{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-post-tsx","path":"/when-should-you-start-working-with-a-financial-planner/","result":{"data":{"ghostPost":{"id":"Ghost__Post__6a32d8018478e50001eb0caa","title":"When Should You Start Working With a Financial Planner?","slug":"when-should-you-start-working-with-a-financial-planner","featured":false,"feature_image":"https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/thinksaveretire.com/content/images/2026/06/When-to-work-with-a-financial-planner.jpeg","excerpt":"Learn when to start working with a financial planner, key signs you need advice, and how to choose the right adviser for your goals.","custom_excerpt":"Learn when to start working with a financial planner, key signs you need advice, and how to choose the right adviser for your goals.","created_at_pretty":"17 June, 2026","published_at_pretty":"17 June, 2026","updated_at_pretty":"17 June, 2026","created_at":"2026-06-17T17:23:13.000+00:00","published_at":"2026-06-17T17:33:23.000+00:00","updated_at":"2026-06-17T17:33:23.000+00:00","meta_title":"When Should You Start Working With a Financial Planner?","meta_description":"Learn when to start working with a financial planner, key signs you need advice, and how to choose the right adviser for your goals.","og_description":null,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"authors":[{"name":"James Fletcher","slug":"james","bio":null,"profile_image":"https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/thinksaveretire.com/content/images/2025/01/AdobeStock_213793387.jpeg","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"website":null}],"primary_author":{"name":"James Fletcher","slug":"james","bio":null,"profile_image":"https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/thinksaveretire.com/content/images/2025/01/AdobeStock_213793387.jpeg","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"website":null},"primary_tag":null,"tags":[],"plaintext":"Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be\nconsidered financial, tax, or legal advice. Financial planning decisions should\nbe based on your individual circumstances and made in consultation with a\nqualified financial professional.\n\nMost Australians put off seeing a financial planner until they're staring down\nretirement and suddenly realize they have no idea if their super will hold up.\nBy then, a lot of the useful planning windows have closed. The honest answer to\nwhen you should start is usually about ten years earlier than people think.\n\nWhat's the right age to get financial advice?\nThere isn't one. The better question is what life stage you're in and what\ndecisions are coming up in the next two to five years.\n\nIf you're in your thirties with a mortgage and young children, advice tends to\nfocus on insurance and choosing the right super fund. If you're in your forties\nor fifties, the conversation shifts to contribution strategies and whether to\nstart building wealth outside super. By your sixties, the questions become\nspecific: when can you access your super, how much can you draw down, what does\nthe Age Pension look like for you, and how do you avoid paying more tax than you\nneed to in retirement.\n\nBrisbane residents who want a steady, independent perspective on these questions\noften turn to firms like the Solace financial planners in Brisbane\n[https://solacefinancial.com.au/] team, who have worked with pre-retirees and\nretirees through several market cycles since the early 2000s.\n\nWhat are the signs you should see a planner sooner rather than later?\nA few situations make professional advice genuinely worth the fee, rather than a\nnice-to-have.\n\nYou've had a sudden change in income. A promotion, a redundancy, a business sale\nor an inheritance all shift your tax position and what's possible with super.\nWithout advice, most people park the money in their offset and miss the more\nuseful options.\n\nYou're within ten years of retirement. This is the period where contribution\ncaps and asset allocation decisions have the biggest compounding effect. A\npoorly timed decision at 55 can cost you tens of thousands by 70.\n\nYou're going through a major life transition. Divorce, the death of a spouse, an\ninheritance, or moving a parent into aged care all involve financial decisions\nthat are hard to reverse. Getting advice before signing anything is usually\ncheaper than untangling things later.\n\nYou have an SMSF and you're not sure you're using it well. Self-managed funds\nare common in Queensland, but a lot of trustees set them up years ago and\nhaven't reviewed the strategy since.\n\nHow is a financial planner different from an accountant?\nThe two roles overlap, but they answer different questions.\n\nAn accountant looks backward. They prepare your tax return and report on what\nyour numbers were last financial year. A good accountant will flag\nopportunities, but their core work is reporting on what's already happened.\n\nA financial planner looks forward. They build a plan for what your money should\ndo over the next ten or twenty years. That includes how much to put into super,\nhow to structure your investments, what insurance you need, how to draw an\nincome in retirement, and how to pass wealth on to your children or\ngrandchildren.\n\nMost people benefit from having both. The accountant handles compliance. The\nplanner handles strategy. They often work together on company structures, trust\ndistributions, capital gains planning, and contribution timing around the sale\nof a business or property.\n\nWhat should you expect at a first meeting?\nA first consultation should not feel like a sales pitch. With a reputable\nindependent firm, the initial meeting is usually free and runs for an hour or\nso.\n\nYou'll be asked about your current position, your goals, your timeline, and\nwhat's keeping you up at night. The planner should listen more than they talk in\nthis meeting. If you walk out and the only thing you remember is the planner\npushing a particular product, you've been to the wrong firm.\n\nAfter that meeting, a fee proposal should be put in writing. Advice fees in\nAustralia are usually somewhere between $3,300 and $11,000 for an initial\nStatement of Advice, depending on complexity, with ongoing service fees billed\nannually if you choose to engage them long term. You should know exactly what\nyou're paying before any work begins.\n\nHow do you know if a planner is genuinely independent?\nThis is where a lot of people get caught out. Many advisers are technically\nlicensed under the same parent company that owns the products they recommend,\neven if the branding looks separate.\n\nTwo things to check. Is the firm holding its own AFSL, or operating under\nsomeone else's? And are the recommendations you receive limited to a list of\napproved products from a related entity?\n\nA genuinely independent practice charges fees rather than commissions and is\nfree to recommend any product on the market that fits your situation. That\nstructure costs the firm more to run, but it removes the conflict of interest\nthat has driven most of the major advice scandals in this country over the past\nfifteen years.\n\nIs it worth paying for advice if you're not wealthy yet?\nFor straightforward situations, sometimes not. If you're in your twenties with a\nsingle super account and no major decisions on the horizon, a low-cost industry\nfund and a sensible savings rate will get you most of the way.\n\nThe point at which advice tends to pay for itself is when complexity creeps in.\nTwo incomes, a mortgage, kids, a small business, an investment property, an\ninheritance, a partner's super, an SMSF. Once you're juggling four or five of\nthose, the cost of getting it wrong starts to outweigh the cost of getting\nadvice.\n\nA good planner should be honest with you about this. If you don't need them yet,\nthey should say so and tell you when to come back.\n\nWhat questions should you ask before engaging a planner?\nA few worth asking in the first meeting:\n\n * Who owns this firm, and who holds the AFSL?\n * How are you paid, and are there any commissions or referral fees involved?\n * What does your average client look like, and how long do they usually stay\n with you?\n * What happens to my plan if my adviser leaves?\n * Can I see a sample Statement of Advice before I commit?\n\nThe answers tell you more about the firm than any brochure will. A planner who\nanswers them directly, without deflecting, is usually one worth working with.","html":"

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, tax, or legal advice. Financial planning decisions should be based on your individual circumstances and made in consultation with a qualified financial professional.

Most Australians put off seeing a financial planner until they're staring down retirement and suddenly realize they have no idea if their super will hold up. By then, a lot of the useful planning windows have closed. The honest answer to when you should start is usually about ten years earlier than people think.

What's the right age to get financial advice?

There isn't one. The better question is what life stage you're in and what decisions are coming up in the next two to five years.

If you're in your thirties with a mortgage and young children, advice tends to focus on insurance and choosing the right super fund. If you're in your forties or fifties, the conversation shifts to contribution strategies and whether to start building wealth outside super. By your sixties, the questions become specific: when can you access your super, how much can you draw down, what does the Age Pension look like for you, and how do you avoid paying more tax than you need to in retirement.

Brisbane residents who want a steady, independent perspective on these questions often turn to firms like the Solace financial planners in Brisbane team, who have worked with pre-retirees and retirees through several market cycles since the early 2000s.

What are the signs you should see a planner sooner rather than later?

A few situations make professional advice genuinely worth the fee, rather than a nice-to-have.

You've had a sudden change in income. A promotion, a redundancy, a business sale or an inheritance all shift your tax position and what's possible with super. Without advice, most people park the money in their offset and miss the more useful options.

You're within ten years of retirement. This is the period where contribution caps and asset allocation decisions have the biggest compounding effect. A poorly timed decision at 55 can cost you tens of thousands by 70.

You're going through a major life transition. Divorce, the death of a spouse, an inheritance, or moving a parent into aged care all involve financial decisions that are hard to reverse. Getting advice before signing anything is usually cheaper than untangling things later.

You have an SMSF and you're not sure you're using it well. Self-managed funds are common in Queensland, but a lot of trustees set them up years ago and haven't reviewed the strategy since.

How is a financial planner different from an accountant?

The two roles overlap, but they answer different questions.

An accountant looks backward. They prepare your tax return and report on what your numbers were last financial year. A good accountant will flag opportunities, but their core work is reporting on what's already happened.

A financial planner looks forward. They build a plan for what your money should do over the next ten or twenty years. That includes how much to put into super, how to structure your investments, what insurance you need, how to draw an income in retirement, and how to pass wealth on to your children or grandchildren.

Most people benefit from having both. The accountant handles compliance. The planner handles strategy. They often work together on company structures, trust distributions, capital gains planning, and contribution timing around the sale of a business or property.

What should you expect at a first meeting?

A first consultation should not feel like a sales pitch. With a reputable independent firm, the initial meeting is usually free and runs for an hour or so.

You'll be asked about your current position, your goals, your timeline, and what's keeping you up at night. The planner should listen more than they talk in this meeting. If you walk out and the only thing you remember is the planner pushing a particular product, you've been to the wrong firm.

After that meeting, a fee proposal should be put in writing. Advice fees in Australia are usually somewhere between $3,300 and $11,000 for an initial Statement of Advice, depending on complexity, with ongoing service fees billed annually if you choose to engage them long term. You should know exactly what you're paying before any work begins.

How do you know if a planner is genuinely independent?

This is where a lot of people get caught out. Many advisers are technically licensed under the same parent company that owns the products they recommend, even if the branding looks separate.

Two things to check. Is the firm holding its own AFSL, or operating under someone else's? And are the recommendations you receive limited to a list of approved products from a related entity?

A genuinely independent practice charges fees rather than commissions and is free to recommend any product on the market that fits your situation. That structure costs the firm more to run, but it removes the conflict of interest that has driven most of the major advice scandals in this country over the past fifteen years.

Is it worth paying for advice if you're not wealthy yet?

For straightforward situations, sometimes not. If you're in your twenties with a single super account and no major decisions on the horizon, a low-cost industry fund and a sensible savings rate will get you most of the way.

The point at which advice tends to pay for itself is when complexity creeps in. Two incomes, a mortgage, kids, a small business, an investment property, an inheritance, a partner's super, an SMSF. Once you're juggling four or five of those, the cost of getting it wrong starts to outweigh the cost of getting advice.

A good planner should be honest with you about this. If you don't need them yet, they should say so and tell you when to come back.

What questions should you ask before engaging a planner?

A few worth asking in the first meeting:

The answers tell you more about the firm than any brochure will. A planner who answers them directly, without deflecting, is usually one worth working with.

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