There’s no doubt that our financial lives today (and the financial products available on the market) can most certainly be very complex, to say the least.

It’s my opinion that seeking financial advice from a professional adviser is absolutely critical and people should never even think about getting risk insurance and/or superannuation without speaking to one such adviser.

An experienced adviser who knows their stuff can make a world of (positive) difference to your financial outcomes in all sorts of ways, and usually any costs associated with this type of advice will pale in comparison to what you should end up gaining by the exercise.

Plus, a good adviser will stay in touch and review your financial circumstances on a regular basis, to ensure everything is current and up-to-date.

Take for instance just the two areas mentioned previously of risk insurance and superannuation. These two subject matters are financial-minefields and for anyone to think they can navigate either of these (or both) without professional help is really kidding themselves!

Superannuation, wow!…even the absolute technical experts on this subject will tell you they struggle sometimes to keep up with all the little bits and pieces on this particular financial product.

In most cases, clients who go it alone will almost always make poor choices and generally purchase inferior products that simply don’t provide the level of cover and/or superannuation benefits they really need to suit their personal circumstances.

Today there are literally thousands of various types of financial products available to the consumer and whilst I’d say by-and-large most of these products are reasonable (at least) in delivering what they promise, it’s important to understand there is also a fair share of cheap-and-nasty stuff out there as well.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating having to pay through the nose for something either. I for one hate paying too much for anything, so I’m not suggesting that expensive financial products equal the best financial products, far from it.

All I’m saying is that professional advice in these complex areas will go a long way toward getting you the most appropriate products in place that will deliver when you need them the most.

I often say to my clients that this business of financial advice is very much like an iceberg in that what you (the client) see, is most definitely not what there really is lurking below the surface.

This is one reason why I truly believe the need for good financial advisers will only get stronger as time goes on.

I’m all for progress but the truth is, some certain things just require trained and experienced personal (human) advice and will always end up better than us dealing with robots or some wiz-bag tech web site that promises to solve all of your financial needs and requirements.

Technology has assisted us in making financial products substantially better for the consumer, but it’s the personal touch of a trained adviser that will ensure the use and application of these products is in the client’s best interest.

* The author of this article, Gary Fabian, is the Principal of Precision Advisory. He specialises is risk insurance, superannuation and finance.

The simple way to answer this question is to look at your credit card, or credit cards if you have more than one. Simply speaking, if you’re not paying off your credit card and clearing the debt back to zero each and every month then sorry, but you have too much debt.

Credit cards should only be used very sparingly and as a means of financial convenience, NOT a means of getting an easy loan from the bank or other financial institution. They are just way toooo expensive when it comes to interest rates and can be the absolute worse financial mistake you can make if you’re not careful.

Banks throw credit cards at people like frizz-bees and it’s very easy to use the credit that’s given to you but stop and take a good hard look and so no more.

Before you do anything else, you may want to pay off the existing balance on your card (or cards) and get back to using them for your benefit, not the banks benefit.

A good benchmark for the minimum amount of money to set aside in liquid reserves is about 6 months of living expenses. This way if anything does happen such as a disability or extended illness etc. then this will cover your expenses until disability insurance kicks in (assuming you have some that is?)

Now, if you’re self-employed, the benchmark here is about 12 months of living expenses due to the higher risk of an economic disaster happening.

Leading on from the previous question about emergency funds, it’s paramount for almost everyone these days to have in place risk insurance cover to protect against loss of income, disability, trauma events and of course, death. As I’m always saying in my job as a financial planner/risk consultant, absolutely no one is bulletproof and if you’ve been one of those very fortunate few who have (so far) escaped some type of injury or illness then don’t get cocky and think it can’t or won’t happen to you.

The cold hard facts are that we all end up facing some type of health challenge at some time and it always will result in being an expensive exercise that will place an enormous financial burden on you and your family.

So, don’t just insure the house and the car, insure you most valuable asset which is yourself. Don’t be cheap about it though, get proper advice from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about and can get in place quality risk insurance to give you and your family complete financial protection.

After all, what’s more important to you, you car and your house OR you’re family and their well-being?

Easy question to answer I suspect!

Have a look at all the services we use in our day-to-day lives and especially all the electronic/computer/communication related services the world has gone mad with.

Sit down with a pen and paper and get out all of these things that you pay on a regular basis and go through them in detail; you’ll be surprised I’m sure!

Somewhere in there will be some cost savings and maybe you might even find there are things you don’t need at all, so you can cancel them outright.

These services can also include such things as extra bank accounts you don’t use much or even need and these attract fees to keep them in place.

Then of course there’s the typical cable TV subscription and magazine subscriptions as well. Check them out and make sure you’re getting real value for your money.

I’ve seen clients do this exercise and save a tremendous amount of money each and every month and this adds up to lots of money over the course of the year, which could go towards that family holiday you’ve always wanted, or the kids school fees, or even towards the home mortgage repayments and/or extra superannuation contributions to boost your retirement savings.

You’ll be much better off with this money in your pocket rather than going out the door each month to various service providers, some of which you probably don’t need.

Now, speaking of superannuation and point 4 above about overpaying for other services. It never ceases to amaze me in my job as a financial planner when I come across people who happen to have a few old super funds just “laying around” (like they’re old socks or something) and they just don’t seem to place any importance at all in the money that sits in these old funds.

After all, it is your money and if left in an old super fund (probably due to previous jobs) and with no contributions going into them, the old super funds will surely go backwards because of management fees and the effects of inflation.

I’ve seen incidents with clients who have 2, 3 or even 4 or more older super funds that have amounted to many tens of thousands of dollars sitting in these funds that we’ve been able to consolidate into one super fund with superior investment performance and more cost effective management fees.

The end result of this will most certainly be a better retirement outcome, no doubt.

Whether you have older super funds to be consolidated or not, it’s still important not to take your current contributory superannuation fund for granted because a little bit of tweaking here and there could mean much better outcome for you when it really matters, which is when you come to your retirement age.

That being said, I’m suggesting you have to become a superannuation expert because this is a very complicated subject matter. All I’m saying is to take more than a passing interest in your super fund and get some advice from an experienced financial planner who can provide some objective advice.

It’s important to remember that not all superannuation funds are the same and there are many available to choose from, primarily industry funds, retail funds and then there is Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF’s)

A good, objective financial planner should be able to guide you through the maze of superannuation and give you some clarity and direction on what is right for you and maximising your retirement outcome.

So, all in all sit down with a pen and paper and get out all those files containing various bits and pieces of your financial life and start to get a clear picture of exactly where you are right now. Then get in touch with a financial planner to get some professional advice and direction on where it is you want to go.

You’ll be so much better off financially if you do!

* The author of this article, Gary Fabian, is the Principal of Precision Advisory and is a long term, experienced financial adviser. He specialises is risk insurance, superannuation and residential and commercial finance.

Christmas is a wonderful time but it can be very busy and often a stressful time of the year and certainly an expensive time of the year for just about everyone. Here are 7 finance tips to help keep the expenses in check and to relieve the burden of carrying forward extra debt into the new year.

Even if you’re not organised for the rest of the year try as hard as you can to be organised for Christmas and you might find it’s a little less stressful on your head and your wallet. When you’re organised and plan things out in a logical way you’ll usually find this will overlay to your finances as well. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of it all but the extra debt you might end up with won’t be exciting at all when it comes to paying it off.

A part of being organised is to write things down so make a list of everyone you’re going to get presents for and then double-check and be sure you’re not going over board about it. I’m not suggesting for one minute to be the Christmas Grinch by any means, all I’m saying is to be mindful of who you’re buying pressies for, that’s all. When you’ve finalised you’re list, then go over it and work out what would be a good present to get that person and try to put a reasonable budget to it and off you go shopping.

I know it’s always busy at every shopping centre but if you try to plan when you go and keep away from the obvious really busy times then you’ll probably find you’ll enjoy it a little more and you won’t get caught up in the crowds and the hassell that goes with and get feed up and just buy anything (at any price) just so you can get outta there. An obvious part of being organised and having a plan is to try to get your shopping done in early December rather than late December, at the last moment. This way you can keep your budget in check and keep some degree of sanity as well.

Credit card debt in January and February is beyond enormous and it is without doubt because most people get caught up in the buying frenzy that is Christmas shopping. Whatever you do, keep a very close eye on your credit card spending because it’s an invisible monster that will creep up on you and take all the fun out of Christmas when the bills start coming in. Again, this is not about being tight-fisted, it’s about being financially smart about consumer debt and credit cards are the worst enemy of them all for this.

In keeping with the previous tips about being organised, having a plan and keeping an eye on the credit card, the obvious tip here is to have a budget worked out for how much you’re going to spend over the Christmas period and monitor you’re spending as you go and stick to the budget you’ve worked out. If you do this there probably won’t be any (unwanted) financial surprises after Christmas is over and whatever credit card debt you have should be manageable.

Just because it’s Christmas and you’re giving a gift doesn’t mean it has to be expensive. In fact, with a little bit of thought you can give wonderful gifts to your friends and family that have meaning and warmth and will last in their memory as gift from you from your heart, not your wallet. This just comes down to your Christmas plan you devise and being a bit creative and thinking about what it is that the person you’re buying for really likes and their particular character and guess what, you’ll probably come up with a wonderful lasting gift for them that won’t break the bank either.

This one is not really a tip, I just threw it in… As always, the best feeling in the world is to give rather than to receive. So, enjoy the Christmas festive period and enjoy the giving of thoughtful presents to those people you love and admire.

* The author of this article, Gary Fabian is a financial adviser and principal of Precision Advisory and specialises in risk insurance and superannuation planning.