The MLC Wealth Sentiment Survey found that more than 70 per cent of respondents received no guidance on superannuation, savings, investments, retirement or tax planning over the last two years.
In contrast, Australians who sought the advice of a financial planner rated their services highly, with 82 per cent rating the advice as ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ because it was 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.
“The decisions we make about our money affect us every day of our lives, and they really impact our happiness, so we need those decisions to be good ones that are based on our unique circumstances and goals,” NAB executive general manager of wealth advice, Greg Miller, said.
“While some people are well-equipped to go it alone, money matters are complex for some but critical for everybody, and over time the decisions you make can have huge implications.”
The survey also found that Australians were unsatisfied with their levels of wealth, with respondents rating their income four out of ten, their net worth 4.1 and their lifestyle 4.7.
Men were slightly more satisfied than women and satisfaction levels were higher across all aspects of wealth as income increased.
Hardly Surprising really with minimum planning fees from banks of $10K. If someone has $150K of retirement money then losing 6.67% to a financial planner/bank seems a very big bite of the superannuation pie. Just the same as letting young people take $20K out of their retirement fund to buy a house. The damage is DONE and it cannot be undone. If the government were really serious about this whole deal, they would vest the responsibility for Advice with a Government department and reduce the fees significantly and make them even across the board. For seriously wealthy superannuants they can still pay for planning advice, but offering a “mysuper” option for retirees may be the best way to ensure that advice is available, because it is affordable! They should take a leaf out of the Industry Superfund’s book and do it for the good of the people/members!