What does the FPA do?
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 a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, Financial Planner AFP® or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.
Do you need financial advice?
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 a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, Financial Planner AFP® or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.
Who can you trust?
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 a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, Financial Planner AFP® or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.
What is the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation?
What do you need to ask at an initial meeting?
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 a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, Financial Planner AFP® or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.
What sort of advice do you need?
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 a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, Financial Planner AFP® or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.
What do you do if you are concerned about market ups and downs?
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 a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, Financial Planner AFP® or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.
How much does financial planning cost?
The cost of financial planning 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.
The average initial cost to set up a financial plan is around $3,300 and then about $4,300 annually on average to receive ongoing advice (based on 2020 FPA Member Research by CoreData).
You can find a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, Financial Planner AFP® or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.
How do financial planners support their local communities?
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.
FPA members also support 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.
How can you find a financial planner?
You can find an FPA member, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional or FPA Professional Practice by using our Find a Planner tool.
How can you make a complaint about a financial planner?
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].