The 15th annual Financial Planning Week, run by The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) has successfully concluded, revealing that retirement and superannuation top the list of Australians’ primary financial concerns, followed by investing in property and shares.
Mark Rantall, CEO of the FPA, said that unsurprisingly, people aged 55+ were the most engaged with the Financial Planning Week campaign, seeking answers to questions about how to prepare for retirement and how to maximise their retirement income.
He went on to say that this year’s campaign also showed that people as young as 16 were asking questions about their finances.
“This year’s Financial Planning Week made it clear that many Australians are concerned they won’t have enough money to retire on, giving us specific insights into consumers’ pain points and how financial planners might help alleviate that stress.
“It’s encouraging to see that the appetite for financial advice in Australia spans across different demographic groups, with young people wanting to learn more about the basics of money management early on.
“Often we assume that young people aren’t actively looking to manage their finances, but Financial Planning Week has revealed that their appetite for advice isn’t much different from the retirement age group,” Mr Rantall explained.
Financial Planning Week is designed to show Australians of all ages that professional financial advice can help them achieve their short term goals and secure their financial future. It also aims to demonstrate the positive impact that financial advice can have on their wellbeing, eliminating the view that financial advice is only for the wealthy.
“One of the ways Financial Planning Week seeks to demonstrate the value of advice is through the ‘Ask an FPA Expert’ forum, which is a free online service that allows anyone to ask a question about their finances and have them answered by a professional financial planner,” said Mr Rantall.
“Over 9,000 people visited our ‘Ask an FPA Expert’ forum during the course of Financial Planning Week.
“We also ran a consumer blog throughout the week that provided targeted financial content for each demographic group, from young to mid-life, pre-retirement and retirement. This content was promoted via Facebook advertising that reached the news feed of 1.4 million Australians.
“We want to thank those FPA members who have contributed to the success of this year’s Financial Planning Week by volunteering their time to participate in the ‘Ask an FPA Expert’ forum and contributing to the consumer blog.
“We represent a community of professionals that is passionate about improving the lives of their clients through professional financial advice, not only during Financial Planning Week, but ongoing.
“This year’s Financial Planning Week delivered the message that the right advice from a professional financial planner can have a positive impact on their financial future at every stage in their life. As more Australians understand that financial advice can benefit them, we expect to see the number of people using a financial planner rise”, said Mr Rantall.
Source: FPA
