find (not that I'm searching any longer) one that could impress me with a balanced view, and knowledge on property, managed funds and own share trading + good advice on structuring all of the above to maximise return/minimise tax.

How hard can it really be to be more sophisticated that 'diversified managed funds' if you are a true professional in this field? Non-professionals on this forum seem to sort it out.

 

[Jamie]

With 3 weeks to go in the poll, 88% of respondents do not pay for regular financial advice.

Seems most of us agree with Mark - I know I do:

Originally posted by Pitt St

ps. I'm a big believer in backing ones own abilities.

pps. I'm also a big believer that no one has as much a stake in your financial interest than you do, so why turn it over to others?

Jamie.

 

[alwayscurious]

I'd be interested to know:

With 3 weeks to go in the poll, 88% of respondents do not pay for regular financial advice.

Seems most of us agree with Mark - I know I do:


Jamie.

Of the 72% that voted NO.

How much have you increased your net worth over the last 5 years, as opposed to those who voted YES.

Now that would be interesting!

it would in part determine: How valuable is your Financial planner in helping you acheive your goals?

Good posts people - keep them coming.

I've interviewed some of my trusted friends who are wiser, older, and more financially secure than I and have come accross the same attitudes as displayed here.

Impressive.

 

[topcropper]

I voted no.

I couldn't be bothered working it out properly, but not taking into account gearing, I would say 100%. With gearing it would be a fair bit higher.

That would be made up of shares, up 100%. Thanks to good timing and picking.

Property, up 100%. Thanks to mainly just good luck from owning a high land content property [farm] as my business.

Most [if not all] of the gains from both property and shares have happened in the last 2.5 years. I'm not expecting any capital gain from the property for many years, but hopefully the shares have more upside.

See ya's.

 

[keithj]

How many people - have a paid, financial advisor. Especially those with high net worth?

And a NO from me too. I prefer self education, - more satisfying, no-one to blame but ones-self, better returns, no management fees, complete control, flexible, no communication issues.

I think a better title for 99% of financial advisors would be fund salesperson.

The type of financial advisor that a high net worth individual would use is definitely v. different from the above 99%. These financial advisors would have access to products not normally available to the 'public'. And many of these products would probably have a minimum investment amount out of reach of non-HNWI.

KJ