Brynn Diesel - Independent Financial Planning Partner at Adviceworx

12/06/2026

💭 Friday Thought

​A few plans I’ve been working on recently with various clients have brought up the conversation around the costing of different investment solutions.

​It is a completely fair point to look into, but it always highlights a really important perspective when we look at the bigger picture.

​The cheapest option has very little to do with your actual life goals.

​If your target is to outperform inflation by 4% or 5% so you can safely retire, buy that home, or protect your family, then the cost of a fund shouldn't be the only thing dictating your decision.

​You want to use the absolute best tools equipped to get you to the finish line. If a specific tool costs a tiny bit more but gives you a significantly better chance of hitting your milestone, that is a trade-off worth making every single day - in my opinion at least.

​As we head into the weekend, remember that a plan isn't about finding the lowest price tag. It's about finding the path that actually gets you where you want to go.

​Have a great weekend everyone 👌

​

11/06/2026

We’ve been conditioned to believe that financial planning is simply a game of beating the market. 📈

​We picture walking into a corporate office to meet with a guy (or gal) in a suit or jacket, who pulls up complicated graphs and tells you about the best funds in the market.

​(Now, I’d like to think my office is "fancy" enough... 😂 but that’s where the similarities end.)

​Because the truth is, picking investments and chasing returns is only a tiny fraction of the picture.

​We leave the heavy market tracking and fund picking to the incredible portfolio managers and investment teams who specialize in exactly that. They are the technical engine.

​But financial planning? That is about people. It’s about conversations, human transitions, and actual life goals.

​A top-performing fund loses its meaning if it doesn't align with how you want to live your day-to-day life. It's about having the confidence to walk away from a toxic work environment, or the room to fund a sudden passion project without looking over your shoulder. It’s about being able to support a family member in need when life happens, and trading market anxiety for true peace of mind.

​Sometimes, we need life to come before money. And while it is incredibly important that your money works for you, the ultimate goal is getting to a point where it doesn't control you. ☕

​How are you designing your life this week?

​

10/06/2026

10/06/2026

This week at BNI Thrive, we had the privilege of hearing a truly inspiring and informative presentation by Anne-Lise Bollaert Davies on "The Lilyfontein Difference."

It was wonderful to learn how Lilyfontein School takes a unique and adventurous approach to education, creating opportunities for learners to grow, explore, and challenge themselves. Their focus goes beyond academics, helping to build confidence, resilience, leadership skills, and a love for learning that will serve students well into the future.

Thank you, Anne-Lise Bollaert-Davies, for sharing your passion and giving us a glimpse into how Lilyfontein is shaping the confident future leaders of tomorrow. What an incredible school with a truly refreshing approach to education!

09/06/2026

What do financial planners actually do all day?

If you asked most people, I suspect the answer would be something along the lines of:
"Pick investments."
"Watch the markets."
"Recommend products."
And yes, those things do form part of the job.

But at the moment, for example, I'm spending time helping one client decide whether buying a new vehicle makes sense and, if so, which vehicle might be the right fit for their them.

I'm helping two families navigate a job change and the decisions around preserving retirement funds.

I'm helping three different families work through the loss of a loved one and all the financial decisions that come with it.

And I'm helping somebody start planning for a retirement they weren't expecting quite yet due to a change in professional circumstances.

When I look at the conversations taking place, the products, investments and numbers are certainly important. But they're only one part of a much bigger conversation.

Life does not always "follow the rules" so we need to be adaptable. That is what I love about our profession. We get to make a REAL difference when things can seem overwhelming.

05/06/2026

💭 Friday Thought

It's funny how often we spend time planning for the next holiday, the next vehicle, the next home improvement project or the next career move...

But very rarely stop to ask ourselves what we're actually working towards.

Sometimes a little clarity on the destination makes the financial decisions a lot easier.

Have a great weekend everyone 👌

04/06/2026

In reality, most of the important conversations I have with clients aren't really about investments, tax or products.

But it often takes a while to get to that point.

Many people walk into my office expecting that we're going to spend our time talking about a policy, an investment, a return, or a product recommendation. In fairness, that's often what they've experienced before, so it's understandable.

The conversation usually starts with people, relationships, family, careers, lifestyle and goals.

What are you trying to achieve?

What does a successful future look like to you?

What are you working towards?

Only once we've explored those questions does it really make sense to start talking about money, investments and financial solutions.

Because in my experience, the life decisions should lead us to the financial decisions, not the other way around.

The purpose of a financial plan isn't to build your life around products and investments. It's to use products and investments to support the life you're trying to build.

And that's why some of the most meaningful conversations in financial planning have very little to do with money at all.

03/06/2026

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02/06/2026

Do financial decisions always revolve around money?

Well, not entirely. Obviously, most financial decisions have something to do with money. But when we think about financial decisions, we often think about things like making more money, saving more money, reducing costs or improving investment returns.

And yet some of the biggest financial decisions people make have very little to do with any of those things.

I've seen people take lower-paying jobs to reduce stress, move closer to family, choose flexibility over income, or step back from a demanding career to spend more time with their children.

On paper, some of those decisions may not make perfect financial sense. In fact, if you were looking purely at the numbers, they could even be viewed as the "wrong" decision.

But financial planning isn't about maximising every number on a spreadsheet.

It's about helping people align their money with what matters most to them, because at the end of the day, money is a tool. The purpose of that tool is to help you build the life you want.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. Have you ever made a decision that didn't make perfect financial sense on paper, but turned out to be absolutely the right decision for you?

29/05/2026

💭 Friday Thought

A lot of financial stress comes from feeling like we need to get every decision exactly right.

The perfect investment, the perfect strategy, the perfect time to start, the perfect balance between debt, saving and spending.

But financial progress is usually far less dramatic than that.

More often, it comes from making reasonably good decisions consistently over long periods of time and sticking to a plan that is realistic enough to maintain through all the ups and downs that life inevitably throws at us.

Because in financial planning, consistency tends to beat perfection far more often than people think.

Have a great weekend everyone 👌