According to the Q4 2016 MLC Wealth Sentiment Survey, more than 70 per cent of respondents received no guidance on savings, investments, superannuation, retirement or tax planning over the past two years.
MLC said this lack of financial advice could be affecting Australians’ with their wealth.
When asked to rate their satisfaction with their wealth out of 10, respondents rated their income at four, net worth at 4.1, and lifestyle at 4.7, the survey found.
Men were slightly more satisfied than women, and satisfaction levels were higher across all aspects of wealth as income increases, MLC said.
The research also found, however, that those receiving financial advice rate the service highly.
Less than three in 10 Australians had sought some sort of financial advice, including guidance from a financial planner or accountant, friends or family, or from digital channels, the survey found.
Advice from a professional rated most highly, with 82 per cent of those who used a financial planner rating the advice as ‘good’ to ‘excellent’.
The ratings were favourable because the advice had tailored to their specific needs, the planner identified and understood their investing purposes and goals, and because the planner looked at risk and ways to minimise it, MLC said.
“What we tend to see is that people are busy and are overwhelmed by all the financial decisions they have to make – ‘Do I invest and where? How do I prepare for retirement? Can I afford a private school for my kids?’,” said NAB executive general manager Greg Miller.
“In the end, they often don’t end up doing much at all, or doing what’s easiest, which may not be the best course of action. It’s natural that having a professional do the legwork and guiding you through such an important part of life takes a lot of the stress away.”
Maybe MLC could approach ASIC and say the cost of providing a completely useless SOA , a completely useless Prospectus , together with a useless , opt in , opt out , TASA ,FSG , FDS warnings and docs , in a no commission environment is stopping the punter getting an overpriced plan for $3000 written in a certain way that he cant understand ??
“Overpriced” plan at $3000.
The value you should be able to provide someone with a plan for $3000 should well and truly exceed the cost. It’s not overpriced if both parties are winning.
If plans are being written that punters can’t understand – then they’re failing consumers and legislation.
Opt-in could and should be applied at product level. If they don’t receive confirmation from an adviser within 2 years of another ongoing fee, fees are stopped. Trail should never have been grandfathered.
FDS should be a click of a button with the right tools in place
Completely useless SOA , says a lot about you I think
I would agree in most cases completely useless. What would be useful is spending more quality time explaining important concepts rather than spending an extra 10 hours developing an SOA that looks different to everyone else’s. Should just be a blanket industry standard template so a client can easily get a second opinion and compare strategies and outcomes. Enough of this fluffy “Fred and Mary, thanks for coming to see me and work on you personal financial goals blah blah blah”….where’s the sick bag? We want to be professionals, stick to the concise facts. A simple financial plan should only cost the consumer hundreds, not thousands. We’re charging huge fees to cover compliance costs, meanwhile the direct channels and robo-advice providers are ramping up for the big push. Current directors and ex-directors of our associations are running businesses to profit from compliance and complaints. There’s your conflict….right amongst us..
Is MLC worried about the well fair of the consumer or are they worried they are not getting enough business? ………..