Would anyone care to share their experiences/thoughts & opinions of the Financial Planning industry.
My view is this; despite the "sweeping" changes introduced by the Federal Government in recent times I don't really see any major changes in practice.
Planners/adviser are still largely giving advice on the basis of their own interests first or at least close to first with the client running a close second.
Here's a recent industry example I shall relate;
A client meets with a planner and has approx $5M to invest with a further $3M of gearing capital, making a total of $8M. The adviser was all set to charge the client $800K for the privelege of having this client! Now the client got a second opinion and didn't proceed but you see my point I'm sure.
For my money I believe the industry is largely full of uneducated, greedy, self obsessed individuals.
My opinion; educate yourself and learn to manage your own financial affairs, it's much more rewarding and stimulating.
Imagine being able to teach your own children the important skill of managing their money, a skill that IMO should be mandatory at school. Perhaps it could replace some of the mumbo-jumbo classes that kids undertake at school these days?
