In considering whether to seek financial advice, many Australians put cost near the top of their priorities. Often neglected, however, are two other variables – the cost of not seeking advice and the value that sound, independent advice can deliver.
The media every day is full of heartbreaking stories of Australians who have made poor, sometimes ruinous, financial planning decisions by either trying to navigate life turning points unadvised or making cost the sole barometer of the ‘advice’ they receive.
Only in the past year we have heard of thousands of people losing their life savings by listening to commission-driven hard-sell agents convincing them to switch their super into high-risk, opaque investment schemes riven with conflicts of interest.
At Boutique Advisers, we have heard first-hand from clients who came to the right decision the hard way – taking shortcuts, falling for slick pitches from salespeople masquerading as advisers – before finally embracing our approach.
And that approach, in the most basic terms, is to put our clients and their goals first. We do not shoehorn people into inappropriate products or off-the-shelf so-called ‘solutions’. For us, this not a transactional business, but a long-term partnership.
We see our role as creating holistic, evolving and lifelong plans that consider our clients’ values, aspirations and legacy, alongside their financial goals. These plans are built not around products, but around each individual person, their own circumstances, their family’s needs and their risk appetites.
We charge a fee for our services because we are working and acting for our clients, not for a product provider or bank or fund manager.
For clients, this fee represents an investment in their futures and a pathway to greater clarity, confidence and peace of mind.
Will there be tough markets and testing times in the future? Of course. Uncertainty never goes away completely. But our approach is to provide you with a plan to get you through what can happen, not to try and predict what will happen.
As mentioned, we see again and again the huge costs people suffer from either forgoing advice or seeking commoditised and compromised advice.
In contrast, the benefits of seeking independent, professional and client-centric advice from Boutique Advisers are diverse. Here are just a few:
- Securing financial well-being and peace of mind
- Achieving greater clarity and demystification of financial concepts
- Avoiding costly mistakes such as undiversified, opaque investments
- Saving time and effort from tasks that used to take you days to complete
- Gaining improved confidence in making financial decisions
- Developing greater awareness of your life options and the trade-offs involved
- Finding a trusted partner to navigate financial challenges and opportunities
- Knowing you have a calm voice to keep you focused in tough times
Can there be any dispute that these sorts of gains are not only valuable, but continue to pay financial and emotional dividends for years to come?
The value of these benefits is well-documented by independent experts. Studies in the UK and USA have documented the significant gains advice delivers, not only in dollar terms but in peace of mind.
Unlike many firms, we’re upfront about our fees, because we can see the link from our services to the gains people make in their lives from working with us.
We not only know the challenges people face, but also the opportunities they can forgo because they didn’t have a voice like ours to counsel them and give them structure, clarity and confidence around their finances.
Think of it this way: Working with us is an investment in your life.
