If you’re looking for help with your financial planning decisions, there are a number of resources you can turn to:
- the internet / media
- friends and family
- your own knowledge
Ideally, it’s likely that you’ll want impartial formation upon which you can make objective decisions. Whilst these three resources can be utilised, they may not ‘do the job’ as you’ll be hard pressed to get an objective view with no emotion (which often runs high when making financial decisions) attached.
The alternative is to seek advice from a financial professional.
The advantage with this route is that, ideally, they will be able to take an objective stance. The problem with this route is that there are so many different types of financial adviser/planner to choose from.
How will you know if you are dealing with someone that is 100% impartial, or a slick salesperson who’s focus is to sell you what they have?
Let’s look at the options available to you and also the steps you can take to find the right type of adviser/planner (from the 45,000 or so registered individuals authorised to provide advice) for your circumstances. The first step is to determine what type of service you require.
