An HQ Financial Solutions 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 that you can have the lifestyle you desire and achieve your financial goals.
After finding out who you are, your current circumstances and where you want to be in the future, 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.
How can a HQ Financial Solutions planner help you?
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 for retirement 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.
What is in a financial plan?
Whether you go to a professional financial planner or do it yourself, you're going to need a financial plan. In its brochure, "Don't kiss your money goodbye", the Australian Investments and Securities Commission (ASIC) says that a good financial plan should:
summarise your financial position
list your goals
explain how you will reach those goals
show how carefully chosen investments mesh together as working parts of your overall strategy
disclose and explain any risks and how they can be overcome
state all the costs
reveal the commissions your adviser might receive from the recommended investments.
Visit FIDO, the consumer website of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), for more information about financial advice and planning
What are the costs involved in using our service?
Before we provide any advice or services, we will agree with you on the fees involved and how they are to be paid. Our payment types are financial planning advice fees, transaction fees or commissions (for insurance and banking products).
For more comprehensive information on financial planning fees, please download our Financial Services Guide.
The 7 Step Process: What to expect when you see a HQ Financial Solutions 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 1
An initial consultation that allows us to find out about each other.
Step 2
We 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 (e.g., tax, social security, estate planning etc), then develop and present you with written recommendations in a financial plan (called a Statement of Advice).
Step 5
We will discuss the recommendations with you and make sure you are comfortable and agree with them.
Step 6
We will implement the agreed recommendations.
Step 7
We 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.
What information will you need when you meet with us?
At our first meeting, we will ask you about you - about where you are now, your expectations and how you would like to live your life.
Then we will conduct something called 'fact finding' where we will ask about your personal circumstances and help you to determine your attitude towards risk. Your attitude to risk means whether you are conservative in the way you invest, aggressive or somewhere in between.
We will ask you for detailed personal information as we need it to put together your financial plan. We will need to know things like:
your age
current personal income
family income
future income (inheritances included)
day-to-day expenses
your family circumstances (number and health of dependants, dependants from previous relationships etc)
future expenses
assets and liabilities
tax paid and tax owed
super and insurance situation
current investments
state of health
You will also need to have considered your goals and current financial position.
We will also ask you things like:
when you want to retire
how you want to educate your children
whether a second home, like a holiday house, is important to you
do you have dependents you need to provide for if you are unable to work or if the unforseen happens
whether you have an up-to-date Will
if you are expecting any large expenses
What will you receive?
During the financial planning process we will give you:
A Financial Services Guide, which outlines who we are, what we can advise on and how we are paid.
A written Statement of Advice that outlines the relevant information that you have provided, the advice you have been given and why it is suitable for you (along with how we get paid and any other benefits we may receive).
A Product Disclosure Statement - if we recommend a financial product. The Product Disclosure Statement gives you information about the product features, fees that apply, any adviser commission, benefits and risks of investing and what to do if you have a complaint.
Remember, it's important to keep these documents in case you need them in the future.