Financial
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A clear, personalised path to your financial goals.
25 November, 2019
The real value of good financial advice
First Financial Team
“Financial peace of mind doesn’t just happen… it takes planning, it takes long-term commitment and starting too late usually means either you’ll do something silly, take shortcuts that can end in disaster… or you just won’t get to where you thought you would.”
Ben Rossi, Principal and Managing Director, has helped many people over the decades. He knows just how valuable good financial advice can be when planning for your future.
Partnering with a professional adviser can support you as you build your wealth and help you prepare for the retirement you deserve.
When do people seek financial advice?
We know that going to see a financial adviser isn’t a regular everyday activity. Often people will seek these services because something specific takes place in their life. Ben explains,
“Typically, someone will look for advice when an event happens. It could be a redundancy, or perhaps the death of somebody close… so they have a lump sum of money and they want to put it to good use.
Or it could be as a result of being at a family barbecue. Somebody mentions something about financial advice and that prompts them.
Sometimes it’s because people get to the stage where they are about to retire, or they are not as far from retirement as they thought they were… and they realise they don’t have quite as much as they thought they would.”
Unfortunately, in recent times there has been a downturn in people seeking good financial advice and while we understand the reasoning, we know that our tailor made services offer something different. The relationships we build with our clients are long-term, life-time collaborations. Ben continues,
“I guess the Royal Commission cast a shadow of doubt over the industry, which is quite sad because it means that now some people are not going to seek good advice when they should.”
Sound financial decisions
Wealth management can be complicated… and most people don’t necessarily have the skills to do it alone.
This is why seeking sound financial advice is important. Without it you could miss opportunities or make choices that aren’t going to help you achieve your financial goals. Ben knows that human nature often impedes potential success.
“Human beings are not designed to make good financial decisions. We are easily swayed and influenced by our emotions or by other people… and we end up doing illogical things. For instance…
‘My friend bought Bitcoin and I should do the same.’
‘The market has fallen 30%… I better get all my money out of the market.’
‘The market has been up 300% in the last three years… I should take all my money out of term deposits and put it into the share market.’
‘If I do it myself, it won’t cost me anything.’
These actions are all driven by human instinct… what our emotions say.”
But making financial decisions based on emotion can be a big mistake. This is where a professional adviser can really help. They remove the emotion and present you with options based on true results.
Helping to achieve your goals
Once you have a clear goal in mind for your financial future, Ben has some key steps you can follow to help you achieve your goals.
“Team up with somebody, whoever that is… we hope that it’s us, but if it’s not us at least team up with somebody. Someone who will hold you to account, to keep you on track with the things you said you were going to do.
Have a plan… make sure you understand the plan and that you stick to it.
Be prepared to go against your instincts… everything might tell you that you should do something, but you should probably do the opposite. This is when you should be prepared to take advice.
Finally, plan for the worst case scenario… we are going to have another global financial crisis, it’s almost a certainty. Don’t try to avoid it; be prepared and plan for it.”
Finally, we believe it’s important to remember that wealth building is a journey… not a single event. Long-term gains are far better than short-term wins and good financial advice can help you keep focused on the future.
To find out how we can help you, contact our team today. Read more Financial Planning articles.
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- Kept advice simple, thoughtful, and tailored to what mattered to them
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Background:
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Retired and semi-retired
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