FAQ – What if I Don't Agree With What the Adviser Says?

First of all, thank you to all our listeners far and wide! Our audience is growing each week, with new international listeners joining in. Please write to us and tell us where you’re from, we’d love to hear from you! Our email is podcast@mo50.com.au.

Today, we have a frequently asked client question: what if I don’t agree with my financial adviser? We know that people can sometimes be wary of financial advisers. There’s something of a misconception that a financial adviser will tell you what to do with your money, leading you to being railroaded into a financial plan you don’t want.
 
While we can see how this could be a concern, and may be the case with some advisers who are not doing their job properly or don’t care about their clients, we bring this down to one important word at Money Over 50: collaboration. We like this word, and we always collaborate with our clients to get the financial plan that they want.
 
Sometimes, hard truths must be faced and sacrifices made now – that’s what we call trade-offs – but only if you want to achieve something specific in the future. While it may be tempting to have a life of luxury now, that isn’t always sustainable if you want to live a particular lifestyle in the future. On the flipside, we also know it’s important to enjoy your life now. It’s a little bit like a diet. You might like to allow yourself dessert every Thursday night – just don’t be like Dallas, who allows Thursday to become Thursday-to-Sunday – because completely giving something up isn’t sustainable, either. But the key here is: whatever that decision is, and whatever the trade-offs are, they are yours. And we are here to help you achieve your goals.
 
In our opinion, what we as financial advisers do better than others, is have this meaningful trade-off conversation with our clients. Together, we work out the end result – also a bit like a diet – and what strategies we need to get them there. This kind of relationship is fully collaborative – we won’t sit there and tell them what to do. That’s not the sort of relationship we want to have with our clients.
 
If you come to us, we’ll ask you questions, work with you and adapt to your needs.
 
Of course, as with any good relationship, trust must come into it. The amount of money you need for your retirement is up to you – that’s your choice. But the tax laws, and the facts surrounding superannuation, for example – that’s exactly what they are: facts. And we know them. We’d like our clients to trust us in giving them the right advice with regards to these facts. Having said that, it takes time to build trust. But we are always fully committed to providing the best service we can to our clients.
 
And finally, one important thing to remember about the way we run our business is the fact that we have financial incentive for your super balance to be at its best. It actually makes financial sense for all parties involved if your balance is at its highest. Apart from us wanting to build a positive relationship with you, it remains a fact that we have incentive to work hard, too.

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