Getting the right financial advice

• Make sure your financial adviser has an Australian financial services (AFS) licence or is an authorised representative. Check their qualifications on the Financial Advisers Register.
• Decide what you want from the advice. Do you want help with investing money, budgeting or planning for retirement?
• Read your adviser's Financial Services Guide to learn about their fees and services, and how they deal with complaints.
• Compare the fees charged by different advisers, to make sure you're getting a good deal.
• Be careful about how much access your adviser has to your investment accounts.
• Talk to your adviser if you're unhappy with their advice.

Free financial information

If you're looking for factual information about investment products and strategies, or want to do some research before you see a financial adviser, there are some good free and low cost options around.

We have useful information and tools to help you plan for retirement and understand how investing works, including:

• Retirement planner — calculate what income you are likely to have from super and the Age Pension when you retire, including contributions, investment options and fees.
• Superannuation calculator — work out how much super you'll have when you retire.
• How to invest — learn about developing an investing plan, choosing investments and borrowing to invest.

You can also try:

• Financial Information Service — free information about financial matters including managing your money, reducing your mortgage, investing and superannuation.
• Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) — visit the education centre for information for first-time investors, articles and online seminars.
• Your super fund — get factual information about investment and insurance options, contributions and consolidating your funds.
• Banks, credit unions and building societies — check their websites for retirement calculators and other factual information.