It is difficult to convey the actual value of dealing with a Financial Planner or Adviser. I consider myself a Comprehensive Financial Planner, which means that I act as an advocate for my clients in all of their financial dealings. Even that explanation may be difficult for a new client to understand what value I can be to them, so I decided to complete a weekly BLOG of some of the tasks I undertake for my clients on a weekly basis.

If you are considering using me as your Financial Planner or Adviser, I hope my BLOG will help you understand what I can do for you, and if you're an existing client that only uses me for one particular financial service, my BLOG may provide you with a better understanding of the other Financial Services I offer.
If you would like a more personalised assessment of your Financial Needs, please feel free to contact me, and I will arrange an obligation-free appointment.

Apologies for the Late BLOG

I apologise for not being able to send my Weekly BLOG over the last couple of weeks, but I have been flat-out with End of Financial Year deadlines for my Total Service Clients. Consequently, the following activies were completed over the last three weeks.

New Minimum Wage

I learned the new Minimum Wage, as of the 1 July 2013, is $622.20 per week ($16.37 per hour; $124.42 per day). I can remember when $500.00 per week (before tax) was considered a decent wage - but that's probably because I'm getting old!

Completed Preliminary Underwriting Assessment

A couple of weeks ago, I completed a Preliminary Underwriting Assessment for a client's proposed Life Insurance application. I was concerned that the client's medical history may cause the Life Insurer to impose a Premium Loading or Exclusion on the Life Insurance cover.

I obtained a detailed Medical History for the client (including Doctor's reports, blood test results, etc.), so I could prepare a detailed Preliminary Underwriting Assessment for the Life Insurers to consider. One of the Life Insurers confirmed they would accept the client's medical history on standard terms (i.e. no Premium Loadings or Exclusions). The advantage of completing the a Preliminary Assessment is that a formal Application did not have to be submitted in order to determine if the Application would be accepted. If a Life Insurer doesn't accept a formal Application, or imposes a Premium Loading or Exclusion under the policy, you have to disclose this fact in any subsequent Application - which may automatically exclude you from obtaining the cover.

Subscribed to RP Data for Property Reports

A couple of weeks ago (or was it last month - I can't remember?), I subscribed to RP Data. The subscription allows me to complete detailed property reports for all of my Total Service Clients' Queensland properties. The range of reports includes an Estimated Value of the property, with data of recent property sales in the area. I will use these reports for our Financial Plan reviews, and as a basis for Total Service Client's wanting to purchase or sell a property, so they can better determine if their proposed purchase offer or sale price is reasonable. I will be able to provide our Total Service Clients with unlimited reports - free of charge.

87.3% of Property Re-Sales in March 2013 Quarter were Profitable

I'm still raving-on the RP Data-thing. Part of the subscription includes property sales data updates. The most recent one I received was the 'Pain and Gain' Report. The highlight of this report was confirmation that 58,677 residential properties were re-sold nation-wide in the three months from January to March 2013, of which, 87.30% were sold at a profit (i.e. they sold for more than the original purchase price). Makes me think that property prices have bottomed-out, and with these cheap Interest Rates, property values just might start to increase in the not-too-distant future.

Fast Finance

I received an urgent request for vehicle finance from a valued referrer of business late Wednesday afternoon. The client had to take delivery of their vehicle by Friday in order to receive the manufacturer's End of Year Sale discount, which normally wouldn't have been an issue, but as it is the end of the Financial Year on Friday, the Financiers' cut-off time for documents was the next day (Thursday). Fortunately, I have a great working relationship with one Financier, and I was able to complete the Application and obtain Finance Approval on Thursday morning (actually, it was so fast, I hadn't even had time to finish entering the client's details into our database!). Vic completed the documents in less than 30 minutes, and the client signed the documents on Thursday afternoon. The whole process, from the first phone call to the client signing the documents, took less than 24 hours.

Ran Out of Time

I've run out of time (again!), to list all of the work I've done this week, so I'll have to include details in future BLOGs. Have a great week.