Helping kids the right way

This article was written for our clients with adult children however the concepts extend to anyone wishing to assist a loved one financially.

With the price of houses having risen in the last decade much more quickly than average wages, and financially challenging life changes such as divorce more common, we are seeing more and more clients who wish to assist their adult children financially.

Gone are the days where financial support ended with high school, and Uni was funded by the Government. Now financial support is extending into middle-aged children and onto the next generation of grand-children.

Now we are routinely seeing families helping their kids with

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Is your house in order?

With current market volatility it can be easy to only think about the risk of the sharemarkets, it is also important to remember the other type of risk for our families – the risk of illness, accident and death.

Particularly if you have debts and/or dependents it is vital to consider your overall family position, especially for blended families, grandparents helping out, smaller families and many other challenges.

The accidental deaths of a young couple visiting Melbourne last year for a footy match, leaving their children in difficult circumstances, is a timely reminder to ensure your extended family has their “house in order”:-

• Are the debts of important family members covered by insurance – or will they be forced to sell a house at a difficult time?
• Is the family covered for ill-health as well as for death – many people only have...

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Michelle Tate-Lovery Finalist Interview

At the recent Association of Financial Advisers award ceremony, as a finalist, Michelle Tate-Lovery had the opportunity to be interviewed about why she is passionate about being a financial adviser, and why she fundamentally believes financial planning is important for everyone.

Michelle Tate-Lovery Finalist for Female Excellence in Advice Award

The team at Unified Financial Services would like to congratulate Michelle Tate-Lovery on her nomination, and now making it as a top 6 finalist, of the inaugural AFA Female Excellence in Advice 2011 Award!

The winner of the award will be announced at the end of October.

This Award recognises professional excellence and outstanding work in addressing the particular issues faced by many women in achieving financial security now and in the future. 

The award was established to:

• identify outstanding female advisers in leadership roles,
• celebrate the high level of professionalism presently displayed by female members of our financial  services community,
• encourage the choice of financial advice as a profession for females,
• profile successful female advisers who bring a different approach to the profession that supports
  giving clients choice in advisers, and
• address the issues of under insurance and low levels of superannuation for women.

Michelle has worked hard over the years to establish a best practice financial planning firm that focuses on long term relationships with its clients. In this climate of market uncertainty it is a well deserved award and we are cheering Michelle on for the finals.

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Market Volatility

 

A number of factors have contributed to this extreme volatility, including political events, natural disasters, the US debt debate and concerns over the problems in Europe. On the upside, Australia does not have a huge government debt. Relative to other parts of the world, Australian banks are also quite financially strong. However, please bear in mind that markets will continue to go up and down for a while due to ongoing uncertainties in political and economic environments across the world.

 

Clients are asking should they panic! The answer is NO. At times like these it’s really important to stay calm and remember some of the fundamental principles of investing, such as making sure you have a diversified portfolio, and investing for the long term. We know you have heard this all before but it’s true.....by taking a long-term approach to investing, you give your investments time to recover from the downswings that are a natural part of any investment cycle.