Lifespan Financial Planning - Client Articles and News

Challenges and opportunities for financial advisers in 2021

After a year of challenge, advisers might be hesitant to acknowledge that 2021 might prove to be more of a mirage rather than the promised land of calm that many had hoped for.
Despite all of 2020’s trials and tribulations, the financial planning community triumphed.
2021 looms as a time in which advisers will again find themselves challenged by circumstances beyond their control, but not their capabilities. As ever, with great challenges come great opportunities.

25 years and beyond with Lifespan Financial Planning

For more than 25 years Lifespan Financial Planning has helped advisers and their clients build a better future for themselves. This is the story of Lifespan’s first quarter of a century, and its plan to grow into the future.

When John Ardino started Lifespan Financial Planning in 1994, he wanted to be independent of the big institutions which dominated the wealth management industry.

“The catalyst was the desire to have my own advice firm and to service advisers and accountants who wanted to enter the field. I wanted to control my own destiny,” he says.

IFA Excellence Awards 2020

There is no doubt that 2020 has been challenging, however at Lifespan we have continued to grow and support quality advice businesses, and this was recognised last Thursday night, with Eugene Ardino, Lifespan Financial Planning Chief Executive winning the Dealer Group Executive of the Year at the IFA Excellence Awards 2020.

Trustees of SMSFs need to be on guard as ASIC monitoring continues

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s recent statistics on SMSF funds showed there were 595,840 SMSFs operating in Australia, holding $712 billion in assets. The recent revelations from the banking royal commission around the lack of transparency of retail funds’ investments and their tendency to focus on profit rather than the interests of members is likely to only drive more people to set up their own funds.

More Australians seek understanding on early access to their superannuation

As individuals get closer to retirement, many are seeking further advice to help them better understand the circumstances required to allow them to access their superannuation savings, often with the desire to access their super at an earlier age.
Many consumers often don’t understand the rules and conditions necessary to allow for the release of their super savings.

Government needs to increase access to advice, not reduce it

The release of ASIC’s Report 627 Financial advice: What consumers really think, highlighted that among Australians who have received professional ﬁnancial advice, 89% intend to get advice again in the future.

The report also revealed that almost four times as many Australians who received advice in the past 12 months had a ‘great deal of trust’ in their advisers compared to those people who had not received advice recently.

Why it doesn’t pay to pay off your uni debt

Australians who have racked up sizeable study debts should not rush to pay them back and instead should divert their money elsewhere, experts say.
The Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debts are one of the cheapest forms of debts people can have because they do not attract interest charges.

Market Volatility

Sudden Financial market movements can be unnerving for even the most hardened investor, and it’s difficult not to panic when trends in the market take a downturn. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual to see investors over react in volatile markets, unnecessarily selling various quality assets only to realise capital gains or even taking the extreme step to sell out of the market entirely.

Why I’m a Financial Planner

Eugene Ardino, CEO of one of Australia’s largest privately owned financial advice licensees, Lifespan Financial Planning, shares the story of why he became a financial planner, what he loves about his career and his views on the findings of the Royal Commission.

Consumers’ thoughts on Financial Advice

With the Royal Commission into Banking and Financial Services taking (only) a negative view on some of the primary providers of advice, there have been several recent attempts to garner the opinions of the average Australian consumer in order to help bring a client-centric focus back to these examinations.