David and Rhonda first approached us in 2006 – David had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and wanted to find the right people to ensure Rhonda and their two children were taken care of. David unfortunately passed away early in the relationship with Momentum and Rhonda was unaware of all of their financial affairs, including how to access any money from their bank accounts.
Our initial assistance involved helping Rhonda with her immediate needs; from working out how much was required to support her ongoing bills and living expenses, through to getting their assets, liabilities and insurances in order to finalise the estate.
During a period of high emotion and stress, Momentum helped Rhonda to see how her current position was looking and what options were available for the future. The clarity around her existing financial assets was of high importance, and allowed us to discuss what she was comfortable with holding, and which assets were no longer necessary – including structures such as a family trust, self-managed super fund and investment properties.
Once we had a clear understanding of Rhonda’s needs and the expenses for the children over the coming years, we helped Rhonda to map out a plan whereby she would take on some part time work to ensure that she had sufficient assets to support the family over the long term. Rhonda became used to living on a set allowance structure – empowering her to know that everything was on track.
We also helped Rhonda to consider the right level of life and disablement insurances – as the sole parent of two children this was of high importance, along with having her own Will and estate planning documents revised to reflect her current needs and wishes.
Following the sale of the family home and a period of renting while Rhonda decided on her next step, we were able to provide guidance on a new home purchase amount, which allowed for Rhonda to be in a smaller home with less maintenance and remain mortgage-free.
Rhonda was able to retire at age 56 and has started living solely on the superannuation pension from her available asset base, and her two children have grown and are now busy mapping out their own plans.