The value of financial advice is often hard to illustrate. Numbers and percentages are useful, but don’t describe the true sense of comfort which comes from good financial advice. The FPA has released the Value of Advice index which illustrates how enriching good financial advice can be for your life, not just the bank balance.   – Fowler’s Financial Planner, Daniel Underwood The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has unveiled its Value of Advice index, measuring the financial confidence and satisfaction of advised and unadvised Australians. As part of Financial Planning Week, taking place from 3-9 October, the FPA commissioned MYMAVINS to research over 1,000 people, over 400 of whom were advised, on the value of advice. It found Australians who had an active relationship with a financial adviser had a better quality of life, family life, mental health and greater confidence in a comfortable retirement. Advised Australians were significantly more likely to feel financially secure than those who are unadvised (85% vs 62%), and more likely to feel very or completely satisfied with their current level of wealth (35% vs 18%). Advised pre-retirees were twice as confident that they would have enough money for retirement (52% vs 26%) while advised early retirees were confident they would have enough to last their retirement (63% vs 40%). Two-in-three advised early retirees said they were living a comfortable or lavish lifestyle compared to only 1 in 3 of those unadvised (67% vs 33%). FPA chief executive, Sarah Abood, said: “Australians with an active relationship with a financial planner are better off in multiple ways. They suffer less financial stress, enjoy a higher quality of life, have more financial confidence, and are more satisfied with their wealth”. The top 10 key benefits advised Australians received from a financial planner were:

1. Greater confidence in having a comfortable retirement (47%)
2. Improved financial wellbeing (40%)
3. Improved financial decision making (37%)
4. Improved money management (33%)
5. Improved general wellbeing (e.g. peace of mind, health and social aspects) (32%)
6. Improved ability to achieve desired standard of living (32%)
7. Helped you achieve your financial goals (30%)
8. Greater financial control (28%)
9. Greater wealth growth (28%)
10. Improved financial freedom (27%).

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