Proactive - Accounting Solutions

Peter & Debbie

The situation:

Peter and Debbie have worked hard over the years but had no real financial plan towards their retirement. Peter has been out at the mines for the past 20 years and Debbie has returned to the workforce in recent years after staying at home to raise the kids.

They have equity in their house but still a bit to go to pay it off. They also have some credit card debt and a car loan. Peter has a good amount of super in an industry fund and Debbie has accumulated a small balance since returning to work. They have a rental property that is negatively geared with a large loan on it. Peter and Debbie are interested in investing in the share market but are concerned at the possible risks.

What we did:

We had a meeting with Peter and Debbie to review their situation and make recommendations on how they could improve their wealth accumulation through using the equity in their home to clear their high interest credit card and car loan.

We also suggested that the use of salary sacrificing from their wages into superannuation up to the allowable limits could also help in providing for their retirement and reduce the tax they have been paying. We also discussed the pros and cons of having a novated lease through Peter’s work, as they needed to replace a car.

We provided advice on the tax benefits of the negatively geared rental property and also the need for the property to be increasing in value to make a return. We then referred them to our financial planner, who they met in our office. He discussed investing in general, assessed what type of investors they were, reviewed their insurances and discussed self-managed superannuation as a potential investment vehicle to accumulate wealth.

The result:

Peter and Debbie saved a significant amount of interest on credit cards and the car loan. They also saved tax by utilising salary sacrifice and a novated lease. They now understand the tax benefits of owning a negatively geared rental property but also the importance that the property continues to grow in value.

They decided that they would like to set up a self-managed superannuation fund and we assisted in doing this and attending to the administration of the fund. Our financial planner worked with them in putting together a portfolio of shares in the self-managed super fund that met their risk profile and provided for their retirement. Peter and Debbie were happy knowing that they now had a plan of where they were going and how they were going to get there.