Carrick Aland Wealth Planning An introduction
Who is Carrick Aland Wealth Planning? Why should I choose them?
Carrick Aland Wealth Planning Pty Ltd is the Financial Planning division of Carrick Aland Accountants. We have been providing financial advice to our clients since 1988, licensed under various financial services licensees. We are currently licensed to provide Financial Advice as a Corporate Authorised Representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty Ltd (Millennium3). Millennium3, which is part of the ANZ Banking Group, is one of Australia’s largest financial services licensees (AFSL No. 244252).
In this capacity, we are committed to adhering to Millennium 3’s strict compliance and professional standards. Our advisers are all members of the Financial Planning Association (FPA).
We understand that making good financial decisions is one of the most important things in life, the impact of which can strongly influence your lifestyle choices.
What we do for you
- We take the time to listen and understand you.
- We work with you to design and implement financial solutions that are explained to you in plain English.
- We take the confusion out of financial decisions to allow you to be in control.
- We genuinely care for your financial future.
- We provide a professional efficient service in a friendly and approachable manner.
- We are here for the long term, we develop lifelong friendships.
- We are happy to meet with you at your place or ours.
How we operate
We have access to a comprehensive range of financial products that have been scrutinized, tested and approved by Mercer, one of the world’s leading research providers. Mercer avoids any conflicts of interest in the production of its research data by not receiving payment from the managers themselves. Instead it receives income from the sale of its research.
- Our strategies are unique, innovative and tailored to our clients.
- Our recommendations are always made in the best interests of our clients.
- As professionals, our fees are fully transparent, clearly outlined upfront in our Letter of Engagement and agreed upon prior to commencement of work, so there are no surprises.
- Our remuneration does not vary with the specific product recommended (nor is product selection influenced by institutional ownership)
Our Services
Investment Management. When you have a busy life tasks like maintaining your investment portfolio can be easily neglected. We are able to remove much of the day to day paperwork and simplify your financial affairs whilst managing investments on your behalf. We fully appreciate that it is your hard earned money that we are charged with managing, and do not believe in investing in something you do not understand. Investment risks always need to be fully understood.
Savings and Accumulation Strategies. If you are a business owner or employee who seems to be working harder than ever but not getting anywhere we can help you. By sitting down with you to review your budget, debt and cash flow management, we can build a plan for your future to maximise your savings and turn them into tax effective wealth building strategies.
Investment and Asset Allocation. Knowing where to invest your hard earned money can be difficult. We take the time to educate you in the different investment alternatives before taking action. It’s your money, so we make sure you understand where it’s invested, and that it is suitable to your requirements.
Insurance and Risk Management. Preserving wealth is equally as important as building wealth. The 3 biggest risks in life are loss of income due to sickness, injury or death. Your ability to earn income is your single greatest asset. The sudden loss of this income can have a devastating effect on the lives of you, your immediate family and extended family. We can review your existing personal insurance and advise you in plain English of the risks you face, what you are covered for, and find the most appropriate products for your unique situation.
Taxation Planning. If you work hard to achieve a good income but worry about the amount of tax you are paying we can help you manage your investments in a tax efficient way. A focus on tax makes sense as it affects the amount you have to allocate to your everyday costs of living. However, it is important not to put tax advantage ahead of a good investment decision. At Carrick Aland Wealth Planning we focus on after tax returns when making investment recommendations. Our accounting and taxation background allows us to understand and take into account tax in investment recommendations. Please note that we are not authorised to provide taxation advice to you, so you should contact your Tax Adviser for further assistance with these issues.
Retirement Planning. If you’ve wondered whether you’ll have enough to retire on, whether your retirement will be modest or comfortable, or what you can do now to get your retirement on track you will benefit from our years of successfully advising clients on how to best prepare for their retirement. We specialise in providing innovative, tax effective transition to retirement strategies that can make a powerful difference to your end retirement benefit.
Living in Retirement. You know that after retirement effective management of your wealth is more important than ever, but it can be confusing deciding what to do with and where you should invest your funds. We can take the guess work out of it. We take into account your needs and wants, as well as unexpected costs that may arise in your life before developing a road map, or strategy recommendations, in consultation with you. We take the time to ensure you understand the risks and benefits of the plan, and provide ongoing support regardless of what comes along so that you the confidence to face the future with certainty.
Superannuation. Having money scattered in many different super funds from a few different jobs is common. While you know that consolidating your superannuation into one account is something that should be done, it can be hard to know where to start. We can analyse your existing superannuation policies and make recommendations as to the consolidation of these accounts. This can save you money on multiple fees; as well as uncover monies you may not have known you had, and implement strategies to grow your superannuation.
Centrelink Advice/Assistance. Dealing with Centrelink can be very confusing and difficult for many people. There are often a lot of forms to complete. There are also a lot of questions to answer and information to provide. But knowing what to do is very important so you can get the support you need. We can assist you in the following areas:
- Completion and lodgement (as required) of necessary application forms.
- Online services
- Keeping notes and copies of applications
- Ongoing updating of balances as circumstances change
- Getting Centrelink decisions reviewed
Corporate Super. The task of managing your employees' superannuation payments can be complex and challenging. It can become costly and may impact how efficiently your business is run, especially if you have to pay multiple super funds. It doesn't matter how big or small your business is, if you have employees, you are responsible for managing their Superannuation Guarantee payments. Having a default fund can greatly assist in managing your obligations, and can be designed to include specific benefits that can help with employee retention.
Salary Sacrifice Arrangements. Salary sacrificing can be a tax effective way of saving for retirement, to find out whether this is suitable for your current financial circumstance we can assist you including completion of the paper work and modelling the overall benefit received.
What is the Financial Planning Process?
To enable us to provide our Services to you effectively and efficiently, we will need to work through the financial planning process together with you.
“Financial planning” involves the process of providing advice and assistance to clients for the purpose of determining whether and how clients can meet their financial needs and life goals through the proper management of financial resources.
Confused by financial planning? Here's a guide to the steps in the process.
Step 1: Gathering your information
The first meeting with a Carrick Aland Financial Planner will give you the opportunity to discuss your current situation, giving them a snapshot of your financial situation. They will ask about your cash flow, commitments and spending.
Step 2: Identifying your goals
An essential part of this process is to clearly identify your financial goals, taking into account your timeframes, financial commitments and other influences that may impact the development of your plan.
Step 3: Identifying and prioritising your financial issues
Your financial planner will assess your financial situation by asking you about your attitude towards risk and diversification as well as your time frame which will then help you prioritise your goals.
Step 4: Preparing your financial plan
Based on your financial situation and goals, your financial planner will develop a complete strategy and then prepare a plan for your review.
Step 5: Implementing your financial plan
It’s good to approach your plan with flexibility; once you’ve agreed with your plan, it’s time to put it into action.
Step 6: Reviewing your plan
A financial plan is not set and forget. Staying on track is important in helping you meet your goals and expectations. Your situation will change and from time to time, your financial planner will review your plan and check the progress of your strategy.
Preparing your Financial Plan
When you decide to work with CAWP a discussion of your needs and strategy is held, after which we will create a Statement of Advice.
A Statement of Advice (SOA) is a record of the personal financial advice provided to you and includes information specifically tailored to addressing your individual needs, your lifestyle and financial goals.
There are five basic points covered in an SoA:
- Plan objective
- Strategy
- Plan Detail
- Recommendations
- Recommended Action
A Statement of Advice contains information about:
- Details of your personal financial situation and goals
- Strategies and recommendations as to how you can achieve your goals which may include: investment strategy, asset allocation, taxation position, social security issues, estate planning and insurance needs, ongoing financial advice needs, Initial and ongoing fees
- Additional information such as projections and graphs
- Additional educational material relevant to your situation.
- Any relevant Product Disclosure Statements
- It also includes other relevant information about remuneration including fees, commissions, and any other benefits and any interests.
- Relationships or associations which might influence the making of the advice.
Once completed, your financial planner will present your Statement of Advice in a further appointment, outlining all the major recommendations. You then have the opportunity to take the Statement of Advice home to examine further and raise any discussions points you may have.
What information do you keep about me?
Is it safe?
What information we keep about you. In order to continue to provide you with advice that is appropriate for your needs and suitable for your circumstances we will retain information about you including your financial and lifestyle objectives and your current financial situation. We are also legally required to store this information and records of any advice and services we provide to you. Generally, this information is used to provide you with appropriate advice and services, and suitable recommendations. We are committed to maintaining the security, currency and confidentiality of your information and will only release it to other parties with your consent or as required by law. You can choose not to provide us with the information we require but, if you do so, we may not be able to provide you with the advice or services you need. You have a general right to examine our records. If you want to see what personal information we hold about you please let us know and we will make arrangements for you to do so. If for what ever reason we cannot provide you with access to our records we will let you know the reasons why.
How do I pay for my Financial Plan and its upkeep?
How you pay for our services.
We understand that fees are often a key factor in the choice of advisers, so making a decision without full and accurate information can have a significant impact on the ultimate success of an investment program.
At Carrick Aland Wealth Planning our goal is to offer our clients cost competitive, quality advice. Operating a financial services business involves substantial costs. Below is a list of a few of the costs that Carrick Aland Wealth Planning incurs ongoing whilst managing client’s financial objectives.
- Maintaining client data bases
- Fee Administration
- Technical Training
- Upkeep of Professional Knowledge and development (industry, economic, skills)
- Ongoing Maintenance and research of model portfolios
- Ongoing research of platforms
- Access to our negotiated preferred platform pricing & benefits
- Ongoing correspondences costs including newsletters, calls, mail etc.
- Professional Indemnity insurance costs
- Professional Body memberships/association
- Maintenance of ‘best practice’ procedures and processes
- Maintenance of professional referral providers
- Staff / Employment costs
- Business premises maintenance – running costs
In many cases you are able to negotiate how you pay for the professional services we provide to you. You may choose to pay our fees directly or have our professional costs paid to us by the product provider or from the products we have recommended to you.
All fees and charges will be disclosed upfront before any work begins to ensure you are comfortable and fully understand all upfront and ongoing costs. We will also fully disclose any additional commission or benefits we will receive to ensure our costs remain completely transparent and you understand exactly what you are paying.
Where it is necessary to refer you to another specialist I may also receive a referral payment from them. If you are referred to me by a third party I may pay a referral fee, commission or a non-monetary benefit as a consequence of products or services you purchase. The remuneration I receive will be clearly disclosed in the advice documents I provide to you.
Please refer to the Adviser profile contained in our Financial Service Guide for further details on how much these costs may be.
Next Step
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. We are committed to providing a quality service and enhancing the lives of our clients. With offices in Dalby, Toowoomba and Chinchilla, and the ability to travel to your home or business premises as required, we are ready and willing to provide our services to you in the way most convenient to you.
Carrick Aland Wealth Planning Pty Ltd ABN 31 082 361 957 is a Corporate Authorised Representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty Ltd ABN 61 094 529 987 Australian Financial Services Licensee- Licence Number 244252 Unit 7, 50 Borthwick Ave, Murrarie Q 4172.
