Financial Guide for Farmers

Farming is a lifestyle to many across WA and Australia, not just a business, but can be a lucrative endeavour to say the least for passionate farmers. However, it’s quite often that the guidance needed to make smart financial decisions around your farm for the future is not sought after until a later date. This can lead to financial stress that could have been avoided if planned for properly – particularly given the weather-contingent nature across farming and agriculture.

Below are some key financial planning and wealth management elements that should be considered when making informed decisions involving your farm and family.

Purpose – Why do you farm?

Knowing what your future looks like begins with a clear understanding of your goals or what you are setting out to achieve. Quite often however, a conversation around purpose, or the ‘why’, is skipped. This revolves around what you care about and could be that you simply want to produce and feed a starving world. Family and the legacy you leave behind is another common purpose that drives your goal. Or it may be that you care for the land and want to see soil improvement as the steward of your property.

No matter the case, understanding your purpose will lead to a greater fulfillment of financial goals over time.

Preparing yourself for full or semi-retirement

Farmers should start to navigate the problems involved with taking that eventual step back sooner rather than later. Succession planning and how the farm will transfer to the next generation is a major issue across many families. This is why open conversations early on in the piece are so important. A professional can facilitate the right environment for these conversations.

Consider the use of superannuation as one of your primary retirement and investment vehicles. There are some great tax benefits involved which you can make use of on the lead-in to retirement via tax-deductible superannuation contributions. Additionally, a Self-Managed Super Fund may prove useful when primary production land is involved.

Seek Financial Advice

We encourage each farming family to seek formal financial advice as each farmers situation is different to the next. Reach out for a free first consult.

Sean Hocking works with individuals and their families to provide peace of mind and clarity around their financial future. Having a roadmap in place which clearly articulates what’s important in the years to follow gives his clients the confidence to make clear and informed decisions throughout their financial life journey.