Google Advice
Since the age of the internet, ever more information has become available online with just the click of a few buttons. We have now become so accustomed to looking for answers online that we’ll even put our health in the hands of this information with a diagnosis from the famed “Dr Google”. So, it should come as no surprise that society is also looking to the internet increasingly for solutions to their financial health.
Whether it be the appropriateness of a Self-Managed Superannuation Fund, how much and what types of insurance you need or the next big stock… If you look, it’s not hard to find answers. But that’s the issue…. The answers. There are just so many of them and they differ quite a bit.
The reason for this is that there is no universal right or wrong answer when it comes to a legitimate financial strategy. It comes down to the appropriateness of the solution to your particular financial circumstances. A Self Managed Super Fund is a brilliant solution for some of my clients but not for others and this can be due to their balance, investment preferences, aversity to costs and the list goes on. Your personal circumstances will also affect, for example, whether Total and Permanent Disablement cover is still required if Income Protection insurance is in place and the same can be said for pretty much any financial strategy out there. And the internet cannot work that out for you.
This is exactly where an adviser adds their value, working with their client to select the appropriate strategy based on their client’s personal circumstances.
I think it’s a positive for the industry that clients are more technically knowledgeable. Personally, it certainly makes my job easier when a client comes in with a better understanding of what I’m talking about. How they use this information, however, will determine its impact.
If it helps the client verify the accuracy of what their adviser has said and they trust and feel comfortable enough to proceed with the relationship, then great. On the flipside, if the information can be used to ‘catch out’ some bad advice from advisers who are not taking clients’ personal circumstances into account, then even better. But if the information is acted on, without seeking the appropriate advice, you shouldn’t expect an outcome any different than if you’d followed your neighbour’s recommendations at the last barbie.
At the end of the day, we need to acknowledge that “Dr Google” and the internet’s growing plethora of information are here to stay. As long as we know the purpose this information serves in our lives, then more can only be a good thing….
Reach out to us if you need a navigator.