By Jay Burke 
Like Dorothy, many financial advisers and consumers are awakening from a dreamlike psychedelic decade to find themselves in OZ, a new world of Crypto currency, Robo Advice, Acorns, Instagram investment gurus and the internet of everything.
Financial planning is changing and evolving at arguably the most rapid rate in history and has less to do today with finances than ever before, with advisers, practices and industry struggling to define themselves and the value that they add in an information and automation age.
Advice historically has been product driven with a focus around product as opposed to service. Super and Insurance polices 20 years ago were sold with a handshake and a signature on the back of a beer coaster.
Today the “beer coaster” has been replaced with the Statement of Advice, a monolithic document equivalent to “Magna Carta” designed to reduce risk and protect consumers in an ever more complex world they don’t understand but need to protect themselves from.
Technology was supposed to make things quicker, cheaper and information more accessible, however, combine the legal nature of industry struggling to define itself in a world where twitter replaces newsletters, facebook forums replacing pub talk, live streams replacing group gatherings, virtual money is invested via smartphone and financial planning is an industry that is striving to be simple, quick and valuable whilst being litigious, complex & expensive.
The reality of financial planning in the 21st century sits somewhere between the simple “good old days” and a future where automation removes the mundane and laborious leaving us with the two most fundamental aspects of quality planning and advice.…time and relationships.
Time as we are infinitely and sometimes ignorantly aware, is our most valuable Non- Renewable resource. We can’t get more of it but we can make the most effective use of the bit we have.
For all the talk of technology improving and replacing everything, at the core of nearly every personal experience is a human connection. A human connection, a personal relationship, a mentor, a guide, counsel, someone to talk to, an opinion you value and a discuss ideas and dreams.
Recognising that change is the only constant has been the dominant theme in the Darwinian evolution of Burke Britton Financial Partners. From Practice Principal Peter Burke working as an employee at GIO in the late 90’s, establishing PB Financial Solutions in 2001, acquiring Securelife in 2008 and aggregating with Britton Financial Planning in 2011. The lesson over 25 years…. “have valuable relationships and open access to time and freedom for people that otherwise didn’t exist”…that’s it, that’s our job, simple!
Simple until we start to see that every relationship is unique and everyone’s needs are different. For most people the biggest hurdle to seeking financial advice is understanding what financial advice actually is and what they need advice on in the first place.
Like science, financial planning has done of a poor job of educating and exciting the masses, moving ideas and innovation in the marketplace. It’s been more a secret society where you had to get IN before you knew what IN actually means, rather than being open source and free for everyone to understand.
Rather than telling you all the reason why you need to see a financial adviser, we believe in showing you all of the reasons why you don’t! What does that mean? It means giving people access to the information to allow them to take personal responsibility, ownership and control of their own circumstances where they can, so that when they do genuinely need advice they are better informed to define it, value it and know where to get it.
Burke Britton Financial Partners celebrates a milestone today as we launch our first blog. The aim of this blog in the coming weeks, months and years is to be trusted source of valuable, interesting, relevant and unique content that allows you to navigate with better understanding the world of financial planning, finance, wealth creation, lifestyle design or however you choose to define it.
For those that lost on what financial planning is all about and if its its for, hang in there.
Welcome to the BBFP Blog Toto….
