FOR years I’d been convinced the standards to become a “professional” financial adviser were a sham, a crock and a complete joke — though an extremely unfunny one given the agony caused by the industry to thousands of Australians.

In expressing this view, in milder terms in The Australian over recent years, I have received legal threats and fierce denials from sections of the industry. I decided the only way to prove whether the Australian Securities & Investment Commission’s standards for becoming a financial planner were as substandard as I’ve said was to become one myself.

So I did. With zero exams, no pre-qualification requirements and 34 hours of work, I am a fully credited, nationally certified financial planner.

I have met all the educational requirements set by ASIC to steer the fortunes of Australians. I can direct families on where to invest their nest eggs, to map out their financial futures, or how to prepare for retirement. I hold a diploma in financial planning after spending the equivalent of four full days’ work (34 hours over nine part-days and a couple of full days) and $1425. The course, conducted completely online, in my own time and all “open book”, comprises completing four sets of multiple-choice questions and answering a series of short questions to each of four “modules”. For an extra $175 and “an extra 30-40 minutes of reading time”, my education provider told me, I could become a certified self-managed superannuation fund adviser.