What happens after meeting with a financial adviser?

• Be honest with your adviser.
• It may take several meetings with your adviser before you settle on a financial plan you are comfortable with and understand.
• It's your financial adviser's job to explain to you what's going on. If you don't understand what they are saying, you must speak up. Remember, it's your money and future we're talking about.

By the end of the first meeting, you and your adviser should have a good understanding of your current financial and personal position. This will help confirm whether the goals you want to achieve can be reached.

The adviser will then review all the information in the fact find/risk profile and may focus on particular aspects to help them better understand your goals and objectives, spending habits and financial situation.

Depending on the information you share with your financial adviser, the recommendations may be straightforward, such as increasing your superannuation contributions.

If your situation is more complicated, for instance, you are a beneficiary of a family trust, expect multiple meetings with your adviser to collect all relevant information to fully understand your situation. You can expect second and third meetings to be more tactical. The number of meetings will hinge on your level of financial literacy, extent of personal assets, complexity of goals and so on.

At the end of the first or second meeting, you should have a good understanding of where you are financially, where you want to be, and how you'll get there.

Be realistic about your goals

The meeting between you and your adviser may reveal that your goals do not match your resources and that you have to change your expectations in light of any recommendations.

An adviser who suggests any of these, potentially unwelcome, courses of action is doing their job
properly. This is all part of giving you good advice.

Be prepared to provide full and accurate information

As mentioned previously, your financial adviser cannot give you suitable advice unless you provide all relevant information about your
personal financial situation, goals and objectives. Inaccurate or incomplete information may result in advice that is not right for you or, worse still, way off the mark.

Take the time to read any documents provided by the adviser

Don't sign any documents the same day the adviser gives them to you.

Take the time to read any documents provided by the adviser

Don't sign any documents the same day the adviser gives them to you.

What if you don't understand the advice?

If the adviser hasn't been able to clearly explain the advice to you, then you shouldn't accept the advice. An adviser who is unable to communicate their advice effectively to you is probably not the right person for the job. Be prepared to walk away.

What if the adviser rejects you as a client?

An adviser may decline to take you on board. For instance, they may only deal with high-net-worth clients or their expertise may not match the services you are looking for. This is a good sign and don't be offended. It merely means that the adviser has thought about your situation and believes your needs can be best met by someone else.