I say “no” more often than I say “yes”. That is, I decline or defer the opportunity to work with more people than I agree to work with because, ultimately, I think it’s in their best interest. Not everyone is ready for tailored financial advice for lots of reasons as I discuss below.

Products are easy to sell, tailored advice is not

It’s very easy to buy a financial advice ‘product’ such as a property investment plan. But it’s much harder to buy tailored advice. A product has a clear deliverable e.g. here’s an example of a property plan. You know exactly what you will receive and what the advice is likely to look like.

However, with tailored advice, the deliverable is less certain. Because until I do the work (i.e. formulate the strategy), I don’t know what the advice will look like. Maybe it involves super, shares, property or a combination of all three? I might have a hunch, but I won’t know for sure – because that’s what you are paying me for. That is, to:

(1) not have a premeditated idea of what your strategy should or shouldn’t include (these often exist due to a vested interest); and

(2) to clarify something that is currently unclear e.g. what is the best strategy to fund retirement. If you or I already knew the answer to this question, I wouldn’t need to do any work.

However, selling a product is scalable and some businesses do very well out of it. A product is a systemised way of generating financial advice. The business doesn’t need to hire experienced advisors – as the ‘system’ will do all the work. Whereas there is only one Stuart Wemyss (thankfully, I hear some people think). So, my advice is not scalable. But that’s fine because that’s what my clients are paying me for – my experience and professional advice specifically tailored for their situation.

Financial ‘products’ often offer limited value because they aren’t completely tailored to meet a specific client’s situation. I can design a great property portfolio and prepare some cash flow projections but that doesn’t mean it will suit everyone. How does the property integrate with your other assets such as super? What about debt management (you don’t want to take a lot of debt into retirement)? What about existing assets and cash flow?

If you are seeking advice from a professional, its important to ask yourself whether you are buying a product or tailored advice. Buying

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