Chris’s Story

 

You don’t know when you’re going to die really. I’ve had mates die that were my age a few years back and stuff like that. So the way I think about it is this…

If you’re going to plan for the future, the only guarantees is you’re going to die eventually. So you might as well plan for that as well.

I was previously working at Westfield for about seven years and then obviously they did their the big cuts during COVID, and I was one of the cuts. You know, it gave me a bit of space to examine, well, what is it I’m passionate about and where do I want to go next? And luckily enough, I’d kind of built up a bit of savings and all that.

The tough thing was my partner was in Qantas. She lost a job a bit before me, and I was like, “Oh, that’s fine, I’m working.” And then I lost my job.

In hindsight, I say it was a stressful one but I think at the time because of COVID, I had no idea what was going to happen, and we were both panicking for a bit.

I guess because we had that job scare and everything thinking, Well, I want to now make sure that I’m secure in the long term, you know, because I have an investment property before but I made a few of the rookie mistakes when I got it.

I wanted to kind of do it right this time around and just set myself up because I just didn’t want to be in that panicked state again.

That’s probably why I listened to  The Property Couch and also reached out to you guys to get a big bit of a portfolio going.

(The Property Porfolio Plan) It was quite in-depth. If I did it myself, I don’t think I would have done after this stuff, and I would have missed a lot, a lot of things. So because they looked at all our numbers and stuff, it was very guided. I even still look at those figures now and say, okay, well, I should have this much in my offset tracking pretty well.

We were originally going to be looking (to buy) in Geelong. I thought we would just outsource it to a buyer’s agent because they go in and they do all the work. I found Bryan quite helpful. We had a few different properties that we’re kind of interested in, and he gave the pros and cons, and he was quite in-depth as well. And then he also knew a few of the agents up there and they gave us a great opportunity, and now we’ve got, a brilliant asset in Queensland.

I was always interested in getting a property, but like thinking about my super and stuff never really crossed my mind. I mean, I’d never actually looked at any of their policies and things like that, and then I ever had the thought that, okay, well, if I pass away, Mel’s going to be left with a debt from my first property, and then how she’s going to service different things?

I think it was just the defense position that got me to engage Liz, our Financial Planner.

I guess it was just like, well, not like a backup, but just to make sure we had all our ducks in a row.

When it comes to insurance, everyone insures their car really, and half the people don’t even question why. But at the end of the day, your body is probably more important than your vehicle, you know, because if something happens to you, well, that’s your earning capacity, your greatest asset.

So why wouldn’t you insure yourself?

And I think COVID was almost a bit of a wakeup call in that sense. Like that was a force can’t work. But what happens as I get old and my back starts hurting or something like that, I can’t run around? Well, don’t I want a backup plan and stuff like that.

And then I guess with super, I would say there are tax benefits to that.

We’re in a country where you have to get super, so why not actually examine your super and think about what’s the best way to get the most money out of it and the best way that it looks after me, as opposed to just taking a box to do it.

I wouldn’t say that was always at the front of my mind, but definitely, as I thought about the whole journey, I think I wouldn’t be able to do it without having those safety nets in place.

And, you know, for myself or my partner, if anything were to happen to either of us, it wouldn’t become a burden. But at least then, you know, those assets can actually be income producing.

We have so many other problems, but at least that one’s ticked off.

 

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