5 expensive mistakes of the unadvised


5 expensive mistakes of the unadvised

 

Sometimes helping people avoid expensive mistakes can be as valuable as setting you on the right path to achieving your goals.


People will sometimes say they can’t afford financial advice. But for many, not having advice can be twice as expensive.

 

Not only can we guide you along the road to achieving your financial goals but we can also help you avoid the potholes on the way.

Some common mistakes made by clients who haven’t received financial advice and ways on how we demonstrate our value in our conversations with you.

1. Too little too late

Most people only go through retirement once in your lives. Many financial planners go through it on a weekly basis. Too often, planners see what happens when people face retirement with too little money to sustain a comfortable retirement and too little time to make up the deficit.

 

Even clients that have sought advice earlier in life are sometimes reluctant to commit to a plan to reach your retirement goals. They cite mortgages, renovations, overseas travel, school fees and not planning to stop working as reasons to put off seriously investing in your long-term future.

 Our value is in education and discipline.
 

A nest egg will give you the freedom to choose to stop working or slow down when they choose.
 

The government has deliberately set up a system that favours those who start early and stay on track.


The combination of compound interest and Government incentives favour the tortoise over the hare.

 Our role then is to deliver a structure and strategy to give you the best chance of achieving your goals.


2. Pay unnecessary taxes and fees

People generally don’t want to pay more tax than they need to. But they quite often do.

Taxes can act as a drag on our clients’ efforts to achieve your financial goals. This is where our technical expertise and relationships with specialist tax accountant can make a huge difference to clients. Working with the accountant, we can help clients to identify taxes and understand your options.

Here are three taxes we speak to our clients about:

  • 15% tax on earnings in super for clients over 55
  • Excess contributions tax for superannuation payments
  • Potential salary sacrifice contributions taken as income
  • Capital gains tax on short-term investments

Paying more fees than is necessary can have a similar effect to the above taxes. Some examples to speak to clients about include:

  • administration fees on multiple super funds
  • self managed super funds with low balances
  • older-style “fee-guzzling” investment products
  • complex investment schemes that add little value and are not understood by the client

3. Fall for investment fads

Investing can be very emotional. Envy and greed often tempt clients to chase hot asset classes, sharemarket sectors, managed funds or property schemes.

 History shows that this rarely pays over the long term. Tech stocks, speculative mining stocks and highly leveraged property investments have all caused financial hardship for a large number of retail investors.

 

As a financial adviser, we can provide discipline for our clients to take the emotion out of investing by helping you understand your attitude to risk and educating you on a strategic investment framework that is appropriately diversified and tailored to your individual risk appetite.

 And by maintaining an ongoing service relationship, we help you maintain a long-term investment focus, practice dollar cost averaging and rebalance your portfolio in line with your strategy.


4. It won’t happen to me
Clients are often either unaware or unwilling to admit that risk exists in your lives. We can help you articulate by developing a contingency plan (sometime called a “plan B”).

 
The contingency plan includes an inventory of the risks faced by clients and the way they are currently managed.

 We can then work together to identify any gaps in your plan B and show you your options in relation to managing those risks.


5. Fail to plan

As the old saying goes, “if we fail to plan, we plan to fail”.

 Clients are very unlikely to achieve your major life goals, if they fail to first articulate those goals and secondly put a framework in place to achieve you.
 

This is where we step in. Goals often lie under the surface in a person’s sub-conscious.
 

 Our value is helping people to identify and articulate these goals and then to help you visualise what success looks like.
 

If your goal is to see the world, ask you to visualise stepping on the plane.

  If your goal is to pay off your mortgage, ask you to visualise what it will feel like to make your last payment.

Once our client’s have the vision, they will be far more motivated to achieve those goals.

 We can you help you on the best strategies to achieve those goals. Call today on 07 3848 1088 or email
 

John McAuliffe

Are you having fun & Super is a con.


Pauline asked us that question whilst enjoying great hospitality with Steve on Saturday night. 
Are you reluctant to say ‘no we are not having fun’ as that would be an admission of failure. But can we say ‘yes we are having fun’.

We suggest at the school drop off to ‘have fun’  at school when we drop them off. We hope they do.

We  suspect however that most families don’t.   Australians on average have as much wealth as anyone who has lived before .  There are 132,000 millionaire families here & surely they are having some fun.

We would suggest that they are having fun because they have no debt & are working for themselves.

This week Porter S who writes a global wealth newsletter says that is exactly what to tell your kids.

1.       to not have debt

2.       to be self employed. [Steve is self employed & having fun as he has a passion for his work]

You are welcome to email us for that advice that Porter provided. He argues ‘they could be a millionaire by the age of 40’.

When we meet our PCMS* clients for the first time & every subsequent meeting we remind them that ‘they will pay back to the bank 3 times ‘at least what they borrowed. If the average Australian debt is say $400,000 then no wonder the banks are profitable. No wonder Australians have little else.

Terry aged 68 was only too happy this morning with the CBA dividends that he received & he will claim back the franking credits on the taxx that the CBA has paid next taxx return.

However too many listen to their Mums & must buy a house as they always go up. Professor Steve on Business TV this week was saying & has been for some years that ‘house prices will deflate over the next 10 years by 40%’.

More than one third of those who bought a house in 2008 now owe more than the house is worth.

Another very good reason for your kids to wait .

We have  always suggested that if you are to buy a house & yes families need & deserve a home

That

1.       Will you have 30% deposit so as you have the better bank loan & maybe the mortgage is cheaper than the rent.

2.       is this your last home as costs such as stamp duty & commissions are a year’s savings?.

3.       Where are you sending the children to school?

If not then your kids should wait. Porter suggested & we have previously harped on it that there are too many who marry then buy a house on too little, then have a family which means 1 income with many mouths & then divorce. Great for the Bottom Feeders.

No wonder no fun.

On Sunday we were discussing Harry Potter with another Mum who wanted  a pool. Another pet hate when there is a council pool which produces Olympians only 1 K away.  $30,000 which would be better off in the debt & not paying back 90,000+.

When we commented that we don’t expect the government to allow lump sums to pay off the mortgage on retirement this Mum she articulated ‘Super is a con’.

We are in agreement with her when we all feel that Bill Moth & Precious Penny & Co can’t keep their hands out of your 1 trillion cookie jar. All governments & they are all the same must change this age of entitlement & reduce their footprint over us.

We are also in agreement with the CPA, the government’s other compliance officers, who similarly suggest ‘the nation is headed for a retirement savings "disaster" and calls on the government to examine placing limits on access to lump-sum payments upon retirement.’

You may not be able to pay off the mortgage, buy the new car, take that canal trip or the cruise.

It is all of these factors which are out of one’s control which provide that feeling of no fun.

There is fun when you feel more in control. You are more in control when the what ifs can be answered.
 As we discussed with Archie recently ‘what if the banking system goes or your are redundant today’. Do you have cash under the mattress for that?

You are more in control when you have no debt but that takes a desire & taxx minimising & discipline to achieve that.

If you are not having fun then you are welcome to call on 07 3848 1088 or email to progress to fun.

Our PCMS* & Debt Zapper work if you want them to.

Mark is happier  today when he knows that if he comes off his bike that the family is cared for & the family doesn’t have to rely on the widow’s pension which is only for 14 weeks.
Check out our website for your own  estimate of your needs. Your super won’t have a million cover & last after retirement.

You may have more fun when you have a little nest egg outside the super & the house as both are illiquid & can’t be accessed. We have some ideas on that portfolio which might include ‘fondling gold’ this year.  We have model portfolios for your attitude to risk.

What if as is forecast that interest rates drop to 2%. Yes great for those with a mortgage but poor for Terry who is living off his savings income. However as a retired adviser he bought in to CBA @ $25. You may not want to do so at the current CBA $57.

As we suggested to Cheryl yesterday everyone has their own financial problem & hence they require their tailored solution . This can mean more fun for you. We await postcards from Cheryl who is off to China & Thomas & Allison who are doing a 49 day cruise around South America. They are having fun as no debt & income from investments. Neither are relying on Big government.

It is exactly 2 years since we earned our Jameson tasting certificate. It is time for more fun.

You are welcome to call today on 07 3848 1088 or email or visit our websites

 

John McAuliffe