Case study

Luke and Kiana

Trying to build your financial future when you’re just starting out can feel pretty daunting. But, it’s by no means impossible.

Luke and Kiana weren’t afraid to dream big — but they knew that to give themselves the best chance of success they needed a rock-solid plan. They had set a date for their wedding and were hoping to buy a house the same year.

When they came to see us, they had already set up a good foundation. They had been putting some savings away but they didn’t understand their financial ‘ins and outs’ and what was possible. They hadn’t taken a look at how well their savings were performing against other possible options and superannuation discussions were not even on their mind. We knew we could make a big impact and set Luke and Kiana up for a great financial future.

One of the first things we did was utilise our free financial tool — Wealth Central. It allowed us to model their income and savings against their projected expenses. It became apparent that they were coming a little bit short and would put themselves under quite a lot of financial stress in the short-term.

So, undeterred, we set about creating a plan. We discussed delaying the purchase of their home by a few months, swapping a destination honeymoon for a staycation and selling Luke’s beloved motorbike. The couple agreed they could make this compromise, so we ran the numbers again and yes! This time, it could work. Sure, it was going to be tight — but if they stuck to the plan, it was possible. They would be able to pay for the wedding without going into debt and have enough of a deposit for their house – if they delayed the purchase a little bit.

That was the short-term sorted, but what about the future?... Well, working together we sought to diversify their savings and set up a long-term, low-risk investment portfolio. We even recommended a new Super account, one with that had solid performance, lower fees and was more in-line with their values.

It was just the start of their financial journey — but they were pretty happy about it. And that’s why we love what we do.