On average we’d each been married once. And another interesting statistic that I considered was that of those who had experienced marriage, 100 per cent had been convinced of the benefits and had continued to believe in marriage despite the overall unsuccessful experience they had.

Similarly, your financial planning clients seldom say they have bad experiences or do not value what you do. It is really those without experience who surveys find are not convinced of the merits of seeking financial advice.

So how do we educate them? How do we tell the greater public what it is that a financial planner does and how it can benefit them?

The AFA’s “make a plan” campaign is a great start. What is the point of financial planning and how can it make one better off is a great way to introduce the idea. But the media tarnishing financial planners also needs to be redressed.

It’s a big like the chicken and the egg. Do we need to sell the idea of a professional financial planner before the value of planning or should the value of planning come first. Or is there a way of presenting both in concert?

Do we need to attract people to advice slowly, in a bit by bit manner – first advising on super or insurance and then a savings plan?

Distribution has become so much easier for most products and services since the explosion of the internet – but the regulatory system makes it difficult for financial advice. Perhaps when someone cracks it a new era will emerge and this will affect pricing and the value chain and the landscape as we know it.

Everyone is trying to get out there the best that they can – through bank channels, super funds, fund manager websites but it’s not yet cutting through to the clients that everyone is missing.

Can a government agency help, will an experience website do it – Red Balloon offering financial planning services for a family? Or perhaps ebay – what would the highest bidder pay for financial advice?

It’s a new world and we’re still working on how best to operate within our new parameters.

But it’s first mover who will win the greatest advantage – any ideas you can share?

According to research by CoreData/brandmanagement commissioned by the AFA in July it was found that financial advisers are highly trusted by the advised, coming in third behind doctors and dentists, although the unadvised awarded a much lower trust rating of 4.5.

The post Double jeopardy – or once bitten appeared first on AdviserVoice.

The launch of Victorian Bushfire Action Week (10th-17th October) today serves as a reminder to all of the importance of protecting the family against unexpected risks, says Lifewise, a long-term public awareness campaign aimed at educating Australians about the importance of life insurance.

During Victorian Bushfire Action Week, Lifewise is reminding Victorians about the importance of reviewing their levels of life insurance in order to minimise the impact that bushfire risk has on their families.
Lifewise Chairman, John Crosswelll, said:  “The tragedy of last year’s Victorian bushfires reminds us of the need to protect ourselves against financial hardship that can result from bushfire.  There are many simple steps that can be taken by Victorians to ensure that in the event of tragedy, this hardship is kept to a minimum.  One of these includes the less obvious precaution of reviewing life insurance needs.”

Lifewise statistics show that because families did not have adequate life insurance, the life insurance payment received by the families of the 2009 Victorian bushfire victims was only $119,000.  This figure is relatively low when compared to the average Victorian mortgage which is valued at $360,000.  In fact, because of underinsurance, less than 50% of bushfire victims received any kind of life insurance payment.

“The impact of underinsurance cannot be underestimated.  Under normal circumstances, most families would be unable to meet their financial obligations after three months in the event of the premature death or injury of the family’s main breadwinner which renders them unable to work.  For those families obliged to live through the aftermath of a bushfire tragedy, this presents a financial burden that would add considerable additional strain on the family.”

Victorians can visit the life insurance calculator to find out how much is enough and can find out about the different types of life insurance that may benefit them at www.lifewise.org.au.

The post Bushfire Action Weeek reminds Victorians to get Lifewise this Summer appeared first on AdviserVoice.