FAQ

Why this service?

This international site was created following the surprise interest of our first Australian site. If we and Australians could learn more about personal wealth, then why stop there in the age of the internet. Upon further research we found similar issues exist globally where the typical individual/family don't learn much from elite Rich Lists nor engage with formal statistics bureaus' data. We believe we are the first to sample in a consistent format, information about wealth across countries. This should allow us to, for instance, demonstrate how wealth is created for someone in the same profession but residing in different countries. Our service is further differentiated by its education and research focus which reflects its evolution from a financial planning, not economics or popular webblog background.

Who are you and can I trust you?  

Wealth benchmarks is an independent non-institutional and non-governmental service. We don’t share individual or optional contact information and require users to participate on an anonymous basis. Our mission is to i) increase financial literacy and get people more interested in their finances, ii) help professional advisers demonstrate the value of advice to their clients and iii) expand the knowledge about wealth. Please read All About Us and Privacy for more information.

How might this help me (individuals, couples)?

Periodically taking inventory of "what you own, owe, are worth, earn, spend, save and insure" is a key part of managing your finances - our Analysis and Tracking reports do that for you. Understanding the make up and size of things like your debt, savings and insurances relative to your overall position, your income, your expenses, etc... helps you better understand your position and may hint at some of your priorities - our unique finance ratios do that for you. A curiosity to compare yourself to others may just be the "hook" that gets you to spend some needed time looking at your finances. Comparisons may also provide some relief from the "status anxiety" that can come from thinking you aren't as better off as those who live extravagant lifestyles funded by debt or at the expense of savings - our comparison tools helps you in both cases. Lastly our comprehensive Analysis report should help you have a more productive discussion with your current or prospective financial advisor, agent, accountant, solicitor/lawyer, insurance expert, finance/mortgage broker or bank representative.    

How might this help me and my clients (financial advisor)?

You might tell prospective clients, especially those uncomfortable completing your background information questionnaire, that they bring a completed Analysis report to discuss with you – this should allow you to more efficiently work out how you might be of assistance. You might prepare for current clients (or they can) an Analysis report that you can talk about in a review meeting – this may allow you to uncover further opportunities. This could be a great way to reinvigourate a relationship and demonstrate your ongoing value-add. You should of course, seek your client’s permission to input their information even though it is anonymous. 

Who else might find this service useful?

Accountants might find this a useful service to add greater value to their clients including reviewing our "not to be relied upon" financial statements and measures. Solicitors may appreciate this information to help implement an asset protection or estate planning strategy. Someone helping you apply for finance might appreciate seeing your financial position comprehensively laid out. Of course, in all these circumstances, the quality of information depends on the quality of your inputs – we do not warrant the accuracy of the information provided.

Can you give me advice about what my data means and what I should do?

Sorry, no, we don't know you well enough to do so. In our commentary, we are careful to not infer what are “right” or “wrong” answers for individuals. Indeed, there are none - everyone’s circumstances vary. We recommend that you speak to your/a financial advisor or accountant to discuss your personal circumstances. We think the Analysis report is a wonderful tool for you to take with you for such a discussion. For general information, please also refer to our many hints and comments. You can also refer to our “User Guide” (under development). 

Can I link this service to my website?

We encourage you to make others aware of this service including by putting a link on your website. We hope to in time offer professional users a registration service where their and/or practice name is noted in the output reports. Large groups are welcome to enquiry about a co-branded facility for use by their clients (available at a cost). 

Where do the comparisons come from?

Our Quick Check tool uses data provided by country statistics bureaus and other Rich Lists / wealth studies (see User Guide for more infomation). While useful to establish a broad context, we wish to delve more deeply and provide more “richer” comparisons; hence the need to collect data from our users.

When will the comparison feature be released to registered users?

This will be released once there are sufficient datasets to provide meaningful comparisons. We expect this will occur once we have over 2,500 users per country  As we grow we will be able to progressively offer more detailed comparisons. Unfortunately, there are no “benchmarks” for how long it will take to grow our database; but it will certainly be months and maybe over a year. You can help us grow faster by telling others.

How do you protect the quality of the data?

We rely foremost on honest behaviour of  the majority of users, however, we have a number of undisclosed design features and data validation techniques to eliminate non-representative information. The collection of information this way is unique and a community experiment. We believe anonymous data entry allows this facility to grow the fastest and gain participation from those who wouldn’t normally provide their, or all of their, information. We do not set out to replace the services of others who undertake an important cross-Australia statistical analysis. While we can cross-check our information to such sources, our comparisons will be more relevant to groups of users with similar characteristics, not necessarily to the country as a whole. 

We hope to attract a select few organisations who provide sponsorship funds to assist with covering costs. These organisations share our interest in promoting financial literacy and the value of advice. Charging to enter and update your data would slow the take-up of this service.

If there are any other questions not covered in our documentation, please contact us.