The Value of Advice
Adapted from an article written by Troy Hart for Money & Life magazine, on why the real value of advice sits in confidence, wellbeing and the ability to sleep at night.
Research behind the inaugural Value of Advice index found that advised Australians are more likely than non-advised Australians to feel financially secure. Two of the top ten benefits people reported from working with a financial planner weren't dollar figures at all, they were improved financial wellbeing and improved general wellbeing: peace of mind, health, and the social side of life.
Greater financial security. Better wellbeing. These are powerful benefits, and they rarely get talked about enough. The value an adviser adds goes well beyond the strategy document, and it is worth understanding what you're actually paying for.
Advice can be valuable financially, emotionally and behaviourally. It is the latter two where the greatest value often lies, and the hardest to put a price on.
Tax saved, entitlements improved, debt structured better, fees reduced, retirement brought forward. These are the outcomes that are easy to measure, and often the first reason people seek advice.
Financial stress affects health and family relationships more than almost anything else. Good advice eases that pressure, and that value shows up in your life long before it shows up in a statement.
Plans work when they are stuck to. An adviser is the steady hand when markets wobble, when a decision feels urgent, or when doing nothing is quietly costing you.
Think of advice less like a one-off transaction and more like having a professional on standby. There is absolutely a place for one-off, scoped advice, sometimes an ongoing service simply isn't appropriate. But when advice is only ever bought by the hour, you tend to experience just the tangible side of it: the strategy, the fee savings, the tax outcome.
Consider your health. If your doctor was always on standby, would you let a concern go unattended, or would you seek an opinion straight away? The same is true of your money. Strong, connected relationships need regular conversation and transparency , and the thought of a $300 phone call tends to stop that conversation before it starts.
The Value of Advice Report found that financial stress has a considerable effect on people's lives, with health and family relationships impacted the most. Through good advice and genuine dedication, that pressure can be eased.
Advised clients can sleep at night knowing much of their financial stress is being carried with them, not alone.
When you weigh up the cost of advice, it's natural to look for the number that justifies it, the tax saved, the entitlement gained, the years shaved off your working life. Those matter, and we will always be clear about them. But they are only part of the picture.
The rest is the confidence to make a decision, the clarity of knowing where you stand, and the freedom to stop carrying it all yourself. That's the difference between having a plan and having a partnership, and it's the reason our work is built around an ongoing relationship rather than a single document.
Plan, grow, prosper. The plan is the start of it; the rest is what happens when someone walks it with you.
"Pricing advice, valuing the intangibles", written by Troy Hart for Money & Life magazine. Written for advisers, but a candid look at how we think about the value we add.
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