Assignment Task

Overview

The purpose of this assignment is to help you to develop a detailed financial plan that will act as a financial roadmap for the rest of your life. Each section of your financial plan provides you with the opportunity to reflect deeply on the theory covered in the course and to make practical, specific and detailed application of that theory to your expected future life stages. You should work on your financial plan gradually during the term as you cover each Unit. You should use the Microsoft Word template provided and submit the final document in Microsoft Word format.

The financial plan that you will develop is far more comprehensive (and useful) than a typical ‘Statement of Advice (SOA)’ that a financial adviser would prepare for a client. This is because the focus of this course is on understanding the broad issues that financial advisers need to consider when advising clients. The follow-on course to this one, FINS5537 Financial Planning Advice and Ethics, will focus on the process of developing a compliant and ethical SOA for clients. Nevertheless, under the final section of your Assignment, you are required to identify the differences between the Financial Plan that you are submitting for this course and a compliance Statement of Advice (SOA).

Content

You should use the Microsoft Word template provided under the ‘Financial Plan’ section of the course website and use the same headings provided in that document.
The following instructions on the suggested content for each section are oriented towards a grade of somewhere between 65 to 80. If you are time-poor due to your workload in other courses or work commitments, you may choose to miss out some of the suggested components in each section. However, doing so may adversely affect your overall score. If you are aiming for a score above 80, you will need to reflect deeply on the material in each Unit and ‘go the extra mile’ in applying it to your future anticipated circumstances. This may involve including content in each section that is not included in these instructions (at your own initiative). The key thing is to balance your expectations for this assignment with your time constraints due to other commitments.

The suggested components in each section. However, doing so may adversely affect your overall score. If you are aiming for a score above 80, you will need to reflect deeply on the material in each Unit and ‘go the extra mile’ in applying it to your future anticipated circumstances. This may involve including content in each section that is
not included in these instructions (at your own initiative). The key thing is to balance your expectations for this assignment with your time constraints due to other commitments.

Questions

1. Do you currently have a valid will in place? If so,

2. Who drafted the will for you (lawyer or will kit)?

3. When was the will last updated?

4. Have you had a significant change in life circumstances since it was last updated (such as getting married or having children)?

5. Who is the executor of the will?

6. Who are the main beneficiaries?

7. Who are the nominated guardians for any children?

8. Who were the witnesses?

9. Have you appointed any Powers of Attorney (allowing someone to sign documents

   or act on your behalf)?