The Financial Planning Association (FPA) is the professional body for financial planning in Australia, representing 11,000 members and more than 8,000 are practicing financial planners – accomplished professionals who sign up to high standards and put your interests first.

The FPA is your trust mark when seeking a financial planner. To be a member of the FPA, financial planners must have more experience, commit to ongoing education, as well as high professional and ethical obligations.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

If you could achieve your financial goals by simply putting money away in the bank, you wouldn’t need a financial plan. Unfortunately, life is a little more complex – it’s hard to understand the intricacies of investment, taxation and ever-changing regulations, so you need professional help.

Yet many of us resist seeking advice, as if our financial future weren’t just as important as our health or our children’s education. We often decide to manage our financial affairs ourselves, or leave it to someone we know, perhaps an accountant or a solicitor, which is a bit like buying vegetables at the butchers. Financial planning is a specialist profession and you should make sure that you’re getting advice from a properly qualified person.

A financial planner will help you reach your goals; even if retirement may seem a lifetime away, the sooner you start planning the more likelihood you’ll have to achieve financial independence and peace of mind.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

Not all financial planners are the same. By looking for a financial planner that is a member of the FPA, you can rest assured that they are highly qualified, experienced and will do the right thing by you.

Members of the FPA can be distinguished from other financial planners because they:

• have a duty to put your interests first
• adhere to a strict Code of Professional Practice and Code of Ethics
• are accountable to Australia’s leading professional associates
• complete training every year to keep their knowledge and skills up to date
• are obligated to explain and document their fees and charges to you in a clear and transparent way.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional has achieved the highest financial planning qualification worldwide. There are about 5,500 CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals around Australia. To find a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® near you, use our Find a Planner tool.

When choosing a financial planner, make sure they have the necessary qualifications. The simplest way to do this is to narrow your selection to members of the FPA, which includes CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

Entrusting your finances in a professional is an important decision. One of the factors which you need to take into account is the fact that currently, the law allows a wide range of individuals to call themselves a ‘financial planner’ and provide financial advice in some shape or form. Those who can call themselves a ‘financial planner’ includes the following:

• product sales representatives
• life insurance brokers
• stock brokers
• general insurance brokers
• mortgage brokers
• real estate agents
• financial information service (FIS) officers
• financial counsellors
• bank tellers
• accountants
• lawyers
• paraplanners
• business development managers (BDMs)
• client service representatives
• tax agents
• property developers
• auditors (especially those who deal with SMSFs).

Be wary of people who call themselves financial planners, but are not sufficiently professional or even qualified. Alarm bells should start ringing if you come across any of the following signs:

• Doesn’t have professional license, qualifications or FPA membership
• Doesn’t take time to learn about your individual circumstances, needs and goals
• Is more interested in selling you a product than developing a strategy for you
• Promises you the world (ie high returns and low risk) and tells you not to worry
• Avoids questions and withholds information
• The fees and charges are not clear or appear excessive.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

The introductory meeting is your opportunity to make sure that you feel comfortable with the financial planner’s professional credentials, and that you get on well.

A sure sign of a good financial planner is that they don’t rush you, they carefully listen to you and clearly explain where they can add value and where they can’t. Click here to refer to our ‘Things to consider’ page.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

The advice you seek can be holistic (which takes into account your full financial situation, needs and goals) or scaled (where you only seek advice for particular purposes).

Scaled advice is means that you could see a financial planner for a particular purpose that is most relevant to you at any point in time – without the need to go through a holistic process that takes your full financial situation into account.

While scaled advice can make financial planning more affordable, it’s important to not lose sight of the bigger picture. This is where a professional financial planner can help you to take a step back and review your total financial situation.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

Global markets are shifting constantly, and volatility has become the norm. Investors can get understandably nervous and concerned about the fall in the value of their investments. When emotions take charge, it’s important to avoid falling into some of the traps that appear when markets are unpredictable.

Understanding what’s happening and how these events can impact you will help you to make confident decisions about your financial future.

Your financial planner will help you to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, and make the best decisions for your financial future.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

By law all financial planners must disclose all forms of payment and fees. The cost to you will depend on the complexity of your financial situation and plan, as well as the fee method the planner uses.

There are various ways to structure fees, and it typically starts with an initial fee to cover identifying your needs, developing a strategy and implementing the recommendations. There could also be administration and ongoing service fees for regular reviews of your plan to ensure it meets your changing circumstances.

Unlike other financial planners, FPA members abide by rules that require them to explain fees and charges in a clear and transparent way. An FPA member is required to make sure you understand and approve the fees before you pay or go ahead.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

Many financial planners all around Australia give their time, skills and resources to help their local communities. They are passionate about helping people improve their lives and build better futures – not only for their clients, but also for those unable to afford financial advice, through pro bono work and in other ways.

Several years ago, a group of financial planners established Future2, the charitable foundation of the financial planning profession. Its purpose is to make a positive difference in the lives of those who need it most. Its vision is to be the heart of the financial planning profession – mobilising the energy and resources of financial advice professionals to help disadvantaged youth reach their true potential.

Find out more about Future2

You can search for a financial planner who is an FPA member in your local area, by using our Find a Planner tool. Once you get your search results, you can filter your search by CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals or by FPA Professional Practices.

You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.

If you believe that your financial planner has breached the FPA Code of Professional Practice or you are not receiving the highest level of service, you can notify us by making a complaint. You can send us information anonymously, or lodge a formal complaint.

If you would like to make an anonymous complaint, you can do this through The FPA Confidential (Anonymous Reporting) Service. This is an independent service run by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. You can find out more about this service by reading the FPA Confidential Policy.

If you have any questions or require assistance with lodging your complaint, please contact Professional Standards on 1300 626 393 or by email at [email protected].

Lodge a formal complaint

Lodge an anonymous complaint