Misha and Tom

‘A million miles an hour’…

‘We’ve always got something on…’

‘I feel like a school-sport chauffer…’

Just some of the phrases from Misha and Tom during our first conversation. They were right in the thick of life; two kids, a mortgage and a host of expenses that were starting to cause financial stress. But, with so much on they were really struggling to find the time to understand their finances and their financial future. That’s why they came to us.

At Bridges, we don’t just take immense pride in delivering a financial plan, we also take a weight off people’s shoulders — giving people the clarity and confidence to move ahead.

Our first goal was to get to know Misha and Tom in detail by having a good, honest and frank conversation. We began to understand their day-to-day life, their finances, and their dreams. Their number one priority was to stay on track; they wanted to make sure that they could pay the mortgage, without eating into their savings.

And that was the first thing we noticed. They had a lot of money in the bank that wasn’t doing all that much. The reason they hadn’t looked to invest was because they had a lot of expenses in the short-term, including school fees.

Using Wealth Central, we set about developing a completely unique financial plan that they could see — and then model how their situation changed as we tweaked different options. Their immediate cash-flow was on the tight side, which meant adding to their existing savings would be difficult. Instead, we proposed setting aside a lump-sum from savings to help manage their immediate stresses, while still freeing up a portion for investing in a long-term solution that would get them to where they wanted to be, dollar-figure wise.

During the process it also became clear that now was also the time to think about Personal Insurance. Both Misha and Tom took out Income Protection policies, which meant that they were both covered for up to 70% of their salary.

By getting a clearer picture of their income, assets, plans and expenditures, we gave Misha and Tom the confidence to look forward, and feel good about it.

Let's talk

When it comes to your goals, it helps to talk about them, think about them, and, most importantly, dream a little. Start a conversation with Bridges today.