The following information was obtained from an in-depth client interview:
Your clients are a young couple Rhys 29 and Leanne 27 who are planning their future together after getting engaged earlier this year. Rhys works full time as an IT technician, and he is currently on a salary of $110,000 p.a. (before tax). Rhys has only recently been on a high salary and therefore has not been able to save enough money to have considerable savings, as he has lacked the discipline to direct his savings to specific goals. Leanne is a junior registrar at the local hospital earning $145,000 per annum before tax.
Rhys and Leanne have big goals and are not sure whether they’re on track to make them. They have secured their first home together, a 4 bed 2 bath, for a total of $865,000. They have a mortgage of $765,000 on a variable interest rate of 5.22% after just completing home renovations worth $30,000.
Rhys has also recently proposed to Leanne, and they are planning for a medium-sized wedding. Once they are settled, they plan to have a family with hopes for three children. Rhys’s father Clarrie (66 years old) would also like to relocate and live with the family as his wife recently passed away from breast cancer. He is lonely and feels he can be of assistance. Clarrie currently owns a home valued at $510,000 (no mortgage) that he intends to sell sometime in the future and move in with Rhys and Leanne. His other assets include savings of $350,000 kept in a fluctuating superannuation account, a $32,000 car, and his furniture and personal effects of
$42,000. He has an additional $100,000 that he intends to give to Rhys and Leanne on which they will not pay any interest. Rhys and Leanne wish you to guide them on the investing of the
$100,000 to meet their desired goals. Clarrie is looking forward to this arrangement but is concerned that if his health deteriorates, he will need extra care and assistance. Clarrie may not be able to afford this without being a burden on his son and future daughter-in-law. The family wish for Clarrie to stay with them and not move out into a nursing home.
Rhys and Leanne have learned to live off easy credit card debt and between them have three credit cards with outstanding balances of $4000, $8,200, and $3,800. Due to their busy lifestyle and not paying attention to their financial position, they have not been paying the full outstanding balance on any card each month but only a portion of the balance to cover the minimum repayments and a bit extra. Although they own two cars, they also owe a significant amount on one of these covered by a five-year loan of which one year has expired. The amount owing on the car loan is $21,000.00 financed at a rate of 7.04% p.a.
The young couple are especially concerned about how they will pay for their future children’s education even though this is some time in their medium to long term goals, with all children having expectations of undertaking some form of tertiary education. The couple also know that they need to save for retirement and provide for their family in the event of their death, but do not have a plan for either event, having focused on building their careers and enjoying life. It has been recently suggested to Leanne that she could sacrifice part of her salary in the form of either voluntary superannuation contributions, in addition to the superannuation guarantee charge that is contributed by the company (currently 10.5% of her gross salary) or possibly a company car or parking at the hospital.
Below is a list of the relevant monthly expenditures.
| $3,150.00 | Current monthly mortgage |
| $635.00 | Car repayments |
| $1,200.00 | Credit card repayment |
| $320.00 | Contents insurance (excess of $800) |
| $330.00 | Electricity |
| $360.00 | Water levy |
| $120.00 | Phone expenses |
| $1,300.00 | Groceries |
| $450.00 | Health care plan |
| $200.00 | Clothing |
| $800.00 | Car expenses, including insurance (excess of $1,000 on each policy) |
| $50.00 | Netflix |
| $1,200.00 | Recreation |
| $370.00 | Parking and transport |
| $170.00 | Pet (Max) |
| $1,200.00 | Miscellaneous, Entertainment, Charity, Unplanned Expenditures. |
Other assets include:
$1,200.00 Cash
$27,000.00 Home contents
$13,000.00 Leanne’s car
$27,000.00 Rhys’s car
$100,000.00 Cash from loan from parent (forthcoming)
$61,000.00 Superannuation – Leanne
$112,000.00 Superannuation – Rhys
Debts
$21,000.00 Car Loan
$765,000 House mortgage
$4,000.00 Credit Card 1
$8,200.00 Credit Card 2
$3,800.00 Credit Card 3
$28,000.00 Rhys’s Student Loan
$145,000.00 Leanne’s Student Loan
They are both in the default category based on age in their superannuation accounts. They are undecided on how best to use the forth coming money from Clarrie, Rhys’s father. Some possible considerations for using the money are for investment or possibly retiring some debt as a means of achieving their financial goals.
The couple have limited exposure to share ownership other than through their superannuation funds. However, they have expressed interest in investing in the share market, particularly in the IT or health care sectors. Their close friends, the Hagues, invest in bonds and suggested over lunch last week that they should do the same. Overhearing this conversation, the waiter, Malcolm, commented that his investment in ETFs provides better returns through diversification so he can get out of the restaurant game sooner. The couple wonder what the waiter meant by diversification and its effect on their investment decisions.
Additional insurance details include the following:
- Home and contents insurance do not cover flooding, which periodically occurs in the area but has not affected the family so far.
- There is no personal risk insurance in place as far as they are aware, as the couple does not believe they are at risk given the nature of their jobs and their age.
- They have no wills in place or planned for the care of the remaining partner or their future children in the event of their mutual death. There is also the care of Clarrie to be considered in the event of their early health decline.
This couple feel they need to take control of their finances and plan for their future. They have therefore decided that they need a formal financial plan to achieve their financial goals and have approached you, as a team, to create such a plan for them.
Requirements:
- Prepare a detailed financial analysis of their current financial situation, including preparation of personal Financial Statements, cash flow statement, balance sheet, and ratios.
- After establishing the couple’s combined current financial situation, identify both their stated goals and any others that they are likely to have.
- Identify the couple’s likely risk profile and justify why you chose that profile.
- Provide them with some advice on their current financial situation and what they could do to improve on each of the ratios you have calculated for them.
- Provide Clarrie with a balance sheet and estimate of age pension entitlement.
- Provided a tailored Comprehensive Statement of Advice (SOA) for the family.
You will need to ensure that all aspects of the topic including cash flow, budgetary, tax consequences are included in the SOA:
- Budgeting and tax planning considering the current economic and political environment.
- Liquidity management
- Personal financing
- Personal investing both direct and indirect including asset allocation and strategy
- Wealth protection including risk management, social security and estate planning.
All aspects of course material that is relevant to your client’s scenario should be covered and tailored to address to their specific circumstances. Generalisation of material that does NOT specifically address their needs will not be rewarded. Implementation and evaluation of the financial plan will also need to be explicitly considered. You can make assumptions where you feel there is incomplete or inadequate information, but please demonstrate the rationale behind your assumptions.
You are also required to provide a financial services guide (FSG) containing all the compulsory information disclosure required by the Corporations Act.
NOTE: SUBMISSION IS VIA Safeassign on the iLearn subject site.
