If you’re looking for a financial adviser in Brisbane, there are a number of places you can look.

Referrals and recommendations from friends and associates is often the best way to find a good adviser, but it’s not always possible.  In these cases, you need to go out and search yourself.

The Yellow Pages was once the most common place to find a financial adviser, but today there are less and less advisers who advisers who list in the Yellow Pages.  You can still find them in there, but you might be missing out on some good advisers who don’t list.

Today’s more common source of information for people seeking financial advice is Google.  You can search Google for something like ‘financial advice Brisbane’ and there will be plenty of results that show up.

A great benefit of using Google to find a local financial adviser is that you can click straight through to their website to do more research.

An adviser’s website, if it’s a good one, will list information about their services, their staff and their experience.  You can also get a good feeling for the quality of the firm based on their website.

You can also narrow your search to financial advisers dealing in certain specialities.  For example you could search for ‘income protection Brisbane’ or ‘life insurance Brisbane’ if you were looking for a local financial adviser who specialised in those types on insurance.

Each financial adviser, even just those within Brisbane, will have vastly different levels of experience, qualifications, specialities and even levels of competency.

Working out the good ones from the bad ones is not easy, and that’s where friend and family referrals can be like gold.  Google is also great, as long as the adviser has a website with sufficient information, and especially client testimonials.

There are plenty of great financial advisers in Brisbane, you just need to get out there and start looking.

Finding the right financial adviser is no easy task.  Throughout Brisbane there are hundreds of different financial advisers, all telling you that they are the best adviser for you.

But how can you tell which adviser is really right for you?

Unfortunately the financial planning regulations in Australia make it difficult to pick an adviser.  You have some calling themselves financial advisers and some calling themselves financial planners.  What’s the difference?  By law, there is no difference!

Generally a financial planner specialises in investment and superannuation, whilst a financial adviser will specialise in insurance, but may also do some investment and super.  But there are no rules that govern this, so you won’t know for sure unless you ask them.

There are also different levels of qualifications between financial advisers, depending on their level of education and training.  Some advisers are only authorised to provide advice on insurance, some can provide advice on insurance and superannuation, and at the top level they can provide advice on insurance, super and investment.

The level of skill and knowledge can also vary greatly from one financial adviser to the next.  You could find one financial adviser in Brisbane who has a masters degree but gives poor advice, and another adviser who just has the basic diploma yet gives exceptional advice.

The job of picking a Brisbane financial adviser, or any financial adviser for that matter is certainly not an easy one!  If you have a friend of colleague who can recommend a financial adviser to you it will certainly be beneficial.

There are hundreds of financial advisers in Brisbane, so if you don’t have a friend who can recommend an adviser, there are few other steps you can take.

The Yellow Pages lists plenty of advisers, however less and less advisers are using the Yellow Pages these days, and unless the adviser has paid for a large listing you won’t be able to find out much from their listing.

Google is another great tool for finding an adviser.  Simply Google “financial adviser Brisbane” and you will see a large number of listings, along with links to their websites that will generally provide plenty of information about the adviser and their knowledge, experience and qualifications.

Yet another method is via the Financial Planning Association who have a function on their website which allows you to search for financial advisers in any particular area of Brisbane.  Their website even allows you to select certain speciality areas such as life insurance or retirement planning.

Be aware however that now all financial advisers will be members of the Financial Planning Association.  Some advisers may be members of another industry group known as the Association of Financial Advisers, and some advisers may not be a member of either.

It is not mandatory for a financial adviser to be a member of an industry association, and the fact that someone is not a member does not mean that they are any worse (or any better) than an adviser who is a member.

There are definitely benefits to using a financial adviser, so start the search for your local Brisbane financial adviser today and enjoy the benefits of professional advice.