Case Study – Daniel & Briana

Daniel and Briana are recently married and would like to start a family within the next 12 months.

We recommended they commence a regular savings plan to accumulate as much money as possible before starting a family.  The savings they accumulate can be used to supplement income whilst Briana is on maternity leave. 

We also referred Daniel and Briana to a specialist mortgage broker to convert their loan to an interest only loan.  This reduced their minimum monthly loan repayments, which in-turn will help their cash flow whilst Briana is on maternity leave.

Daniel and Briana’s didn’t have any personal insurance cover.  We established a comprehensive range of personal insurances including critical illness cover.  We included an option on Briana’s critical illness policy to provide an additional lump-sum if she experiences any complications of pregnancy. 

Both Daniel and Briana’s super were held in funds established by their employers.  These funds were expensive, paid a commission to an adviser they have never met and delivering poor returns.  We rolled-over their super into a new ‘wholesale’ super fund with low fees and a wide investment choice.

We recommended Daniel and Briana participate in the Apex Portfolio Service, so that we can effectively manage their super and assist them work through the various government incentives that are available to young families.


Case Study - Emma

Meet Emma, she is 26 years old and earns $55,000 per annum.  She has approximately $35,000 accumulated in super across three different retail funds.  Emma wants to save to buy her first home and manage her credit card debts.

We provided Emma with a detailed budget and a savings plan to help her: a) pay off her credit card quickly and b) to save to buy her first home.

We also recommended that Emma consolidate her super into one fund with low fees.  In doing this Emma saved money by paying less in administration and fund manager fees. 

Emma had a considerable amount of life insurance in her existing superannuation fund.  Emma did not want or need this level of cover, and could save money by reducing the sum insured. 

However, Emma did need the security of knowing that she would be looked after in the event of serious illness or disability.  We provided Emma with a disability insurance policy and income protection insurance.  These insurances were funded from Emma's new super  fund - so it did not reduce Emma's take-home pay!
 

Case Study - John & Dianne

Meet John and Dianne, they are aged 55 and 53 and own and operate their own business.  They wish to retire in 10 years and want to maximise their super benefits.

We provided John and Dianne with a detailed budget to help them control their expenses in the important years leading up to their retirement.

We also recommended that as John was aged 55, he start a Transition to Retirement and Salary Sacrifice strategy.  By doing this it helped John to:

    a) reduce the amount of tax he personally has to pay,
    b) reduce the amount of tax that his superannuation fund has to pay, and
    c) to boost his superannuation balance as he approaches retirement.

Dianne had life insurance funded personally outside of superannuation.  As this was not tax effective, we recommended that she replace this insurance with insurance funded by her superannuation fund - thereby saving her money.