melissamontang

How to move through the Apex Advice wealth model

[Video and edited transcript below]

The Apex Advice Wealth Model

The above model is the Apex Advice Wealth Model. This is our proven framework for the four stages of money progress.

At the top we have financial freedom. That’s basically when you can wake up one day and do whatever it is that you feel like. Unfortunately, less than 5% of us ever get to that point, through lack of strategy, structure and planning, we’re chained to our desk until we’re in our sixties waiting for our super to vest and the age pension to bail us out.

To circumvent that process, we need the next level down: we need income that has nothing to do with work, aka passive income.

The next level down is we need to build up assets over time, generally through shares and property. And then to make this process and our progress nice and sustainable, we need to have the foundation set.

So have our finger on the post pulse with our money flow, have our debts organised so they’re used as a tool (good debt and not bad debt that we’re consuming), have our risks managed both from a investment risk and a personal insurance risk…and then have our estate planning all perfectly organised so your assets are passed on the way you want.

The thing with building assets though, is on a spreadsheet, it’s best if you do it all via super because of the tax efficiencies of that environment. However, if you’re in your thirties and forties and even your twenties you don’t wanna put all your eggs in that basket because superannuation is preserved until you’re in your sixties. So, if we just focus all on your super, you will be chained to your job without that freedom.

Introducing the financial bridge

So what we need to do is get this concept of a financial bridge through our through our minds. And that’s essentially where we wanna create a flexible pot of money, generally through shares and property so that when we’re in our early fifties, you can create a financial bridge until you’re 60 that can deliver you a lifestyle. And you’ve got freedom of choice over your work status. So it might be that you take six months off a year. It might be that you pack your job in and go do a lower paying job that really lights you up. You might choose to keep working. You might have other costs like schooling that you want to use the funds for, but ultimately we’re just trying to create a bridge so that you’re not chained to your work, to your 60 without choice over what you do day to day.

If you wanna learn more, feel free to book in and have an intro chat. Thanks all.

Book in an appointment to discuss further

Click here to book in an appointment now and talk about your specific situation.

Please remember that the information above is provided as general advice only. The contents have been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should, before you make any decision regarding any information, strategies or products mentioned on this website, consult your own financial advisor to consider whether that is appropriate having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.

Apex Advice client goes from $70,333 in debt to home ownership in 24 months – find out how.

Background

In this case study, we’ll share how a recent Apex Advice client went from debt to home ownership in 24 months. The client is in her mid-30s, single with good income ($120k) but $0 in savings (in fact, the client had $70,333 in debt) and assets worth about $12,000 in shares.

The challenge

The client wanted to learn how to improve her savings and money management, and didn’t know much about tax minimisation or investing. She found herself with little left over from pay to pay and struggled with bill shock. Like many Australians, our client faced lots of consumption debts such as credit card and personal loans, as well as Afterpay – to the point where she was unsure anymore what charge was for what purchase. Due to shift work and lifestyle, the client was also time poor.

What did we do?

The first step we took was to put a clear strategy and some structure in place. We created a roadmap to help keep everyone accountable, and provided some education on how to get the most out of money, including what to do with the clients shares and superannuation. Our plan included how to get rid of the consumption debts, with the main objective of home ownership ASAP. And, most importantly, we made sure to allow for some balance, so the client could still enjoy travel and gym memberships. Our steps included:

• Selling shares to repay debt
• Setting up the Apex Advice MoneyFlow system, including an automated banking structure to help the client feel confident that her money is organised
• Reviewing superannuation and contributions with the view to use the First Home Super Saver Scheme
• Provided Education around financial matters including options for first home buyers.

Outcome and benefits

The client was happy with a clear framework for day-to-day money management. She started saving over 30% of her income and was able to fast track her path to home ownership. After 12 months, the client celebrated being debt-free. After 24 months, she was able to purchase her first home (and pulled the trigger on the decision with confidence). Now, with our first two goals well and truly ticked off the list, we’ve restructured the client’s retirement savings in line with her needs, and turn our eyes to the next big goal. What will that be? We’ll see, and for right now we’re happy that our client feels like the sky is the limit!

Do you want support in achieving YOUR financial dreams? Book in an appointment to discuss your situation.

Click here to book in an appointment now and talk about your specific situation.

Please remember that the information above is provided as general advice only. The contents have been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should, before you make any decision regarding any information, strategies or products mentioned on this website, consult your own financial advisor to consider whether that is appropriate having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.

Apex Advice talks about blocking out the noise around market volatility

[Video and edited transcript below]

Apex Advice Director & Senior Financial Adviser John Manserra provides us with a quick update about investment behaviours following recent market volatility.

“Hi all, with all the doom and gloom out there today and the last few weeks when it comes to investing, I thought I’d just touch base to go over a few key concepts. As you will have heard me bang on about over time, it’s important to try and hack your behaviours and not panic.

“At the moment, with everything happening in the world, we’ve got UK stimulus, US fears of a recession, we’ve got Vladimir over in Russia doing what he’s doing and the geo-political things that surround that, this is all creating a really big melting pot for volatility and a point of maximum fear.

“And, as the great man Warren Buffett says, ‘Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful.’

What does it mean to ‘hack your investment behaviours’?

“We need to get through our minds this concept of ‘time in the market’ not ‘timing.’ That is, buying good quality assets and staying invested versus trying to move to and from cash, reacting to the noise. And you can see here (image below) that people that try to do that, their annualised returns over long periods do get diminished significantly.

There’s a big difference between speculating and investing. Speculating is ‘I’m going to pick and choose when I go to cash or stay invested, or over what assets to buy’, versus picking good quality assets, buying them and letting them do their things over time. Ideally, if you’ve got capital available to buy at points of maximum fear, which is where we’re sort of approaching now.

You’re going to see more of this sort of stuff, ‘markets mauled’ media in your face about investments going backwards. Again, we need to get our head around the concept of time in the market and not timing, and not react like everyone else by trying to sell down good quality assets at low points, and we need to hack our behaviours and don’t let the media play their role in making you fearful.

This one (image below) is just to get through your mind around taking a zoomed out approach, and what we can see from the early 90s all the way through ’til 2022, if you look at this section here we can see multiple events which have created points of high fear. We’ve got terrorist attacks, Bali bombings, dot com bubbles, all the way through to GFC, tsunamis, oil spills, you name it… even Brexit and COVID19, they’re all sort of blips on the radar now, so what we need to do is take a timed out approach, buy good quality assets, and let them do their things over time. If you want to discuss your portfolios at all, please feel free to get in touch.

Book in an appointment to discuss further

Click here to book in an appointment now and talk about your specific situation.

Please remember that the information above is provided as general advice only. The contents have been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should, before you make any decision regarding any information, strategies or products mentioned on this website, consult your own financial advisor to consider whether that is appropriate having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.