If you’re in your thirties or forties, chances are you’re juggling a career, kids, a mortgage and home improvements – yet amongst these financial responsibilities lie opportunities to get more from your money.

It’s common to feel stretched at this stage of life with seemingly endless bills and little disposable income or money to invest but smart choices now can make a big difference to your financial security and flexibility.

One key is managing your debt and cash flow.

The demands of buying a home, paying all your children’s needs and lifestyle expenditure can be hard to balance. By doing a budget and taking into account your income and expenditure – including things like holidays, emergency expenses, and even coffees and newspapers – you can see where your money is going and identify where you could cut back. It also helps you realise how much you actually have to spend, rather than just putting things on credit card.

Interest on loans can really add up so pay off your debts as a priority, with the highest interest loans paid first. Another idea is to consolidate your debts under one lower interest rate.

Debts with non-deductible interest like a mortgage, credit cards and personal loans should be your priority.
At this stage of life most people have a flourishing career and good earning. By taking adequate cover with income protection, death and disability insurance you can secure peace of mind for you and your family if something unexpected were to happen to you.

Taking a bit of time to plan can help you balance immediate needs with long-term goals, and work out how and where you should be investing. Strategies like positive gearing or packaging your remuneration can provide real benefits to some. Don’t just let life happen to you at this busy stage.

At Cotter Financial Services we can show you how to make the most of your finances and help you achieve the lifestyle you want. Give us a call today on P: (07) 3333 2610

The information provided is general in nature and does not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or insurance needs; we therefore recommend you seek advice tailored to your individual circumstances before making any specific decisions.

Cotter Financial Services and its advisers are Authorised Representatives of Fortnum Private Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 54 139 889 535 AFSL 357306 Australia Credit Licence No 357306 trading as Fortnum Financial Advisers.

Small business owners are often so busy running their business and dealing with customers, suppliers and employees there’s often no time to sit back and asses how financially ‘healthy’ their business really is.

When you consider the pressures and demands of running a successful small business today, it’s no surprise that many become overwhelmed when they spend what little spare time they have looking at the financial planning side of their business.

With the start of a new year upon us, it really is an excellent time to consider working with a financial adviser to review your business’ financial plan.

Here are three important areas to get you started:

Does your business have a buy/sell agreement in place?

The goal of every business succession plan is to ensure that any disruption can be managed as smoothly as possible, a key part of which is a buy/sell agreement.  A buy/sell agreement is like the old saying about ‘starting with the end in mind’.  This is a contract between you and each of your business partners that you’ll buy out each others share in the business should a specific event occur.

An insurance policy is attached to this agreement to help you buy out your partner’s interest if they retire, suffer a trauma event or die.  The good news is that buy/sell agreements are quite flexible and can be structured to suit all main business structures, such as a company, partnership or family trust.

Do you have key person insurance?

This involves your business taking out insurance such as a life insurance policy on you and other key employees to protect against the impact of any of you not being able to work. Many businesses have an owner or key employee on whom the ongoing success of the business strongly depends.

Key person insurance is similar to personal life insurance, the only difference being that it is the business that takes out the policy and pays the premiums, not the individual. If those within your business are covered by this policy and one dies unexpectedly, your business will receive a lump sum payment that it can use as working capital, to help find a replacement or pay down any debts.

In the unfortunate event that your business is unable to survive should this happen, this money can be used to pay for redundancy packages for your employees, and the legal and accounting costs associated with winding up the business in an orderly fashion.

Do you have business expenses insurance?

This helps to protect your business by ensuring it receives an ongoing benefit for the period that you, or your key employees, may not be working. The money received from business expenses insurance can be used to cover the ongoing people costs associated with running your business, like salaries and overtime.

It can also be used to pay for regular operating expenses like rent, utilities, and your business lease agreement.
The main advantage of having a business insurance policy is that it allows you to keep your business running should something happen to you or one of your key employees, giving them time to focus on getting better and returning to work when they are ready.

The importance of planning

It can be very easy to overlook the long-term impact to your business if you, or one of your business partners, are not able to return to work. These conversations are much easier to have when everyone is well and the business is thriving – they are far more difficult once an event has occurred.

A financial adviser can tailor and put in place a financial plan that will help you to protect your business.

To find out more about the benefits seeing a financial adviser for your small business, contact Cotter Financial Services on P: (07) 3333 2610

The information provided is general in nature and does not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or insurance needs; we therefore recommend you seek advice tailored to your individual circumstances before making any specific decisions.

Cotter Financial Services and its advisers are Authorised Representatives of Fortnum Private Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 54 139 889 535 AFSL 357306 Australia Credit Licence No 357306 trading as Fortnum Financial Advisers.