Planning your aged care needs

Before we meet we have no idea whether we may be able to help you. Equally, it’s very important to us that we have strong and close working relationships with our clients and to do that we need to have a rapport – quite simply, we need to “get on” with each other. This first meeting also gives you the opportunity to learn about us & ask any questions you may have – also for us to collect personal information from you. We also need to determine your goals and aspirations and briefly discuss possible financial planning strategies with you.

After our first meeting we will evaluate the scope of the advice you are seeking from us and the amount of work to be undertaken by which staff in our Practice. The fees are very much in proportion to the value of our advice and recommendations to you and to the amount of time required to undertake the work for you. However, please be assured that we are committed to a transparent disclosure process and we will outline all fees payable prior to undertaking the work to prepare your Financial Plan. We will disclose the fees both in the Letter of Engagement which we will ask you to sign before we proceed to prepare your Financial Plan and again in the Financial Plan. We invite you to peruse our schedule of how we charge for our services - this document details our range of fees for all work we perform.

During and subsequent to our first meeting with you we gather a great deal of personal and financial information from you which we need to prepare our financial planning recommendations for you. We also evaluate possible strategies and briefly analyse the scope of advice that we will address in our report to you. As you would possibly appreciate, there is then a considerable amount of time required to be spent by staff in our Practice to prepare your Financial Plan. The Letter of Engagement simply sets out the detail of the work we will undertake and the fee payable to prepare your Financial Plan – however, this fee is not payable should you proceed with our recommendations.

Absolutely – we appreciate that our client’s personal and financial information is very sensitive and we ensure total security and confidentiality of all information – we treat our client’s information with exactly the same care as our own. In addition, we are bound by Matrix’s Privacy Policy Statement

The more we know about you the more comprehensive and beneficial our advice and recommendations to you will be. It’s rather like you going to a Doctor and only providing very brief details – the treatment prescribed may not be the right one or the best one for you. In addition, we may well be able to present a strategy to you that provides a particularly beneficial outcome for you – a strategy that you were unaware of or had not considered – but we need complete information to do this. The primary data collection document we use is our Financial Needs Analysis (FNA) It’s important to appreciate that we have a very special relationship with our clients, one based on total trust and the understanding that we obtain personal information for good reason, to provide sound and appropriate financial planning advice and recommendations.

{slider=Who determines what the Financial Plan you prepare for me will be about?}

Quite simply, you do! The scope of advice is determined at the initial meeting and your instructions in this regard form the basis for the contents of the Statement of Advice that we will prepare for you – this document also includes your Financial Plan. The scope of advice will also be detailed in the Letter of Engagement which we will ask you to sign before we proceed to prepare your Financial Plan.

Only to the fees as outlined in the Letter of Engagement which we only prepare for you after we have thoroughly discussed and reviewed your goals and strategies and determined the scope of advice as instructed by you. We will only proceed with the preparation of your Financial Plan after you sign the Letter of Engagement and there is no fee payable for your Financial Plan unless you don’t proceed with our recommendations. It’s very important to us that this process is totally transparent – we are committed to delivering financial planning advice and service of the highest professional standard and we are dedicated to helping you achieve your goals and aspirations. After all, we don’t advertise and we work very much by referrals from our clients – we are acutely aware, however, that we will only be referred by clients who are pleased with the results we achieve for them.

Absolutely – it’s almost certain that your situation, both personally and financially, will change as the years roll forward. You may change jobs, your income will increase, you will acquire and dispose of assets, and the liabilities that go along with them. Your investment portfolio will quite possibly change – equally, your goals and objectives may well change. Also your personal situation with regard to your family will probably change as your children grow up and then grandchildren come along. Therefore it’s very important that we review your Financial Plan regularly to ensure that our recommendations are appropriate and always the most advantageous for your changing situations. We regard our role with our clients as that of a financial “coach” in that we are embarked together on a financial planning “journey” and the interactive relationship between our clients and ourselves is very much a “two way street”.

At Sound Steps we believe very strongly in the principle that people should specialise in their own field of expertise – what they do best. Whilst you are no doubt very good at what you do, financial planning is a very specialised area of expertise – the Advisers at Sound Steps are fully qualified and authorised to give you professional financial planning advice and they take this responsibility very seriously. By entering into a long-term relationship with Sound Steps you will benefit financially by achieving your goals and objectives whilst you successfully pursue your own business or profession.

Very simply, Financial Planners use their on-going professional training and expertise to assist their clients to achieve their financial goals and aspirations. Every person is an individual and the Advisers at Sound Steps recognise how important it is to tailor financial planning strategies to suit every individual client. At Sound Steps we develop a special relationship with all our clients based on total trust - we regard our role with our clients as that of a financial “coach” in that we are embarked together on a financial planning “journey” and the interactive relationship between our clients and ourselves is very much a “two way street”. At Sound Steps we use sound financial planning steps to plan our client’s journey to achieve their aspirations.

In order to provide financial advice in Australia, Financial Planners must be authorised through a Licensee. Matrix Planning Solutions Limited (Matrix) is an Australian Financial Services Licensee (AFSL) and Life Insurance Broker, AFSL No. 238256. Matrix was founded in 2000 and has member Practices across Australia - Sound Steps is proud to be a founding member Practice of Matrix. The Advisers at Sound Steps are Authorised Representatives of Matrix and further information about Matrix and the Sound Steps Advisers may be found in the Financial Services Guide (FSG)

{slider=How do I know that Sound Steps is the right Financial Planning Practice for me?}

At Sound Steps you will find a friendly team of financial planning professionals ready to help you achieve your goals and objectives. Our Advisers are fully qualified and authorised to give advice and take this responsibility very seriously. We invest in professional development, research and resources to keep up-to-date with legislative changes, product innovations and business best practice. This ensures that we may deliver an unrivalled level of trusted financial advice, specifically tailored to achieve your aspirations. The Sound Steps difference is simple – we listen to you. We are interested in what you want to achieve - your goals and aspirations. That’s because we are passionate about providing you with a real, workable financial planning strategy that suits your lifestyle – our focus is you.

At Sound Steps we are very aware of the role that all professional advisers have to play when it comes to providing beneficial advice to ensure that you reach your goals and aspirations. These different professional advisers such as accountants, solicitors and general insurance brokers work very much in a complementary fashion with financial planners and communication and co-operation between your advisers helps to achieve the best possible outcome for you. Yes, we have developed relationships with other professionals to deliver a more complete outcome but we will always disclose details of any relationships and financial arrangement if any – in addition, we would always welcome the opportunity to work together with your existing professional advisers, such as your accountant or solicitor, to deliver the best outcome to you.

Quite clearly the focus of our attention is the strategies we consider and the work we undertake for our clients. However, whilst there is no expectation at all for you to refer anybody to our Practice, the reality is that we do in fact receive many referrals from our clients to their family and friends. We sincerely believe this is due to the level of trusted financial advice and service that we provide to our clients – our clients are pleased with the outcome of our advice and recommendations and the attainment of their aspirations and are consequently keen that their family and friends also benefit from our advice.

Whilst we are not Accountants we are very well aware of all tax legislation and related matters that have an impact on financial planning – we therefore provide tax information specific to our client’s financial situation and strategies with the recommendation that they seek tax advice from their Accountant.  We have developed relationships with Accountants to deliver a more complete outcome to mutual clients – in addition, we would always welcome the opportunity to work together with your Accountant to deliver the best outcome to you. Further information may be found in the Financial Services Guide (FSG)

Whilst we are not Solicitors we are very well aware of specific matters that have an impact on the estate planning issues of our clients – we therefore provide  information specific to our client’s estate planning situation with the recommendation that they seek legal advice from their Solicitor.  We have developed relationships with Solicitors to deliver a more complete outcome to mutual clients – in addition, we would always welcome the opportunity to work with your Solicitor to deliver the best outcome to you. Further information may be found in the Financial Services Guide (FSG)