What is General Advice?

General advice is “financial product advice that is not personal advice. This definition covers, for example, product advice that is not directed to a particular person”.

What does this mean? This means that when talking or corresponding with you we are not taking into account your personal circumstances, goals or objectives. However, we can still assist you to make the decision with practical help and information on how the current rules work.

We are simply transacting at your request or giving you factual information about a product (such as what it invests in), or about legislation (such as the superannuation rules). You are responsible for considering the general advice in light of your personal cicumstances, goals and objectives to determine if it is appropriate for you.

General Advice is also contained in newsletters and seminars for example.

At no point do we give you advice that is ‘personalised’ to you, the investor. We’d be in no position to do so anyway unless you told us more about yourself (which you can – but this leads us to a different type of advice).

Why is ‘Investors Save Dollars’ different from the rest?

We acknowledge that although some people may want to make their own investment and planning decisions, they still like to be able to ask questions that are related to the decisions they are making. A typical example of this is:

Question:

I have decided to invest in xyz super fund. How much can a person contribute to super each financial year? When can I then get the money out? Can you explain the Super Fund’s fees to me in more detail?

Answer:

There are different types of superannuation contributions. If you are self employed the annual limit is different to if you are an employee. These limits for the current financial year are $xxx.

You can get your money out of super when you have met what is called a ‘condition of release’. As the money is essentially held in trust for your retirement these conditions are xxxx.

Super Fund fees themselves are broken up generally into 3 parts. The ‘Investment Managers’ fee (so they can invest your money on your behalf to generate a return), the ‘Administration’ fee (so the super fund can do literally that, administer your fund – send you statements, allow different investment options and insurances to be made available, and make pension payments and process contributions etc.). There is also a ‘Trustee’ fee, which covers the running costs of the entity responsible for holding funds in Trust for your retirement. In addtion, some super funds may or may not have other fees incorporated into them depending on what type of fund they are and what the fee provides for. We can assist you through these types of queries and can explain it all to you in easy to understand non 'jargon' language.

This is just one example of how we can help you invest and provide an ongoing service to you.

You know you are also talking to licensed qualified financial advisers who know what they are talking about and have experience in the Industry. We can actually help you with any level of service or any type of advice you are seeking.