John, 47, and Lisa, 42, had been married for 16 years with two children aged 14 and 9. Lisa had stopped work after having her first child to become a stay-at-home mum; John had started out with an international technology company. As John and Lisa’s family grew, John’s flourishing career saw him change jobs and companies several times before eventually settling in a challenging and rewarding position that suited his values.
John was offered shares in each company he worked for and he had his superannuation provided through his employers’ superannuation funds, which had low-cost group insurance benefits attached. John was unaware, however, that on leaving each company it was possible for this insurance to lapse, which meant he might not have been covered when he needed it most.
John’s superannuation nest egg was spread across a series of super funds: costly and inefficient from a wealth-building perspective. He had also accumulated a sizeable share portfolio in companies he no longer worked for, with his investment exposure overly concentrated in that industry sector.
Equitas Partners’ advice
John and Lisa were keen for their long-term wealth accumulation strategy to be flexible and tax-effective. We established a self-managed superannuation fund to act as the central platform to hold all their combined assets and insurances. If John were to change roles in the future, his investment strategy would remain intact. John and his family would also be protected against any financial storm to come.
We ascertained John and Lisa’s appropriate level of personal risk insurance coverage, and fully managed the cover establishment process. We also referred them to an external estate planning specialist. As a result, John and Lisa gained tremendous peace of mind that if something was to happen to either of them, their children would be looked after financially.
A strategy was also put in place to progressively take the profits from the company shares John had acquired and to invest the proceeds into a family trust.
John and Lisa’s assets were appropriately structured for the lasting benefit of their family. This was achieved very tax-effectively as due to the children’s ages, trust income could be distributed across the family unit, lowering their overall marginal tax rate.