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Testimonial

Elizabeth Foley

Consultant
Capital Markets CRC Limited

My husband and I recently asked Jason Poole to review our finances for the purposes of retirement planning. My husband is about to turn 60 and is semi-retired and I am 55 and still in an executive position. We wanted to look at the financial impact of various retirement timing strategies we were considering. I was also finding it more difficult to ‘sleep’ with the level of debt we had, even though the majority was tax deductible, positioned to offset income tax.
We were not looking for ‘purchasing products’ advice. We just want to know how long both of us had to keep working, part time or full time, and when and how we would start to dismantle the debt leveraging. I have 20 years experience in the financial services industry, and a Master of Finance, so you would think I would know all this. It’s hard to be detached when reviewing your own financial situation. I, in particular, wanted to see the modelling of our finances under different economic scenarios, and different post-retirement spending levels, should heaven forbid, there be another GFC during our lifetimes.

We had to articulate our lifestyle goals, and recognise that my husband and I had a different appetite for investment risk. Jason took our goals and our current budget and financials and stress tested a number of scenarios.

There were no big surprises, but I felt more assured that we could continue to live our current lifestyle without worry. So I am much more relaxed about our spending.

In addition, Jason reviewed our life insurances. We had only done that 12 months before with another insurance expert. But under the scenario testing we found we could half Stephen’s life cover this year, and get rid of it the next year, and reduce my TPD cover by about 40%. This will save our superannuation fund $3,600 this year and $5,600 next year, and on-goingly, which more than covers the cost of the advice.

A large chunk of the advice fees are also tax deductible in our situation.

All around, we are feeling much more confident in our financial situation as we move into the final phases of our careers. The advice we received will pay for itself in reduced insurance costs within two years, and my husband and I have a much better shared understanding of the path ahead.