Our Fees

Since our inception in 2004 Mint Financial Planning has chosen to charge fees rather than relying on commissions paid by investment and/or insurance providers. We feel that this is a much fairer and clearer approach for all concerned, and generally our fees for service provide a better after-tax result for the client as in most cases they are tax deductible.

Prior to beginning work on your Financial Plan or SOA we will always provide you with a Proposal which includes detailed information about both the Initial and Ongoing Services to be provided and the Fees to be charged. We also explain the different ways in which our fees can be paid, for example you may wish to pay us with your superannuation monies to preserve your personal cashflow.

Each client relationship is unique, and so each fee arrangement is different. It varies on the scope of advice required, and the amount of work needed.

1.

An Initial Consultation is offered to prospective new clients, the cost of this consultation is $385 unless the prospective client has been referred by an existing Mint client or one of Mint’s Referral Partners in which case the consultation fee will be waived.

2.

A Proposal will follow post our Initial Consultation if both parties feel it would be beneficial to work together and we feel that we can offer you a valuable service at a reasonable price. Our initial Proposal outlines our investment strategy, the areas of financial advice we think need looking at, the initial and ongoing services to be provided, and the cost of our advice both initially and ongoing.

3.

If you accept our Proposal we will commence work on your Financial Plan or Report.

4.

To provide you with certainty we charge a fixed dollar initial service fee. We do not charge hourly fees except for very specific short duration projects.

5.

Annual fees for ongoing financial advice and portfolio management we charge a service fee of between 0.8% and 1.0% per annum however we cap our annual fee for larger portfolios.

6.

We keep costs low by providing clients with an in-house administration platform (so administration platform use is kept to a minimum), recommend direct investment when suitable, and access low cost and wholesale priced managed funds. Our clients experience lower portfolio costs than most.

Traditionally most people have gone to their bank to purchase insurance, commence a pension, rollover their superannuation benefit and/or to invest their savings. This is very much the “old” model, that is, the financial adviser has simply “sold” a product rather than provide advice. This service often appeared to be free and therefore it was painless. Financial advice is likely to have been limited to the sale of the product rather than considering how the new addition linked to what was already in place within the ‘bigger picture’. There generally were no ongoing reviews built into the process. The adviser was remunerated by commission that was not always fully understood or quantified. This was in essence a sales process and is definitely not professional financial planning as we know it.

Financial Planning should be an ongoing advisory and support process to help people to make best use of their financial resources throughout life. The cost, stated clearly up front, is for expertise, strategies and solutions from individuals qualified rather than “sales people”. It may be that a product is not involved at all, but if it is appropriate it comes at the end of a thorough investigation process. This involves looking into the future and takes into account your aims and objectives as well as what is already in place and how you feel about it all. The jigsaw is firmly put together in an orderly, tax efficient and cost effective way and the picture becomes clear.