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The old saying ‘two heads are better than one’ certainly rings true when it comes to dealing with your money affairs. In fact, the more heads the better.
Think of your money affairs like a business. A one person business can struggle to keep things going and may only grow in fits and starts however a savvy small business operator will contract (not employ because that can be too expensive) specialists to get things done and hence grow their business at a faster rate as they take advantage of the extra skills and resources of the hired help. Believe it or not the same goes for personal finances. Try and do it all yourself and you run the risk of not benefiting from the experience of someone who has probably spent years building up their particular knowledge. In other words you should treat your own personal money affairs like the savvy small business person and build a team of professionals that can help you grow and protecting your wealth at a much faster rate than if you tried yourself. This is not to say that you hand it all over and let some one else manage it all for you rather I am recommending that you take the reins but bring in the specialist help when you need it.
Building your own money team is surprisingly easy and you don’t need to be earning a six-figure salary to build one of your own - in fact many team members can be free or come at a low cost. All you need to do is ask your friends, relatives or work colleagues for a recommendation.
A Mortgage Broker – If you need advice on home loans or restructuring your debts mortgage brokers do all of the running around on your behalf and come to your home or office and don’t charge you a cent for doing this they earn their commissions from the lending institutions. Mortgage Brokers are growing in numbers so they are not that hard to find - check the Yellow Pages or call one of the bigger groups like Mortgage Access on 1800 892 893 or Mortgage Choice on 1800 646 789 or if you are on the web www.echoice.com.au
An Insurance Broker – They help you work out which insurances you need and track you down the best deal. To find an Insurance Broker nearest you contact the National Insurance Brokers Associations web site www.niba.com.au Like Mortgage Brokers Insurance Brokers are free.
A Financial Planner - A good financial planner is worth his or her weight in gold as they will work with you to develop a plan to achieving your personal and financial goals. The trick to getting the most of them is to chat with them on a very regular basis. Different financial planners will have different ways of charging you and you need to be comfortable with that before you proceed with them. As a guide the first meeting there is generally no charge as it is pretty much a getting to know you type of meeting however if you do wish to go ahead with them you could expect to pay around $350 for a limited advice plan (ie where a planner helps you with one area of your finances like recommending a managed fund investment) or somewhere between $500 and $1,000 for a full financial plan. The Financial Planning Association has a matching service whereby you can find a financial planner nearest you call them on 03 9627 5299 or visit their website on www.fpa.asn.au
An Accountant – believe it or not one of your biggest expenses is tax - therefore you need a good accountant to show you ways of reducing it. With tax laws becoming more and more complex and as you start to do more with your money a good accountant is vitally important to have on your team. You can find one using the CPA Australia’s web site www.cpaaustralia.com.au Remember they may not be cheap but think of the tax dollars they may be able to save you.
A book keeper – if you are absolutely hopeless keeping track of your bills and finances then get a book keeper. They can cost about $40 to $100 an hour but if you only need them for a couple of hours a year it is money well spent to keep all your records ship shape so that when you send it to your accountant they will spend less time sorting out your paperwork and hence charge you less. You can usually find book keepers advertising their services in your local paper.
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