Having quarter-of-a-million bucks in your checking account doesn't count as financial planning.

Sure you'll make a tidy sum when the annual interest rate of two percent drops in, but when you factor in the rate of inflation (currently topping four percent in Bermuda) you're actually ending up with less net worth each year.

Getting people to take active control of their money and investments is the aim of the globally recognised Financial Planning Week.

While Bermuda is a significant financial centre on the world stage, there are plenty of residents who fall into the above category of stashing their money in a bank checking account that will actually lose them money - in real terms - over time.

People with up to $250,000 in a simple bank account, and no other investment vehicle, is a very real scenario in Bermuda.

It's people like that, and those who may have made questionable decisions to invest elsewhere without thinking through the consequences of multi-jurisdiction tax regulations or been swayed by a dodgy "suitcase investment salesperson" who can benefit from taking a new approach and re-think of their saving and investing strategy.

This week is globally recognised as Financial Planning Week, and those working in the industry are raising awareness of smarter ways to plan personal finances.

To tie-in with Financial Planning Week the three senior wealth managers at Argus Financial Limited have given their views on the benefits to be had from seeking out a qualified financial advisor, and the pitfalls for those who don't.

"We're trying to encourage people to make a plan,"said Martha Myron, who right from the get-go points out that to get proper, worthwhile advice you must be prepared to pay for the services of a financial advisor.

But hang on a minute - if your aim is to save money then paying out for advice sounds like a class 101 error.

"If you want objectivity you have to pay for that. Somewhere down the road you will end up paying,"said Ms Myron, referencing load-up fees on fund investments charged by some, to the penalties that are incurred if you exit an investment before a set-period of time has elapsed.

For the record Argus Financial Limited does not charge load-up fees.

"It is a competitive industry where free advice abounds everywhere, but it is not truly free. Say you have $20,000 and you decide to put it into a few mutual funds. You want a little bit of help deciding which funds and the person who sells you the funds takes a commission which is five percent - that's $1,000 gone. And even if there isn't a commission, there is a fee if you get the fund to pay out before the set period, say five years.

"If you worked with a planner you could get a better integrated plan than simply a few mutual funds."

So what stops people from setting up a financial plan? Julie. Hendrickson, said:"A lot of people think it is only for the mega-rich, and some of the things that go into life insurance, such as the thought of dying, they do not want to think about. For older Bermudians they tend to think their children are going to take care of them - but that's not always the case, look at 'Auntie Em'."

And colleague Felicia Rickards adds: "Most Bermudians do not tend to be financially savvy because they buy what they want when they want and then when something major happens in their life (financially) they are not prepared for it."

Even the highly educated can find themselves at a loss to understand everything with a life policy, for example, that is where an expert can help co-ordinate a person's finances.

Ms Myron said: "We never want clients to think we are lecturing them, but the world is changing so much. Our job is capital preservation."

Pitfalls that can catch the unwary are many and varied. For example buying property in the US, opening an investment account there, or in Canada or the UK, brings tax liabilities - some of which can be stingingly large.

If you own a US property or assets it is quite possible your Bermuda assets may be sucked into the US estate when a will is settled.

Bermuda's mid-Atlantic position, a sizable number of cross-cultural family mixes, and the expat community all add to the likelihood that residents will be juggling multi-jurisdiction finances with the possibility of incurring tax losses and other liabilities. That's where having a competent and qualified financial advisor comes in.

A Bermudian woman with a US spouse who dies can see her health benefits ended upon her partner's death, and her pension income cut in half because her partner's pension is subject to US tax.If no estate planning was done the widow could lose out on any entitlement to life insurance proceeds.

While there is a lot to take into account it is equally important that a person is alert to the dangers of doing business with a so-called "suitcase salesperson" who flies to the Island with questionable investment strategies, signs up customers and flies off again, often moving on to a new company and leaving the customer in a difficult position trying to keep track of where their money has gone.

Later this month Argus Financial Limited will be holding two Financial Wellness Seminars for its clients and companies, one of which will look at how to avoid problems with multi-jurisdiction investments.