Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice

Nathan Fradley and Jordan Vaka
  • 4.3 (4)
  • MANAGEMENT
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to the Challenge the Standard podcast - a podcast for financial advisers, by financial advisers. Your hosts, Nathan Fradley and Jordan Vaka, will examine the biases, fixed thinking and status quo in advice. In every episode, we'll dive deep into the world of financial advice, questioning the norms, sparking new ideas and exploring how we could do things better. Our goal is to elevate our professional practices and 'uphold and promote the standards of our profession. So, whether you're a seasoned adviser or a bright new entrant to the Australian market (and beyond), this is where we challenge the standard, together.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    S8E1 Tax Planning with Martin McGrath

    We're proud of all our episodes, but the level of useful gold in this one is incredible.  Joined by regular guest, Martin McGrath, who seems to enjoy ganging up on Jordan as he attempts to corral the conversation into some sort of structure, they explore the world of tax planning for financial advisers.  What is it Why do it Is it really our job How to do it How to do it (badly) And so much in between Share this episode with every other financial adviser you know, because there are at least three tips in here that Jordan and Nathan have shamelessly stolen for their own practices - if everybody else can do the same, what a massive impact.    You can now get CPD points for listening to two knuckleheads (and guests!) wax lyrical about financial advice for an hour at a time.  CPD For this Episode: https://quiz.ensombl.com/NATH-26050705-36180001  Thanks again to the team at CPD Check for letting us publish our episodes using their AI-CPD certifying engine. Check out Clayton's episode on the pod for more info.    Martin: Find out more about Martin LinkedIn Nathan: advice@nathanfradley.com.au www.nathanfradley.com.au Jordan: jordan@planningsolo.com.au www.planningsolo.com.au LinkedIn:  Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice (Podcast): Overview | LinkedIn The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser. Jordan and Nathan are both authorised representatives of PlanningSolo Licensing, AFS Licence 526143.

    1hr 12min

  2. 30 APR

    S7E20 The Next Stage with James D'Apice

    It's hard to believe that this show has been going long enough to start building traditions, but this is absolutely one of our favourites - our annual check-in with full-time podcaster, part-time lawyer James D'Apice.  James was good enough to join us early on in his Gravamen journey, then come back last year to talk about how he's finding the growth path in his second year of operations.  Now, in year three, James returns to chat about: The joy, responsibility and depth adding a senior associate has brought to Gravamen How his branding and marketing might seem relatively 'non-traditional' - but are deeply rooted in classic ideas around specialisation Why community is our best defence against the financialisation and artifice of the modern economy (yeah, we still haven't worked out how to stay on topic) The path he's walked to his latest - and perhaps proudest - marketing venture: sponsoring the North Sydney Bears NRLW team.  The impact of his recent opportunity to interview the incredible Michael Kirby. These chats and check-ins with James are incredible fun for Nathan and Jordan, and we look forward to checking in again next year. And the year after that. Etc etc.  James D'Apice Find James on Linkedin Visit the Gravamen Website Watch James' interview with Michael Kirby here Nathan: advice@nathanfradley.com.au www.nathanfradley.com.au Jordan: jordan@planningsolo.com.au www.planningsolo.com.au LinkedIn:  Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice (Podcast): Overview | LinkedIn The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser. Jordan and Nathan are both authorised representatives of PlanningSolo Licensing, AFS Licence 526143.

    1hr 14min

  3. 23 APR

    S7E19 ID, Advising Non-Couples, Scoping and Insurance Bonds

    Following a run of outstanding and informative guests, this week we return to our normal programming - Jordan and Nathan mouthing off about a stack of different things - but this time prompted by listener questions! In this week's episode, they cover: The best U2 Album The conflicts that can arise when advising people who's romantic life is over, but have chosen to continue their shared life.  Advice Fees from Super How advisers can navigate limits imposed by other, non-qualified, professionals in a clients life Civil mascotts And why is it that we don't really talk about investment bonds It's a fun discussion, zooming in on matters that are relevant to advisers out there.  That, and a revealing discussion about sippy cups and why Jordan finds them so discomforting in a conversational setting.  Enjoy!   Nathan: advice@nathanfradley.com.au www.nathanfradley.com.au Jordan: jordan@planningsolo.com.au www.planningsolo.com.au LinkedIn:  Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice (Podcast): Overview | LinkedIn The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser. Jordan and Nathan are both authorised representatives of PlanningSolo Licensing, AFS Licence 526143.

    1hr 1min

  4. 16 APR

    S7E18 Human Side of Advice with Brendan Frazier

    In this episode Jordan and Nathan are joined by none other than Brendan Frazier, most well known as host of The Human Side of Money Podcast.  The boys discuss How to just get started, and not be a perfectionist The power of questions, but why the words themselves are not the most important aspect in a client engagement. How leaning into the Human side creates a moat in a world of AI (yes of course we talked about AI) This ep has been a long time coming, and its well worth it!  Human Side of Money (Apple) Human Side of Money (Spotify) RFG Advisory YouTube Channel Brendan's LinkedIn Nathan: advice@nathanfradley.com.au www.nathanfradley.com.au Jordan: jordan@planningsolo.com.au www.planningsolo.com.au LinkedIn:  Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice (Podcast): Overview | LinkedIn The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser. Jordan and Nathan are both authorised representatives of PlanningSolo Licensing, AFS Licence 526143.    You can now get CPD points for listening to two knuckleheads (and guests!) wax lyrical about financial advice for an hour at a time.  CPD For this Episode: https://quiz.ensombl.com/NATH-26042002-08120001  Thanks again to the team at CPD Check for letting us publish our episodes using their AI-CPD certifying engine. Check out Clayton's episode on the pod for more info.

    1hr 20min

  5. 9 APR

    S7E17 Special Disability Trusts with Kathy Havers

    Our recent episode on collaborating with other advisers - 'Playing Well With Others' - is one we're really proud of. And in that episode, Nathan and Jordan both mention the eye-opening experience of working with one specific financial adviser in a deeply specialist area.  Well, this week, that adviser - Kathy Havers of Viridian Advisory - is good enough to come on and introduce us and our listeners to some of the many complexities that arise when helping people with additional needs.  From Special Disability Trusts, to Centrelink, to the importance of (good) accountants and lawyers in the process, to the intricacies of guardianship, estate planning and Powers of Attorney - this episode is deep, technical, educational and, surely, useful as hell for all financial advisers out there.    Kathy Kathy Havers - Viridian Advisory Kathy Havers | LinkedIn Nathan: advice@nathanfradley.com.au www.nathanfradley.com.au Jordan: jordan@planningsolo.com.au www.planningsolo.com.au LinkedIn:  Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice (Podcast): Overview | LinkedIn The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser. Jordan and Nathan are both authorised representatives of PlanningSolo Licensing, AFS Licence 526143.    You can now get CPD points for listening to two knuckleheads (and guests!) wax lyrical about financial advice for an hour at a time.  CPD For this Episode: https://quiz.ensombl.com/NATH-26040808-13560001   Thanks again to the team at CPD Check for letting us publish our episodes using their AI-CPD certifying engine. Check out Clayton's episode on the pod for more info.

    1hr 9min

  6. 2 APR

    S7E16 Scaling Advice

    Is it possible to scale good, quality, personalised financial advice? If it can be done - then how can we do it?  Can we scale the advice without scaling the discovery? How can we find out enough about somebody to know what advice they don't need - and how do we have to charge for that work?  How can you, as a professional adviser, exercise and evidence your professional judgment about what a client needs - while not being bound only to what they want? Why is an episode on the efficiency of scaling advice to keep it within limits the longest episode we've recorded? Why are there so many questions? Is it because these knuckleheads have no answers? Perhaps...   You can now get CPD points for listening to two knuckleheads (and guests!) wax lyrical about financial advice for an hour at a time.  CPD For this Episode: https://quiz.ensombl.com/NATH-26040210-03490001  Thanks again to the team at CPD Check for letting us publish our episodes using their AI-CPD certifying engine. Check out Clayton's episode on the pod for more info.      Nathan: advice@nathanfradley.com.au www.nathanfradley.com.au Jordan: jordan@planningsolo.com.au www.planningsolo.com.au LinkedIn:  Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice (Podcast): Overview | LinkedIn The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser. Jordan and Nathan are both authorised representatives of PlanningSolo Licensing, AFS Licence 526143.

    1hr 18min

  7. 26 MAR

    S7E15 Collaborative Estates with Zinta Harris

    Financial advisers - you've spent your entire working relationship with your clients helping them build their wealth.  How prepared are you to help them make sure it passes to the next generation/s, without triggering the next War of the Roses? In this week's episode, Jordan and Nathan explore one of the alternatives to the 'traditional' view of estate planning and disputes; 'interdisciplinary collaborations'.  This method, familiar to regular listeners from Jordan discussing it on the divorce side, is a powerful way to help family's properly plan how their estate will play out, minimising acrimony, family ructions and estate annihilation (Zinta's word that we're shamelessly stealing).  It's a broadranging, expansive discussion about this topic and we sincerely hope it helps our listeners think of introducing clients to this option - because after helping them grow their wealth, wouldn't it be great if we could help their family keep it? Resources Free Lunch & Learn Webinar - 29th April 2026 Family Inheritance Solutions - website Collaborative Practice Training Zinta's Bookk Zinta LinkedIn Nathan: advice@nathanfradley.com.au www.nathanfradley.com.au Jordan: jordan@planningsolo.com.au www.planningsolo.com.au LinkedIn:  Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice (Podcast): Overview | LinkedIn The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser. Jordan and Nathan are both authorised representatives of PlanningSolo Licensing, AFS Licence 526143.

    1hr 6min

  8. 19 MAR

    S7E14 Discovery

    Quick question for you - is the 'old' way of doing fact finding enough in the current financial advice profession? If it is, great - let us know! But if you don't think it is, if you think that the bar has been lifted, over and over and over again, then this episode might be for you! In this weeks meander Jordan and Nathan start to tackle the battle of gathering and evidencing a clients situation to an adequate level for the advice we provide - and what does that even mean?!   Pats Blog - The Trust Canyon https://patrickflynn.info/trust-canyon/   You can now get CPD points for listening to two knuckleheads (and guests!) wax lyrical about financial advice for an hour at a time.  CPD For this Episode: https://quiz.ensombl.com/NATH-26021111-24240001  Thanks again to the team at CPD Check for letting us publish our episodes using their AI-CPD certifying engine. Check out Clayton's episode on the pod for more info.    Nathan: advice@nathanfradley.com.au www.nathanfradley.com.au Jordan: jordan@planningsolo.com.au www.planningsolo.com.au LinkedIn:  Challenge the Standard in Financial Advice (Podcast): Overview | LinkedIn The information contained in this podcast is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser. Jordan and Nathan are both authorised representatives of PlanningSolo Licensing, AFS Licence 526143.

    1hr 2min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.3
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Welcome to the Challenge the Standard podcast - a podcast for financial advisers, by financial advisers. Your hosts, Nathan Fradley and Jordan Vaka, will examine the biases, fixed thinking and status quo in advice. In every episode, we'll dive deep into the world of financial advice, questioning the norms, sparking new ideas and exploring how we could do things better. Our goal is to elevate our professional practices and 'uphold and promote the standards of our profession. So, whether you're a seasoned adviser or a bright new entrant to the Australian market (and beyond), this is where we challenge the standard, together.

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