WHY DO YOU NEED A FINANCIAL PLANNER?

This question crosses the minds of most people, just moments before they meet up for coffee with their financial adviser – and it’s a good question!

This question can be answered in so many ways… so let’s answer it with a few questions:

• Would you service your own car?
• Would you diagnose yourself if you were ill?
• Would you fix your own laptop?
• Would you represent yourself in court?
• Would you get an unqualified person to prepare your company’s financial statements?

Okay, so you may be smiling to yourself if you answered yes to some of the questions above. If you’re a medical practitioner with a bachelor’s in commerce and economics, you grew up in a garage and you practice law from the local iStore, then there’s a good chance that you don’t need a financial adviser….

DO YOU NEED A FINANCIAL ADVISOR?

Iona Minton

The profession of financial planning is relatively new, the average pensioner will tell you that in their youth financial planning was not even a recognisable term. During and after the Second World War the depression made it virtually impossible for most people to make ends meet, let alone have surplus money to invest.

Access to financial advisors was the domain of the super rich.

As the world settled down to growth and prosperity and insurance and investing became viable for the masses, sales people were sent out in force to sell products to anyone who could afford them. Promises of great wealth were made with little to substantiate the claims. Future values were calculated on best case scenarios and when the products failed to deliver, investors became disillusioned and insurance sales people got a bad reputation.