Getting quality, unbiased advice can make an enormous difference to your wealth and lifestyle, so it’s something you want to get right.

As a result, we have developed a no-holds-barred paper about how to approach the process, and the basics of what you need to know.

If you, or someone you know, wants to know more about how to make the most of the financial planning process, you can download the paper here, or read on for a summary. We’ll be publishing excerpts from the paper over the next few weeks.

What does independent really mean?

It is unsurprising that the Government continues to tinker with regulations surrounding financial planners, as clients place a great deal of trust in financial planners.

Yet most of the time, the public doesn’t get a clear and transparent view of exactly how the financial advice industry works. It’s difficult for the consumer to see how convoluted it has become, or to realise that ‘advice’ is often inseparable from product sales.

Imagine buying a car: when you go to a Holden showroom, you know the salesperson will suggest you buy a Holden; the Ford dealer does the same, and so on.

But when you go to a financial planner, you’d expect their advice to be free from any such bias. You want their frank and fearless recommendation, based on your personal circumstances and goals. Yet a planner representing a particular bank or ‘dealer group’, as the large advice networks are called, will have a set of products at their disposal. From managed funds through to life insurance, these advisers have products in their showroom, and are just as keen to sell them to you as your local car dealer.

The fact is, genuinely unbiased financial advice can only be provided by independent firms, as they have no affiliation or financial arrangement with investment product or service providers.

Given the importance of choosing the person or team who will help shape your financial future, it’s something that requires a lot of thought and consideration. It also requires you to arm yourself with a basic level of knowledge, so that you can make informed decisions.