Whether you’re just starting out or planning for your retirement, consulting a financial planner could be the best move you ever made for you and your family.
At Poole Advisory our clients come from all walks of life – from young professionals just starting out in their careers, to retirees who have enjoyed long careers.
And all of them have the same basic desires – to set themselves up for a future free from financial stress.
Over the past 20 years, we’ve helped thousands of people achieve their goals. Is financial planning for you? Here are just some examples of the kinds of clients who walk through our doors (with all details changed to protect confidentiality).
Matt is a young, single tradie with a high income and not a lot of expenses. He contacted us at Poole Advisory so, instead of blowing his pay packet each weekend, he’d focus on building a solid portfolio and start planning to set up his own plumbing business one day.
We consulted with Matt to discuss his short- and long-term goals and stressed to him the importance of investing in himself with health insurance and tradie insurance covering income protection, tools of his trade and public liability. He has also taken out personal insurance to cover loss of earnings should he have an accident outside of work.
While he’s saving for a first home deposit, we have advised Matt it’s never too early to start investing for his retirement with another savings plan – explaining to him the ‘magic’ of compound interest. And he has also started a portfolio, investing in companies that interest him and meet his ethical standards.
We discussed tax strategies to help him minimise the tax he pays and we walked through the products and services he could choose to invest in now and in the future.
And, talking about his future, we’re also helping Matt draw up a business plan for when he sets up his dream plumbing enterprise. And his future looks bright!
Kylie is a start-up founder considering expanding her natural body lotions business. She began making her olive oil-based beauty recipes at home, storing them in the garage and selling them at markets, through word-of-mouth and from her basic website. Over the years she has refined her formulas with growing success and now she can’t keep up with demand.
Kylie came to see us at Poole Advisory to update her initial business plan and talk through the organic growth of her company – the best strategy for most startups.
We listened to her expansion plans then crunched the numbers on her current and projected revenue. We looked at sales forecasting and creating a sales funnel, and factored in new expenses like commercial rental, a shopfront, staff payroll and superannuation, a new website, and estimated the costs of scaling up the manufacture of her brand.
We examined her competition and their price points and advised Kylie against upping her own prices and instead focusing on increasing sales by employing a marketing and sales rep.
And we discussed brand loyalty and the strategies to improve and build upon her customer retention, including implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) system to streamline her business processes.
It’s an exciting time for Kylie and we’re delighted to help her work towards achieving her business goals – we’re even talking franchising potential!
Hamish and Rowan are a mid-career professional couple who own their own Sydney home and are saving for an investment property as part of their retirement nest egg.
They are long-time clients of Poole Advisory, trusting us for the last 10 years to develop a personalised strategy to help them build their wealth.
As homeowners, Hamish and Rowan know property investment is a long-term strategy which should serve them well in retirement. As such, we helped them set up their own self-managed super fund (SMSF) and advised how they can best take advantage of tax offsets. And we’ve recommended they add to their asset and income insurance.
As property prices rise unabated in Australia, the couple realises they need more time to save for a deposit to buy their first investment property, so we’re guiding them with budgeting advice, based on their current incomes and outgoings, to help them save more quickly and efficiently.
We have also discussed using the equity in their current home in case the right investment property comes along before they have reached their savings target. And, in the interim, putting their available resources into a property investment scheme.
When it does come time to buy their first investment property, they know they can rely on Poole Advisory’s network of skilled specialists, including mortgage brokers, buyers agents, accountants, lawyers and property advisors.
Sue is single and nearing retirement age. As the cost of living continues to rise, she is concerned she might not have enough superannuation.
At Poole Advisory, it’s a problem we see many single Australian women facing. Thanks to the gender pay gap, most women will earn $1 million less than men over their working life and retire with on average $136,000 less in superannuation.
However, there are strategies we’ve advised Sue she can still employ to grow her superannuation over the next five years before retiring – and she’ll reduce her taxes at the same time.
Perhaps the biggest boost her super will receive in the future is from the sale of her Moss Vale cottage, which she has owned for over 10 years. In what is known as a ‘downsizing contribution’ she can transfer $300,000 of the house sale into her super.
In the meantime, Sue has asked her employer to pay part of her pre-tax pay into her super account, something known as salary packaging or salary sacrifice.
These ‘concessional contributions’ are taxed at 15%, which is far lower than Sue’s marginal tax rate, meaning she pays less tax while lifting her super coffers. However, there’s a limit and the combined total of her employer and salary packaged contributions cannot be more than $27,500 per financial year.
On top of pre-tax contributions, Sue can also make non-concessional contributions (money she has already paid tax on) of up to $110,000 each financial year. And she’s eligible for a tax deduction on her non-concessional contributions too.
Sue’s super balance is looking healthier already and she is feeling more confident she can live happily and financially independent in her retirement.
Steve and Emma are self-funded retirees. They want to travel – but they don’t want to spend all of their kids’ inheritance!
At Poole Advisory we calculated how much they will probably need to live comfortably in their retirement years, knowing they’re reasonably healthy and have a life expectancy that will take them past 85.
We factored in health and other insurances, a decent car, good clothes, home improvements, electronic equipment and other household goods, along with their planned caravan trip around Australia and other overseas travel, as well as the possibility of aged care requirements later in life.
Steve and Emma will need at least $65,000 a year as a couple to live comfortably and achieve their retirement goals. They will rely on the returns from their substantial investment portfolio and their superannuation savings and, while travelling, they will also Airbnb their home in a Sydney beachside suburb and gain some of the tax benefits from their rental along the way.
Reassessing their investments, we made an allocation to growth assets but also looked at some defensive assets to protect their savings from investment volatility. They’re also considering initiating investment accounts for their grandchildren and their future education.
And we have helped implement estate planning, with Steve and Emma assigning beneficiaries to their super and specifying how their money should be allocated in their wills. We also advised them to set up a testamentary trust as part of their wills.
Thanks to their careful pre-retirement savings and the investments they have made through Poole Advisory’s guidance over the years, the couple is now confident they can realise their travel dreams while knowing they will be able to leave their family financially secure.
For more information on how Poole Advisory can help you through all of life’s financial hurdles and build your wealth, get in touch today or book an appointment.
This information contains general advice only, that is, advice which does not take into account your needs, objectives, or financial situation. You need to consider the appropriateness of that general advice in light of your personal circumstances before acting on the advice. You should obtain and consider the Product Disclosure Statement for any product discussed before making a decision to acquire that product. You should obtain financial or credit advice that addresses your specific needs and situation before making investment or borrowing decisions. Taxation information is based on our interpretation of the relevant laws as at 1 July 2018. While every care has been taken in the preparation of this information, Prosperitas Partners Pty Ltd does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information. The case studies are hypothetical, for illustration purposes only and are not based on actual returns
Poole Advisory Pty Ltd ABN 15 642 040 604 is a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 001282603) of Prosperitas Partners Pty Ltd ABN 30 662 654 453 AFSL 544 917
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