Be your own financial planner and create a winning strategy to achieve your money goals
Do you want to learn and apply the strategies that experts use to grow and protect wealth? In Smart Money Strategy, popular financial planner Luke Smith comprehensively reveals the principles, methods and tactics that real financial planners use with their clients. Every person’s―and every family’s―financial journey is different. There’s no silver bullet or one-size-fits-all approach. But there are financial strategies that can be applied, no matter what stage you’re at in life, to get your money working harder for you with less stress.
Smart Money Strategy will help you to define your priorities and create a personalised, actionable plan to achieve your goals. You’ll learn effective strategies to manage your income, reduce your debts, and maximise your investment, superannuation and retirement outcomes. Even better, you’ll learn how different strategies can be stacked together for maximum benefit. In other words, you’ll learn how you can stack the financial odds in your favour!
You’ll discover:
• The basics: 5 truths about money and the 5 foundations you need to get started
• The actual strategies used by financial planners when it comes to cash flow, risk assessment, investing, protecting wealth, retirement, and estate planning
• How smart planning can minimise fees and taxes on your investments
• How to combine your money strategies and put together your own detailed financial plan
From adopting a money mindset to protecting your assets, with Smart Money Strategy you’ll uncover the secrets to achieving your financial goals. Whether you want a hands-on DIY approach, or you’re looking for the essentials you need to talk more confidently with your own financial planner, this book will help you create a tailored plan for growing your wealth.
Author(s): Luke Smith
Edition: 1
Publisher: Wiley
Year: 2023
Language: English
Commentary: Publisher's PDF
Pages: 400
City: Melbourne, AU
Tags: Popular Science; Finance; Strategy; Investment; Retirement; Estate Planning
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Acknowledgements
About the author
How to use this book
Introduction
Personal financial advice and general advice
Part I The Foundations
Chapter 1 Five Truths about Money
Truth 1: Your education doesn’t prepare you for your adult financial life
Truth 2: Your parents probably didn’t prepare you for your adult financial life
Truth 3: Most people plan for a tax deduction, not a lifestyle
Truth 4: Nothing’s going to change if you don’t change
Truth 5: To change, you need to equip yourself — and that’s where this book comes in
Chapter 2 Your Adult Financial Life Starts and Ends with ‘Why?’
Figuring out your ‘why’
Challenging your ‘why’
Adding a time frame
Chapter 3 Setting Strong Foundations
Foundation 1: Respect your earnings
Foundation 2: Pay attention to your spending
Foundation 3: The cost of money is interest
Foundation 4: Be realistic
Foundation 5: Reward yourself
Part II Strategy Stacking
Chapter 4 Understanding the Strategy Stacking Philosophy
Understand your ‘why’
Remember the five foundations
Start with the Basic Stack: Budgeting, where earnings meet spending
Use a Risk Assessment Strategy
Stack your strategies appropriately
Assess, execute, review, refine and repeat
Chapter 5 Strategy Stacking around Significant Life Events
Redundancy
Marriage and divorce
An unexpected windfall
Trauma and disability
Stacking for the next generation
Chapter 6 Getting Started: Assessing Your Starting Position
Know your money truths before you begin
The Strategy Stacker’s Starting Position
Working out your starting position
Chapter 7 Making a Plan: The Strategy Stacking Calendar
Chapter 8 Strategy Stacking Scenarios
Strategy stack: ‘I want to save more and buy a house one day’
Strategy stack: ‘We want to reduce the mortgage and raise our family’
Strategy stack: ‘We want to retire comfortable and debt-free’
Strategy stack: ‘We want to retire, but how do we actually do it?’
A final note on these scenarios
Part III The Strategies
Chapter 9 The FramingStrategies
The Budget Management Strategy
The Cash Flow Management Strategy
The Debt Reduction Strategy
The Risk Assessment Strategy
Chapter 10 The Investment Strategies
The Diversification Strategy
The Dollar Cost Averaging Strategy
The Investment Structure Strategy
The Asset Allocation Strategy
The Asset Selection Strategy
The Investment Selection Strategy
The Franking Credit Strategy
The Fee Reduction Strategy
The Appropriate Tax Strategy
The Gearing Strategy
Chapter 11 The Superannuation Strategies
The Super Vehicle Strategy
The Consolidation Strategy
The Contribution Strategies
The Contribution Catch-up Strategy
The Super Splitting Strategy
The Spouse Contribution Strategy
The Government Co-contribution Strategy
The Re-contribution Strategy
The Appropriate Super Fees Strategy
The Appropriate Tax in Super Strategy
The Downsizing Contribution Strategy
The Super Investment Strategies
Chapter 12 The Retirement Strategies
The Retirement Readiness Strategy
The Transition to Retirement Strategy
The Retirement Income Vehicles Strategy
The Retirement Investment Strategies
The Appropriate Retirement Fees Strategy
The Appropriate Tax in Retirement Strategy
Chapter 13 The Wealth Protection Strategies
The Income Protection Strategy
The Trauma Protection Strategy
The Total and Permanent Disability Protection Strategy
The Life Protection Strategy
The Key Person Protection Strategy
Chapter 14 The Estate Planning Strategies
The Last Will and Testament Strategy
The Testamentary Trust Strategy
The Power of Attorney Strategy
The Superannuation Nomination Strategy and the Reversionary Pension Strategy
Part IV Putting your financial plan into action
Chapter 15 Why Seek Personal Financial Advice?
You don’t know what you don’t know
Things change — you’ll never keep up with the latest options
Asking family and friends for financial advice is a risky idea
Trying to go it alone is just too difficult
Advice is not just for the ultra-rich
You’ve got goals you want to achieve
You don’t want financial stress
You’re looking for a better way to manage your money
You’re facing a redundancy
You want certainty when you retire
You’ve had an unexpected windfall
You’ve gone as far as you can by yourself
It’s all too complicated!
You think you’re paying too much tax
You want to stack strategies in your favour for a better life
Chapter 16 What to Expect from the Financial Planning Process
The financial planning process in six steps
The financial plan: What should it cover?
Endings and New Beginnings
Index
EULA
