faq

A financial planner is like having a personal coach for your money. Our aim is to help you protect and get more out of the money you have, so you can have more of the things you want – today and in the future. After finding out who you are, your current circumstances and where you want to be, we will help you make informed decisions about how to make the most of your money, investing and protecting it to your advantage, using financial products that suit your needs. Our job is to take the 7 key building blocks and mix and match these elements to suit your personal situation. The result will be a personal financial plan.

We are trained and competent to advise on a range of matters, including:

• Financial management from basic budgeting to complex portfolios.
• Investment strategies, including recommending investment categories and specific products.
• Superannuation strategies to help you accumulate enough money to retire with the lifestyle you’d like and strategies to help you minimise the tax you pay right now.
• Retirement planning for people who are retiring soon or many years from now – the sooner you plan the better.
• How to use a redundancy payout most effectively, including how to make it last as long as possible.
  Insurance to make sure you adequately protect what you’ve achieved so far, whether that’s a property, assets or your income.

Accountants mostly deal with tax related issues, and there are accountants who specialise in niche areas. Financial planners provide advice across a broad range of finance matters that includes superannuation, investment, estate planning, insurance, business advice etc. Our experience shows that clients are more successful when they have a combination of a good accountant and a good financial planner.

The law requires that any personal advice you receive from us must be appropriate to your circumstances. While you have the right not to tell us personal information, if you don’t, the advice you receive may not be appropriate to your needs and your financial situation.

When we meet we will take you through a 7-step process:

Step 1An initial consultation that allows us to find out about each other.
Step2We will collect all the information we need from you (sometimes called ‘fact finding’).
Step 3 We will help you identify your goals and current financial position. We normally do this at the same time as the ‘fact find’.
Step 4 We will consider the 7 building blocks or strategies (eg, tax, social security, estate planning etc), then develop and present you with written recommendations in a financial plan (called a Statement of Advice).
Step 5We will discuss the recommendations with you and make sure you are comfortable and agree with them.

Step 6We will implement the agreed recommendations.

Step 7We will periodically help you review your objectives, financial situation and needs.

It is important to remember that you are in control and can decide whether to stop, change or continue at any stage of the process.

Our fees and charges are clearly outlined in our Financial Services Guide. You will be provided with a copy at your first appointment. The Financial Services Guide is an important document that contains information regarding Michael Roach Financial Solutions. The guide contains information on the services we can provide, and the fees applying to our services..

We don’t charge for the first appointment so we can gain an understanding of your situation and determine the best outcome that can be achieved.

In many cases our fees can be deducted from one of your super accounts. This means nothing comes directly out of your back pocket. Our fees can only be taken where the related advice is purely in relation to your superannuation.

It is a requirement by law that financial planners must hold a licence with ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission). ASIC is the governing body of financial planners and is similar to the ATO who govern tax and accountants. Some financial planners hold a licence directly with ASIC and are therefore directly responsible to ASIC. In the case of Michael Roach Financial Solutions, AMP Financial Planning holds the licence and we operate under their standards. AMP Financial Planning guarantees any advice we provide to our clients.

We are authorised to provide advice on a wide range of products and services including those from 19 different fund managers.

Consolidating your super will not only make your superannuation balance easier to track and manage it could also save on fees, reduce paperwork and confusion.