Be honest: hands up if you think a financial planner’s just going to tell you what you already know – you need to save more, spend less, invest wisely, and think about your retirement!
Yes, we’re with you guys on this one, so we sent one of our own to unearth the truth about financial planning. Trust us – we learnt a lot more than what we bargained for.
We met Belinda, a financial planner at Aon Hewitt Wealth Management. We thought she’d be a tough nut to crack, but this professional lady listened to our financial woes (student loans, measly attempts at saving for a house, insurance fees, credit card bills) and shared both professional and personal “when I was your age” wisdom. Which made us feel a lot better, especially since we were starting to understand our grim financial prospects.
In the hour we spent together, Belinda asked us questions pertaining to our finances before walking us through the process of what we had to plan for in life (turns out: a lot). Up to this point we were still waiting for the “You should therefore buy ABC and XYZ for the low price of some five-figure sum” sales talk, but then Belinda surprised us.
Turns out the guys at Aon Hewitt Wealth Management are salaried planners and not incentivized planners, which means that they’re not just going to sell you things because they can make a quick buck off of you.
There’s an upfront advice fee for a thorough analysis of your current position and objective – this is where they put together a comprehensive financial plan with advice and recommendations tailored to your specific needs. They work on a transparent fee for service basis, so you guys will always have a good understanding of what you’re paying and paying for. Most of us are time poor, so they can also assist with any implementation and reviewing your financial plan as your situation changes over time.
Another thing that surprised us: Aon Hewitt Wealth Management is not a product manufacturer, so they can essentially broker the market and are not incentivized to sell their own product. Because of this, their advice is based purely on what you need, i.e. they’re not going to recommend Insurance A over Insurance B just ‘cos they get a cut. You can also terminate products when you feel like they’re not working for you, so these financial advisors are constantly kept on their toes trying to find the best fit for you.
They’re also all about long-term plans and not short-term fixes – we’re in our twenties and we were discussing retirement plans! Being the paperwork-averse bunch we are, we were most happy to learn that these guys do all the paperwork for you! All you need to do is give the green light (or not) and they’ll settle everything else.
If you need to get your finances planned, see Aon Hewitt Wealth Management for more information or call 6231 6440 for a consultation.
This article was sponsored by Aon Hewitt Wealth Management. Aon Hewitt Wealth Management is a division name of Aon Consulting (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.