Albert and Nicola, aged 43 are medical professionals with both employed roles in public hospitals and private consulting income.  As high income earners, their primary objective was to ensure they were capturing their surplus income and directing that to effective strategies.  With their busy careers and a young family, finding time to focus on their finances was a challenge.

In the early stages, it was important for Albert and Nicola to connect and discuss what they wanted their future to look like.  The result of this was:

  1. Wishing to plan for reduced working hours as the children got older, so that they could invest time in their education and life experiences.
  2. Private school education
  3. An upgrade to the family home
  4. Significant annual travel to visit family overseas
  5. A possible property purchase overseas for retirement
  6. A transition away from hospital based work into further consulting work for the benefit of work life balance and enjoying the consulting work more
  7. Wanting to ensure that their family plan was protected in the event of ill health
  8. Retirement at age 57

Their final plan mapped out an effective process to upgrade the family home in the first 12 months.  The overseas property option was explored and discounted in the short term – for review again closer to retirement.  They were able to use some of their superannuation savings to purchase a private consulting room and commence the transition into further consulting work.  The balance of superannuation was invested in a low cost, diversified portfolio in addition to a further portfolio outside of superannuation to see them build savings in preparation for their planned early retirement.

As they were now managing an SMSF, Company and individual assets, a robust cashflow structure was prepared to ensure the funds were flowing correctly amongst the entities and relevant taxation matters were accounted for.

A comprehensive insurance and estate plan were designed to ensure the family lifestyle could continue in the event of death or disability of Albert or Nicola.

We see many professional couples facing a similar scenario where they have little time to focus on themselves and map out their futures.  When the time is invested into a meaningful planning process, they gain the certainty and peace of mind that allows them to focus on what’s most important to them.