At this stage of your life you have a spouse and a family. Things have become a little more hectic. Your children and potentially even your spouse are financially dependent on you. The kids may have started school by now and you may be feeling the family budget is being stretched with the extra costs. You have a family to provide for and this in turn means you have an even greater responsibility now to protect those closest to you!

So what can you do and what should you be thinking about at this stage in your financial life and how can we help you achieve your financial goals?

• There is no stage in life that will warrant a greater need for life insurance and income protection insurance. It is almost imperative at this stage of your life that you have some form of life insurance to protect the family you now have and love. You only need to ask yourself the simple question ‘what would my family do if I couldn’t work or even worse if I died?’ If you know your family could not afford to cover their essential living costs or could not maintain the lifestyle you want for them or achieve the life you want for them then now is the time to get the right advice and structure your life and income protection insurances appropriately. Even if you think you can’t afford it because the family budget is already too tight there may be other options like structuring it through your superannuation which we can advise you on
• Even if you already have some personal insurances like life insurance and income protection insurance in place these should be reviewed as what was originally put in place for you may need to be updated or adjusted to reflect any changes in your circumstances such as increased income, the addition of a spouse or dependants etc. You may even be able to achieve cost reductions in your premiums so feel free to ask for a quote
• Your super could very well be your family’s greatest asset. Setting up your superannuation in an investment that is suited to your long term goals and attitude towards risk. You will likely be contributing to your super for quite a long time so it is important you treat this like any other asset of yours and manage it efficiently and effectively
• Estate Planning – Your family is the most important thing in the world but have you protected them by putting in place wills, power of attorneys, guardianships. If you have a significant asset base there may even be opportunities to structure these in an extremely tax efficient way. We can help you structure these properly by having the right people advise you on this
• Getting any surplus cash flow you have working for you through either investments or an effective savings plan
• Budgeting and managing cash flow so that you can make the most out of your income stream and work towards saving for those financial goals that you have set for yourself. Or if things are tight at home budgeting can be an effective way to find out where the cash flow is going and working on ways to improve your cash flow and make ends meet
• Managing/structuring your debt in the most effective and cost efficient way
• Managing/structuring your investments and earnings in the most tax effective way
• If you are looking to finance any assets such as a car or home – ensuring you structure this in the best way and get the best rates on offer