Matt, a young professional working in the mining industry, and his wife Maddison were expecting their first baby when they went to meet with Julie Nipperess for the very first time.
Matt had met with financial planners before – he has a keen sense of the kind of commitment it takes to get ahead financially, particularly while his career is thriving and his earning power is strong.
But with Maddison stopping work to have the baby, Matt was keen to get advice about how to ensure that on his income alone, the couple could still enjoy a great lifestyle and meet their increasing financial commitments.
“Julie is different from any other financial planner I’ve ever met. She’s refreshing. Straight up. She talks real language. And she’s really passionate about helping young people to get ahead,” says Matt.
“I liked her immediately and she has really helped Maddison and me to get clear on what we want and how we’re going to achieve it,” he says. “I really felt straight away that she has our best interests at heart.”
Working as a team
For Matt and Maddison, one of the greatest advantages of seeing Julie was that she encouraged them to work together as a team. Having them both sit down and set financial goals and then create a family budget together cemented their commitment to their future plans.
“In a lot of relationships there’s a ‘spender’ and a ‘saver’,” says Julie. “If these two people are not working in sync, then they’ll take two steps forward and one step backwards, and never really get anywhere,” she explains.
“Matt and Maddison know what they want, and they’re committed to their financial goals, and now they have the tools to work together and make them happen,” says Julie.
Wealth protection
Matt says Julie also helped him to understand the importance of personal insurance, too – particularly Income Protection Insurance and Total and Permanent Disability Insurance – neither of which he’d had prior to meeting with her.
“I just assumed I was covered. But when Julie explained personal tailored insurance to us, I began to see it differently. Of course, it’s important that my family is looked after if I die, but it’s just as important to protect everything I’ve worked hard for if something happens to me and I can’t continue to work.”
“The right kind of insurance will help them protect the asset base they are building if Matt can’t keep working for any reason,” says Julie. “When you’ve got investments, like Matt and Maddison do, it’s really important to consider wealth protection mechanisms if something goes wrong and life takes an unexpected turn. With the right principles in place and the right insurance, you can make sure that your asset base is protected and not eroded.”
In addition to wealth protection, Julie has also devised a strategy to help the couple grow their investment portfolio, even while their income has been reduced, with Maddison now on maternity leave following the arrival of a beautiful baby boy.
As Matt says, “I have a family now, and I want to give them a good life. But I don’t want to spend all of my time working just so we can keep the bills paid, and never have time for my wife and children. It’s really important to me that we have a solid, workable financial plan that will enable us to enjoy life without sacrificing time with each other.”