Nurturing investing confidence

What were their challenges?

Matt was earning a good salary and Nicole had just returned to work after their youngest child had started school. They were paying off a mortgage and had no other debts. They were good at managing their money but felt they could be doing better and wanted to use their surplus income towards investments and growing wealth, but didn’t know where to start. They also wanted to send their boys to Catholic high schools and have a couple of big family holidays to the USA and Greece.

What did they overcome?

This had to do with a lack of education around investments, so inability to act out of fear of making the wrong decision. As a result of their lack of experience with investing, and parents that were also very risk averse, they had been fairly conservative to date. Through education and a slow and steady approach to their investing they are now comfortable with the various asset classes and how they are helping to meet their short, medium and long term goals.

How did I help?

Initially, with a mortgage restructure and cash flow advice to help pay down their home loan sooner while saving for their holidays, factoring in an emergency cash buffer and putting a little aside for investing.

We helped put in place a plan to start a small investment portfolio and regular savings plan as well as advice on their superannuation investments and contributions.

Once they were comfortable with their savings capacity, we helped them with the purchase of their first investment property. After one year and after reviewing their position, they were able to purchase a second investment property.

With growing confidence in their own strategies they have continued to grow their investments and are close to paying off their home loan, have taken annual overseas holidays including extended holidays to the USA and Greece, and are on track for a comfortable retirement in around 15 years’ time.

What did they learn that I can share?

If not confident with investing, using savings to pay extra off the mortgage can be a good strategy. However, with some education and sound financial advice, there are often more effective ways to use surplus income that led to possibly bigger and better outcomes.