Financial planning is the process of meeting your life goals through the proper management of your finances. Financial planning helps you make advance provision for financial needs that will arise in the future.

The objective of financial planning is to ensure that the right amount of money is available in the right hands at the right point in the future to achieve an individual's life goals. Financial planning can be facilitated at any age from budgeting to purchasing your first home though to retirement planning for retirement.

A financial planner is someone who uses the financial planning process to help you determine how to meet your life goals. The key function of a financial planner is to help people identify their financial planning needs, their present priorities and the products that are most suitable to meet their needs.

He or she normally possesses detailed knowledge of a wide range of financial planning tools and products, but his major role is to help clients choose the best products for each need. The planner can take a 'big picture' view of your financial situation and make financial planning recommendations that are right for you.

You should always check and make sure that the financial planner is licensed to provide financial advice. This can be checked on the ASIC website www.asic.gov.au. Financial Planners/Advisers are required to explain to you at the first meeting who their licensee is and any limitations they have in providing financial advice.

The Financial Planning Association of Australia promotes ethical standards and conduct within the industry. A list of the financial planners that are members of the Financial Planning Association can be found on their website www.fpa.com.au. The highest standing within the financial planning association is Certified Financial Planner (CFP) internationally recognising financial planners worldwide.

A financial planner works for you. The financial planner should be in a position to provide you with unbiased advice and recommend products that match your needs and are the best performing ones available.

Typically, information regarding investments held, number of dependants, income and expenditure details, savings and financial planning needs, etc. The more accurate information you give, the better the quality of advice given.

Financial plans will vary depending on the nature of the financial advice being provided. A comprehensive financial plan may include the following:

- Goal & Objectives
- Asset’s, Liabilities & Net Worth
- Investment recommendations (if applicable)
- Personal Insurance recommendations (if applicable)
- Superannuation recommendations (if applicable)
- Retirement planning recommendations (if applicable)
- Estate planning recommendations (if applicable)
- Centrelink recommendations and planning (if applicable)
- Cash flow and taxation projections (if required)
- Outcomes of advice
- Fees and Cost of advice

Please note that financial plans are tailored to suit every client and the content will vary from client to client. The areas stated above are some of the things that are covered in a financial plan (statement of advice).

Innovative Wealth Management has a financial planning advice process from the first introductory meeting through to the implementation of the recommendations. This is outlined under the advice process and costs section of the website.

The first meeting will generally go from 30 minutes any where to 3 hours depending on the nature of the advice being sort and the complexity of your personal financial situation.

The ongoing services of Innovative Wealth Management are available to you at any time after a financial plan has been written and the recommendations have be implemented. The cost of this ongoing advice is agreed with the financial planner and outlined in the financial plan when written.

Innovative Wealth Management provides advice on a number of investment structures including Personal Investments, Superannuation, Allocated Pensions, Trusts and Companies. Investments within these structures are recommended based on a number of aspects including growth/income requirements, age, timeframe for investment etc.

Portfolios will typically include any of the following investments: Cash, Fixed Interest & Bonds, Hybrid Securities, Listed Property Trusts, Australian & International Shares, Sector specific Investments etc. Within these asset classes the range of investment choices and companies are extensive but limited by research carried out at a number of different levels including, an independent research house, Charter Financial Planning’s research department and Innovative Wealth Management research.