Time to start asking serious questions

Let me start off with this. There is a significant difference between someone selling a you life, retirement or investment policy and someone who provides lifetime financial, investment, taxation and family related guidance and solutions.

And if you still don’t know the difference, now is a very good time to ask some serious questions. Here are some for which you really need some honest and clear answers, for your own concience and financial wellbeing.

1. Did your advisor discuss your investment fees with you, in detail and do you understand all the layers of fees? Particularly for retirement annuities, preservation and pension funds.

2. Are you actually willing or have you been paying exorbitant upfront fees and commissions on investments?

3. Do you know you could be saving 60% or more on annual investment fees?

4. Do you hold enough offshore exposure?

5. What succession plan does your advisor have, or are you dealing with a one man show?

6. Is there an independent investment process within the advisory firm, or are you expected to just sit tight and hope for the best, especially now?

7. Do you really understand the benefit of independent advice (someone who is not obligated to only provide you with a single provider’s options?) for example only Discovery, Sanlam or Liberty?

8. Do you have solutions in place that fit your actual needs, or do you have policies with a lot of pressumed bells and whistles and not realy sure because you don’t understand most of it?

9. Are you comfortable that whoever is advising you are actualy qualified to give you guidance on all tax implications?

10. When last did your advisor review your will, along with reviewing your portfolio?

If ever you wonder why some people seem to be getting better results, outcomes and moving ahead faster than others, perhaps you should consider that they rarely do it alone, but they have the ability to surround themselves with the best people.

You also have a choice.