Barbara came to see us at Financial Foundations after her dearest friend Margaret, who had been a long-term client of Financial Foundations, urgently suggested she do so.

Barbara was severely stressed as her finances were in a state of flux after her husband, Ron, had only been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s six months earlier. Ron’s health deteriorated quickly, leaving Barbara to look after their finances, something she’d never done before.

Ron owned a half share in a panel business as well as an investment property via their family trust.  The property was in Sorrento, which they operated as an Airbnb and used the income to help fund their living expenses.    

After Ron got ill, the property was sitting idle, forcing Barbara to live off their savings in their bank account, which was quickly running out. Barbara also took up some part-time work as a gardener just to keep afloat.

Ron had owned several businesses over the years, which meant their financial affairs were complex, containing multiple trusts and company structures. They did have Wills and Enduring POA’s in place. However, these hadn’t been updated in over 20 years, which made their situation even more difficult.

Barbara was struggling to come to terms with Ron’s diagnosis, let alone having to deal with their finances.  

She decided she was going to sell their Airbnb as this was Ron’s baby. Once sold, she would put everything in her bank account to be able to cover her and Ron’s expenses.  

When Barbara tried to list the property for sale, it came to light that she wasn’t a director of their family trust and was therefore unable to sell.

Barbara came into our first meeting bringing whatever legal documents she could muster. Thankfully, there was enough information for us to understand their current situation.

We formalised a detailed plan with Barbara which included engaging an accountant and an estate planning lawyer. Over a period of six months and lots of hard work, it meant that Barbara was able to sell their investment property and Ron’s share of his panel business to his business partner.

The second stage was working with Barbara on her long-term financial plans. This included establishing an annuity-style income stream, paying a regular income to Barbara, which meant she no longer needed to work part-time or stress about money.

The fact that we attended these meetings alongside Barbara gave her an enormous level of comfort. She felt like she was no longer in it alone, and we ensured what we had discovered in our fact-finding was solved in those meetings.

She feels like her finances are now much easier to understand and loves the fact that she knows when and where her next payment will be coming in.

Barbara often refers to us as her saviours and has referred several of her own friends to come and see us for financial advice.