The “Rest of the Way” Story

I’ve pigeon-holed this next story as showing the clients “the rest of the way”.

It’s not very often that we compliment people on phenomenal money management; but it was pretty clear that we had some really superior money managers in this particular story.

That’s a story being told by Stuart, one of our Qualified Property Investment Advisors out of our Sydney office. This is a pleasing story for me because this couple had done an incredible job of paying down debt, trapping surplus money; a good saving story. They’ve got a couple of kids, they live out of Sydney, and have a household income in the $150,000 – $200,000 range. And their “big rock in the jar” was about that dream home.

With this in mind, the Plan was really about making sure we could fit that dream home in there. They already had an owner-occupied property and an investment property, but their story was also about leaving a legacy for their children. So, a couple of kids. They wanted to make sure that they could provide for children both today, but build out that family wealth over the journey. And I think they’ve done terrifically well, but they hadn’t actually benchmarked themselves. They were surprised just how good a position they put themselves into by being great money managers, by having that delayed-gratification story. And that has simply meant that, from now on, all we have to do is buy two more investment properties. That’s all they’ve got to go. Right? And overall, they’re going to have three investment properties. They’ve got their one. The big rock in their jar was the dream home. We’ll make sure that’s sorted out and is also included inside the Plan. They realise they were in better position than they thought.

They love work, so they’re going to retire in their early 60s — but they’re going to have a passive income of $100,000, combined with the three investment properties, and also their super. They’re going to be self-funded retirees. They’re going to find financial peace. By showing them the final pathway forward, they were able to be validated to move forward. It was a really simplified plan. It was clear purpose. They’ve now got everyone on the same page. And, again for me, I love these stories because they’re “a whole of wealth” story for us — we’ve been able to build their Plan for them, we’ve organised their mortgage refinances, and we’re going to buy the property through the Buyers Agency team. So, that’s a real solid story to be able to say, “Congratulations on what you’ve done so far. You’ve now got trusted advice to take you on that final part of the journey. And we’re going to hold your hand, in terms of taking you through to that final stage.”

So, I love that story! Congratulations to this couple for putting themselves in such a great position, considering their household income is certainly not, for Sydney, excessive. They’re going to really enjoy the fruits of their labour in retirement.