What to Pay your planner

An article by Bruce Madden helps us to understand the web of fees in our system.

Fees are not a bad thing. The key is to know whats being paid, who is being paid to, when and how often these payments are made, and what you should be getting for that payment.

http://www.assetmag.com.au/financialplanners/article2.asp

Broadly speaking, trail commissions are under market pressure and falling. The average cost is in the vicinity of 0.4 to 0.6 per cent of the total investment for most managed funds. Many fee-based financial planners will rebate the trail commissions back to the investor - however, they would most likely charge a higher plan fee to compensate for this. "Retail funds, master trusts and some wrap accounts sometimes usually pay between 0.25 per cent and 0.75 per cent as a trail fee," one adviser says.