Money Matters
You Can Give Me A AAA+ As A Financial Planner
Being A Good Financial Planner Is About Caring, Not Just Making Money For Yourself.
Setting A Career Path Based On Ethics And Caring.
In January 1990, I was accredited as a Certified Financial Planner by the Financial Planning Association — then the I.A.F.P.
This was six years on from August 1984, when Norwich Union introduced the concept of financial planning at their first offshore conference, and less than two years after qualifying for my Norwich Union Life Insurance agency on January 1, 1983. It was a noteworthy feat to write and have six new policies accepted between December 1, 1982, and my goal date of January 1, 1983.
The 1984 conference with Gus Hansch* as the keynote speaker made it clear to me how my career as an insurance agent could grow and become much better, in the service of my clients, because a financial planner could offer a wider and more wholistic professional service.
In the intervening six years, I studied finance, investment, and many aspects of both life insurance laws and the growing superannuation industry. I was a foundation Member of the I.A.F.P. in Australia, which later became the FPA after merging with a similar financial planning association, and I served on the State Committee in Western Australia for years.
As a student, I was awarded many times: Dux, State Prize Winner, and chosen for public recognition by professionals, including the Securities Institute of Australia.
When Deakin University announced the first Diploma course for financial planning, I was among the first to enrol and successfully graduate.
The designation Certified Financial Planner was first awarded here in Australia in 1990, and I was the third person to be accredited and recognised, along with Gavin Ross and Gwen Fletcher.
Time For Retirement? Not By Choice.
By the end of 2008, I was suffering neck and shoulder pain due to the constant repetition of working from written notes, crunching numbers, and then transcribing them into highly detailed financial planning strategy reports. The constant movement of my head to take my eyes from desk to screen caused Repetitive Stress Injury, which simply had to stop.
Once my decision to retire was known I received multiple offers for the purchase of my business, and the biggest decision was not when, but to whom, and how.
In May, 2009 the sale of my practice and my book of clients to another financial planning practice was complete: to two people I trusted and knew would care for my clients as did I.
Financial planners who would respect the strategic direction of my advice for the clients, and not make changes which were only to enhance their earnings. My choice of advisers has proven to be the best I could have ever wanted for my clients.
My Retirement Didn’t End My Relationship With Many Of My Clients
It was a 26 year career in my profession and I loved it. I still miss it.
Even today, some of them reach out to keep me up to date with their lives, families, and to thank me for the financial security I created for them.
Just recently, when looking for something else in my old email folders —I found this: Sent on August 25, 2014, to the compliance manager of the Securities Dealer through whom I held my Adviser’s License.
Hi, Di Just want you to know that two of my longest standing clients have died in the past ten days — two others have presented with life threatening cancer and another client has been admitted to hospital in a state of being terminally ill.
You can’t imagine what it is like — taking families through these tough days as mothers, fathers and marriage partners are lost to them.
I spent the whole of Monday sourcing information for xxx’s children, who are his beneficiaries and his executors. He was invalided out of the State Govt in 1992, and I have been adviser to him and his wife (who died several years ago herself) — I attach for you a copy of one of many letters he has written me over the years.
When his son rang on Friday last week, the message was simple — Dad knew he was dying and left a note to call Lesley as soon as he was gone.
His children are immensely grateful for the care and TLC I have given them over the years, as well as making the money last.
I spoke with his daughter yesterday, as they were arranging his funeral and she said they are so happy that they can come to me, for everything that needs to be done at this time.
All the compliance in the world will never replace the true compassion and skill of a committed, career financial planner. So you can give me an AAA+ from my clients — regardless of whether I am licensed to you or not. Cheers
Lesley
Ticking Boxes To Pass An ASIC Compliance Test Is Not The Final Measure Of A Good Financial Planner.
At the end of the day, we all know of those who will sell anything that makes them money, whether it is right for the client or not.
Sometimes I was successful in righting those wrongs, by advocating for ethics and compensation, and getting restitution for the client.
Once or twice something slipped through the cracks in my own office and the buck stopped with me. When I found out about it, I put it right for the clients, so they did not experience any financial loss.
The Seven Year Rule For Financial Planners Who Retire Or Sell Their Business.
If you happened to notice the time-frame of these dates, you are right.
My 26 year career commenced on December 1, 1982, when I did my first induction with Norwich Union, after setting myself the goal of being granted my agency by January 1, 1983.
Selling my practice in May 2009 was over five years before August 25, 2014. The date of the email quoted above.
For seven years, I paid for commercial storage of 48 large cardboard boxes of files related to my clients and their dealings, in case we ever needed to retrieve copies of documents, notes, or other important information. Once, we had to find a copy of a will and have it sworn to be a true copy of the original.
At the end of the seven years, I paid for commercial shredding of those 48 large boxes.
Hard drives die. Electronic storage programmes change or are dropped, become corrupted. Having access to hard copies of some documents is invaluable.
Unlike some of the more notorious, and high profile financial planning practices in Perth and elsewhere, you were never going to find my clients’ records being (unsuccessfully) burnt in a 44 gallon drum, dumped in the river, or starting a bonfire up near Gin Gin! (see the Robin Greenberg footer)
Ethics matter, and they are either part of who you are and how you conduct yourself or they are not.
- The Gus Hansch story https://www.hanschfinancial.com/p/our-story
- The Robin Greenberg — Western Women story Crimenet — criminal records, missing persons, wanted persons, unsolved crimes, professional misconduct
- A story for another day — but had I had fewer ethics and a little more money, Robin Greenberg would never been given the opportunity to start fleecing clients through W.I.R.E.
Start Writing and Earning Online — Become a Fan and Get My Stories As They Are Published.
If you want to make money writing online, sign up for a Medium Membership Today! You don’t have to be a professional writer to share your story with the world.
It only costs $5US monthly. I’ve made money every month since I became a active member, and you can, too. Thank you.
If you have enjoyed this story, give me some feedback with a comment or a clap or two. That makes you a fan and you can follow me by clicking here .
If you want to read all my stories, get them sent straight to your inbox, as they are published.
