Now that 2024 tax year has closed, we have had some time to reflect on the year and all the families and businesses that we have provided Financial Advice to and helped them make more Confident Life Decisions about their Wealth.
We are constantly reminded of the impact we had in people’s lives as they achieve things that they never thought possible, or we have given them the confidence through our collaborative approach to make more Confident Life Decisions about their Wealth. On reflection we help people from all stages of life which has been a conscious planning decision for our business. More than not our clients have kids, and they have parents, and to align with our truly intergenerational advice focus, we have positioned our advice team with specialists in all these areas.
In the last 12 months we have helped some truly amazing families and here are a few of their stories of how our Financial Advice & collaborative approach has done so (with names changed to protect privacy).
Business Owners & Retirement Planning
Jon and Samantha were referred to us through an accountant who had been looking after these clients for 10 years. They were in their early 50’s and have been running an extremely successful business in the Perth area. They had never met with a financial adviser but through trial and error had built up some excellent business assets and were comfortable in life. Their plans were to start winding down but understood their affairs were probably not in the perfect way to do what they wanted to do and deep down knew there was several area’s that they had not paid enough attention to. Through our initial discussions we found out what was important to Jon and Samanatha and although they had achieved most of their financial goals, what was of great interest was how we could explore both their Purpose and Legacy needs to get best value from their financial position to help them in retirement and to help the family.
Over the space of 8 weeks, we had several meetings where we explored all the options and outcomes for them. We prepared their very own advice map to give them clarity, collaborated with all the modelling strategic options and put them on a path of success. Although we don’t always measure success in dollars, the outcome with a few tweaks and changes resulted in an immediate $80,000 per year benefit to Jon and Samantha. The real benefit over and above the financial value will flow for many years to come for them and their four kids. This journey was one that we all enjoyed working through and we are all really proud of the outcomes.
Marriage Breakdown & Financial Settlements
Judy was referred to us through a Perth based law firm, unfortunately one that deals with marital splits and financial settlements. It had been a hard time this last two and a half years, but Judy was within a few months of getting to the final stages of negotiations and structuring a final settlement with her former partner. Although time had passed and the settlement process had been reasonably amicable and negotiations straight forward, emotionally it had been tough, and the financial end was daunting. To complicate matters. there were numerous trusts and family companies to deal with and the complexity of the accounting had meant several delays in getting to this point. Our first few meetings with Judy were to understand first the history, but more importantly where Judy was now and what the future ideally looked like for her. The kids had all just finished school in the previous year, so it had been a big impact on the family unit as they all transitioned to a different type of life. Judy had re-partnered so front of her mind was around protecting the family wealth for the kids and her future.
Our Financial Advice process went on for about 5 months given the complexity, but working with the law firm and Judy we got such an amazing outcome for her that will mean she is protected, and her family is set up for life. Probably the turning point for Judy was the financial modelling that we had prepared for her. It showed that she was going to be okay and that she did not need to take excessive risk to get the income and surety she wanted for her kids. A bonus out of all this was the ability to help 2 of the kids navigate university and support them to get their first investment property.
Medical Specialist
One of our existing medical clients gave us a call and asked if we could help one of their colleagues and friends. We said absolutely! We are always happy to help clients that are referred in from our existing clients. Mike was a medical specialist and had been in business for 10 years, running a very successful medical practice that focused on a very niche specialist area. Michael and his wife (both in mid-40’s) have 3 kids all under the age of 7 so life is very hectic and were so busy that they had really neglected their own financial life. Running a medical practice, the hours that were put in outside the norm, and the challenges of the 3 kids had started to show some relationship cracks borne by the hazards of life and a lack of financial understanding. When we first met with Mike and Serena it was clear that they had not been good (like a lot of people) at discussing money and the impact it has on their lives. They were living in a house that they bought after the first girl was born and had struggled through in finding space for themselves both financially and mentally. Serena had also been in the professional world, so life had changed dramatically for her. They were both very supportive of each other, but money was a bit of a taboo.
Over our meetings we got to understand what their joint (and individual) financial goals were as well as most importantly their Purpose and Legacy needs. Through our discussions we all uncovered some important aspects of their lives that had been holding them back including a home that they could both enjoy and have space with. As life had been so busy they had spoken about changes but could not agree on what those next steps were, and whether in fact they could afford to move into something more suited to their lives. We really enjoyed working with Michael and Serena and they are on an amazing journey with their family. Not only are they clear on their financial position and their future but they have moved into a house more suited to them and the life they always dreamed of. There are no more kids on the horizon for them, so now they can visualise a pathway, Serena has started to plan out what life looks for her as the kids grow up.
Providing financial advice to families is what we love to do and is what drives us. Most of the time our Financial Advice is not just about the money but the impact and change money, wealth and most importantly, clear Goals, Purpose & Legacy needs can make in their lives for them and their families.
Contact our team to discuss how we can help you achieve your utopia and make Confident Life Decisions about your Wealth.