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stevo68
23rd October 2013, 03:30 PM
G'day and thanks for popping by. So what's this all about? First and foremost it is about you, your current and future financial well being. Hope isn't a strategy and that's where I come in.

Do I have the cred's? Degree qualified with a Bachelor of Commerce, relevant qualifications in Financial Planning, Finance and Mortgage Broking and currently studying for an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning.

As it stands I am authorised to provide advice on the following:

Deposit Products; Life Products, including Investment Life Insurance Products and Life Risk Insurance Products; Superannuation, including Public Offer Superannuation Funds; Retirement Savings Accounts; Managed Investments, including Master Trusts and Wrap Facilities and Margin Lending Products; Government Stocks, Bonds or Debentures; Securities, restricted to General Advice (Tier 1). Credit Contracts: Home loans and investment loans, personal loans, credit cards, overdrafts, and consumer asset finance.

Background: Run own finance brokerage business, orgranised finance for quite a few people from the forum, even the server for the site at one stage. I've worked in corporate and SME's in management, marketing, sales and consulting. I've been married, divorced, 5 children, bought and sold houses and like many, made mistakes along the way. One of the precursors to my new career was I went onto:

https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/tools-and-resources/calculators-and-tools/superannuation-calculator

And punched in my current super and almost had a hearty when I saw what I could retire on. So I studied and the more I learnt and understood, the more I wanted to help others in achieving their goals, not only now but at a time when we should be kicking back and enjoying life. So here I am, here to help fellow forumites if need be with general queries, or if they want to go beyond that, a complimentary financial health check at one of our offices on the Gold Coast, Brisbane or Tweed. For someone interstate, it can be done over the phone and via email.

Now before we get onto paying off mortgages, purchasing income producing assets, we need to have an understanding about what actually is financial planning. The reason being is most people really don’t have an understanding of what it is or they think it is out of their reach.

In a perfect world people would be flowing through the front doors because they know that they need to engage in some sort of financial advice. But they don’t and in many cases it’s because they think it is out of their reach. So onto this updates topic:

What is financial planning?

In simple terms, financial planning is the process of developing strategies to assist clients with managing their financial affairs to meet life goals. Sounds simple enough, and your right, it isn’t rocket science. But losing weight isn’t rocket science either, yet for many (including myself) it isn’t easy to achieve. For many people to lose weight, they bring in a professional, a personal trainer who is going to assist them and drive/direct them to achieve their goals. Financial planning is very similar, we help people get “financially fit”.

How we do this is to undertake the six step financial planning process which includes getting to know a client; collecting relevant information; analysing and assessing their situation; developing suitable strategies and recommendations; implementing these; and then reviewing and evaluating on a regular basis. It’s not a wham, bam, thank you very much exercise, but a partnership over the life of the relationship.

As a financial planner, we must assess a clients’ current financial situation, their goals, and what actions the client must take in order to reach those goals. We approach each financial decision as part of a holistic process, which is a trendy word for looking at a client’s whole situation, not just one aspect of it. This process enables consideration of both the clients’ short and long-term effects on their life goals.

Our role is not just about giving advice on superannuation and retirement. We can also assist clients in planning for all life events such as: buying a house, getting married, having children, paying for schooling, illness and injury, being made redundant, aged care and estate planning.

We do this by working with the client to:

• Identify and set financial goals
• Budget/ Cash flow management
• Manage debt
• Save and invest
• Be appropriately insured
• Manage tax

There is a misconception that financial advice and having a financial plan is only for those earning high incomes or reaching retirement. However, the reality is that financial advice can benefit all Australians, helping them reach financial security and reduce their reliance on Government benefits.

Well, hopefully that gives a bit of insight as to what financial planning is all about.

So what can I do for you?

For individuals/ couples, it’s predominately about wealth creation and getting ahead, or what we like to say, get “financially fitter”. It’s looking at the following key areas:

• Paying out your mortgage quicker- on average our clients are clearing private debt in 8 years, saving $335,616 in future mortgage payments.
• Saving on your tax-on average our clients received a tax refund of $11,632 last year
• Fund Your Expenses- On average our clients spent $5716 on home renovations last year. Could be school expenses, house renovations.
• Travel- on average our clients spent $4054 on their holidays.
• Retire happy- on average our clients will retire earning $72,118 each year for the remainder of their lives and most importantly still maintain their current lifestyle. (Figures based on actual client data at end 31/12/2012).

I can also look at other important aspects like ensuring you and your family are well protected against unforeseen circumstances, how to better magnage your cash flow ( ask me for a Cash flow spreadsheet and I can email one to you), plus anything else that will help achieve your current and future goals.

If you have a business or for the place you work at, I can also hold Financial Literacy Seminars for your staff at no cost to the business. We currently hold these seminars for corporate, government and other businesses in general. Companies that have provided financial education programs for their staff have found the following:

• An increase in talent retention.
• Improvement in workplace productivity
• Improvement in employee morale; and
• Increased company loyalty.

The reason for this is that many staff are financially stressed, so by helping and educating them to be more financially literate results in the above outcomes. To find out more and have a copy of our program sent out to you (hard copy and email formats), let me know.

Business Partnership Program: I am also looking for referral partners for what is known as our Lead Peer Business Partnership Program. We have non remunerated and remunerated models through to potential JV options. We currently have referral partners in the accounting, legal, insurance and mortgage broking space and open to other professions. I am looking to build my own base of referral sources with people that I know and have conducted business with before. That way any clients referred can be put back through to the referrer and if I have clients outside of the referral base that requires specific professional services, which I am then able to refer them to someone with whom I am partnered with.

Now to find out all about this and whether there is anything that can be done, I offer a complimentary 2 hour financial health check up. For people that maybe interstate and can't make it to an office, we can do it over the phone and via email. At the end of the day, I cannot make anyone take control of their financial future, that desire needs to be driven by you. I am purely here to help facilitate and advise. Any queries or questions, write away, or PM me for more information or to organise a catch up,

Regards

Stevo

P.S. I also have a FB page feel free to like and share with people you know who may benefit. It's at https://www.facebook.com/stevosbetterlifeaheadforyou

P.S.S. Take my survey, once I have enough results I will answer some of the queries on there. It can be found at Financial Health Check Survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SDB2VG2)

P.S.S.S I am working to see if I can get a discount for AULRO members who after an initial consult wish to proceed with a financial plan.

stevo68
30th October 2013, 11:43 AM
For those that did the survey, interim results can be found here...

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/showthread.php?p=2017393#post2017393

Regards

Stevo

rovercare
30th October 2013, 07:51 PM
Hmmmm, Financial advice I only take from those whom actually have made there own wealth, I figure anyone else doesn't really know?

Pickles2
31st October 2013, 07:02 AM
Hmmmm, Financial advice I only take from those whom actually have made there own wealth, I figure anyone else doesn't really know?
Well, I'm a self funded retiree, so I guess I've made my own "wealth" if I could call it that.
Quite simple really, "Rome wasn't built in a day", & the secret is EARLY PLANNING. Don't just spend ya surplus dollars, pay off that mortgage ASAP, when ya've done that, well what I did anyway, was start buying blue chip shares, ANZ shares in my case, & a few others, & I also put extra into my super for the last years of my working life, all of which was a bit of a sacrifice then, but which has made a BIG difference now.
PLAN EARLY. Pickles.

stevo68
31st October 2013, 07:54 AM
Thanks for the responses. Firstly, financial advice is more than just "creating wealth".....wealth will be defined differently between person to person. Advice can be about cash flow management, risk protection, estate planning, tax structuring, debt reduction, super/SMSF,aged care and so on.

Going back to wealth creation strategies, its not necessarily about making someone wealthy as that is not always going to be possible. ..if it were most people would retire financially independent. Statistically most don't. 95-97% of retirees retire on an income less than $37k and most will need the aged pension. Therefore "wealth creation" in that area is helping a person/couple to improve that outcome whilst they can.

Some people like Pickles (and well done) don't need advice or maybe they did and could have had even better outcomes. But thats not most people. The people who get and use advice the most are the ones who are already wealthy, the people who probably need it the most don't seek advice.

In terms of getting advice from someone who is already wealthy...horses for courses. I work with well experienced people who have studied, years of experience in their late 20's helping and assisting many people to better their situation. They are are also on their way to building wealth but as Pickles points out it takes time. Time is a major factor in creating wealth and then how to maximise that wealth.

My role is to help people in all different areas and something I am passionate about as I have had wealth, almost lost it and rebuilt it again. If I knew what I did now or saw and adviser 10 years ago, id be armed with the information and strategies to be in an even better situation. Thankfully for me and anyone else it is never to late.

Thanks for the comments and opportunity to respond

Regards

Stevo

Sent from my GT-I9305T using AULRO mobile app

rovercare
31st October 2013, 06:52 PM
Ok, what does a 30yo with a more than substantial income do?, I will own my own home outright in 2 years approx, I've just bought another property which somehow to my suprise will go positive geared, I'm buying a house in a holiday location, which, dependant on how much the family uses it may become a holiday rental.

The way I see it is, I'm 30 and Super is a lost cause for me, my income is derived from both foreign income and business income, neither attract compulsory super contributions, which suits me as I don't wanna wait till 67, more like 47

Investing in blue chip/shares etc is work, I've worked with alot of dudes whome have done well like this, but they have put in large hours and I simply am not interested, so I'd have to use an investor, which I don't like the idea off either

What can self managed super funds offer for those whom want to retire early? I've not heard much about them, aside from the accounting expense and you really need like 200k to start one?

What else is there? property is all I can think off

scarry
31st October 2013, 08:11 PM
I'm 30 and Super is a lost cause for me

I used to think the same,but i was completely wrong.

In fact when i was your age,the super rules were completely different,and it was not as popular.

Today,there are so many advantages,they outway the negatives immensely.

I am now in my early 50's,could be a self funded retiree if i wanted,but i will run my business a bit longer while i enjoy it.

Where we went wrong was we should have bought our commercial properties in a SMS,not a trust.

This alone would save us thousands in tax each year,as they are all payed for.

I don't know the rules as to when Super can be taken,etc,but if you want to be self funded at an earlier age,maybe still put some things in a super fund,not all.

Or have a chat with Stevo,he should be able to sort it out.....

Good advice is your friend

Oh,and i don't mind defenders either....!


.

Vern
31st October 2013, 08:55 PM
Been thinking on the lines of SMS as well in regards to a commercial property, sick of all the mess around the house and business is getting bigger and bigger, although so are the headaches:(:)

stevo68
1st November 2013, 08:08 AM
Hey all, some great questions. I am at a professional development day for 2 days so will give a response later today/ tomorrow. Good to see people taking an interest in these important things, top stuff

Regards

Stevo

Sent from my GT-I9305T using AULRO mobile app

scarry
1st November 2013, 07:56 PM
business is getting bigger and bigger, although so are the headaches:(:)

Been there,done that;)

I know,it is often an unavoidable part of business,sometimes not for the better.

I downsized about 3 or 4 years ago now,best thing i ever did.Walked away from some massive contracts.
Now we just pick and choose our customers/work.
Profits are up,headaches are down....
Sleepless nights are also gone:)

stevo68
4th November 2013, 09:59 AM
Morning all,

Ok to run through some of the queries. I am only going to give some general responses. My industry is heavily compliant, so if you want specific advice based on your personal situation, let me know and I can organise a time for a chat.

So going off a few area's that have been bought up, one thing to consider is **** happens. What can look rosy today can be a completely different kettle of fish tomorrow and in the future. So one thing is to make sure what you have got is protected through the relevant insurance. Anyone's biggest asset is not their house, car etc it is their ability to generate an income. So one thing is to ensure having the correct personal and business insurances in place.

Diversification is another one, do not put all your eggs in one basket. There are 4 things that generate growth, Super, Managed Funds, Own business, property. Super is an excellent vehicle for forced savings and long term growth. For the average 30 yr old they will need super/ income producing assets of around $1.6million at retirement to generate a comfortable income. Also remember we are living longer, for some people retirement maybe be 20+ yrs. Back in the day aged pension/ retirement was based on the fact that most people dropped off after 3 yrs. That has changed dramatically since then.

When it comes to investment properties, it pays to do the sums, also remembering the days of massive growth on property has been and gone and that it is more likely going to be incremental growth.

Thing is most people have a cashflow strategy, most don't have an investment strategy.

As for SMSF, yes one does need to have a certain amount to invest. Secondly only a fool would set one up if they didnt have the relevant knowledge and experience/ or a good adviser, plus the time. Again there are pro's and cons and again would depend on a persons situation and whether it would add or detract to what their goals are. It's almost become a bit trendy and there are people definately out to flog "SMSF" hence going to an independent adviser ( like myself) who isn't product aligned.

Thanks for all the scenario's, hope it helps. Note none of this is intended as advice but a general commentary. For advice for your situation, organise a time with myself ( initial chat/ financial health check up is complimentary) or see your adviser,

Regards

Stevo