Aussies calling for accessible advice amid ongoing economic hardship: CFS

Based on a survey of 2,250 Australians, Colonial First State’s (CFS) latest Empowered Australian report found that eight in 10 (82 per cent) believe financial advice should be accessible to everyone as the current economic environment continues to put pressure on household finances.

Notably, the report found a strong correlation between access to an adviser and financial stability, with advised Australians indicating they could cope longer financially if they lost their job, 11 months for men and 10 months for women.

In comparison, men and women without an adviser said they could only last seven months and six months, respectively.

With around three-quarters of Australians aged between 18 and 64 admitting they are concerned about the high cost of living, there is a clear need for help and guidance among working Australians.

One of the key challenges when it comes to accessibility is the cost of service but recognition has also been growing that not everyone needs complex advice, with some only requiring simple guidance to help them make informed decisions.

To this point, CFS found that seven in 10 (72 per cent) believe that financial advice should be priced according to their needs, highlighting the demand for non-comprehensive service offerings.

Notably, around a quarter (26 per cent) of those who had worked with an adviser in the past said they stopped because they felt their services were no longer required.

While there could be a number of reasons the respondents came to these conclusions, CFS said it may indicate that “new advice models and pricing structures could be valuable for retaining clients”.

Among those who have not yet accessed professional advice, the most common reason given for this was the inability to afford it (36 per cent), while around a third (34 per cent) said advice costs too much for what they expect to get out of it and 30 per cent believe their financial situation isn’t complex enough.

However, the report also highlighted the lack of understanding that still lingers around advice with 13 per cent admitting they don’t understand the benefits of advice and 8 per cent noting they don’t know how to access an adviser’s services.

On top of this, almost one in five (18 per cent) said they had never even thought about using a financial adviser.

With the primary aim of the Delivering Better Financial Outcomes reforms being to improve the affordability and accessibility of financial advice, CFS superannuation chief executive Kelly Power said delivering on this goal is more important than ever as a wave of Australians prepare to enter retirement, many of whom will do so having never received any professional advice.

“With the government re-elected, there is now an opportunity to complete these important reforms, to make it easier for advisers to provide more advice to more Australians,” Power said.

“We should not lose sight of the fact millions of Australians will be approaching retirement over the coming decade and the current framework will mean too many are unable to access the help they will need.”