Financial fundamentals for fruition

Real life stories (names changed).

30s

Mike and Sally have three beautiful children and a very busy life. When we met they were struggling to make ends meet and felt like they just weren’t getting anywhere. Sound familiar?

They both work full-time and earn good incomes. We worked with them to analyse where the leaks in their budget were. These ‘leaks’ were negating any potential for savings. So once they took ownership of their decisions, we guided them through the numbers. Mike & Sally now feel that they are working towards achieving their goals.

They had a few rather large credit card debts and felt that all their time and energy spend working and juggling a young family wasn’t getting them anywhere. They had some equity in their home loan, so we organised to repay the quite substantial credit card debt using this equity. They retained one card with a reduced limit, and repaid in full whatever was spent each month. Whilst they still have debt, the interest rate reduced from 21% to 4.35%. They are paying extra into their home loan to reduce the debt, however they now have spare funds which are being channelled into savings for their goals and items on their wish list.

Their mortgage is now under control and they are on track to take the children to Disneyland, which previously just seemed like a pipe-dream. Mike and Sally feel so much more empowered and in control of their own destiny. And they promise to send a postcard!

40s

Tracey and Geoff are in their mid-40s and they are now fully focused on enjoying life. This newfound freedom is exhilarating, however they also really looking at retirement in a different light, as it draws closer.

With the absence of school and university fees, they suddenly have surplus cashflow and want to enjoy the journey whilst ensuring the fun will last into retirement.

Within a short period of time, their mortgage was repaid, funds were going into superannuation for long term and we put together another investment strategy in place to save tax and grow their wealth (should they wish to retire before they can access their superannuation investments, due to Government set retirement ages).

Now they have an overseas trip every second year and are on track to retire early. Woohoo! Next edition we will look at the 50s and 60s age brackets!

Kath Orman

Originally published in Holistic Bliss Magazine, Issue Dec 2018 – Jan 2019.