Ethan was looking to retire at a traditionally earlier age and didn’t know how he could effectively fund his early retirement because access to monies within superannuation was still a long way away.

Ethan wanted to sell all his lifestyle belongings, including his home, live and travel overseas for the foreseeable future, and not worry about anything else. He was uncertain if his assets were enough to generate the income he needs to fund his dreams and not depleted before his life expectancy.

Ethan discovered Financial Foundations from social media and through his own research. He had been looking for a financial advice practice that he was comfortable working with and had had initial discussions with several other firms. He decided on Financial Foundations as he felt our offering was something he resonated with and met his needs.

After establishing what Ethan would need annually to fulfill his dreams, we worked on some scenarios for him to see what income he could generate, what his ongoing costs were and most importantly, how long his money could last. Importantly as well, the solution needs to be flexible as things can always change.

We compared scenarios where we kept his home for rental income, with an investment portfolio that invested in a diversified range of assets. We took into consideration ongoing costs, potential issues with management of a property, ease of access to capital, possible future capital gains and tax considerations. We outlined the advantages, disadvantages and potential risks of each scenario.

A plan was put in place to split his assets between an investment and superannuation portfolio, where Financial Foundations would manage both for him, along with an income solution to provide him with the money he needs.

We optimised an ongoing contribution strategy to balance the investments inside and outside superannuation to ensure any potential tax is minimised.

For Ethan, the most important thing was that he needed to feel comfortable and secure enough to leave the management of all his assets to someone, so he could live his best life and not have to worry about his finances.

After presenting a solution that ticked all the boxes, Ethan felt comfortable and safe enough for him to travel for the foreseeable future as his income, security and longevity of his financial assets would be well looked after.