Ralph & Ruth

I think one of the first questions our advisor asked us, "Okay, you've got a child, you've got a mortgage, you've got a car, you want holidays, you've got all these expenses, then they go to high school. Those expenses are going to be there whilst they go to high school, where are you going to come up with all these extra money from?" We looked at him like, "I have no idea," but, now we do. It's just about that planning and structure that helped us to see it a bit more clearer."But you can still enjoy your lifestyle though?‍

I think that was part of one of the issues is that we weren't aligned on how our finances should be taken care of. To go through this process together with James, he's brought us both on this journey and we're now at the same place.

I love that James does the wraps of the- like the recent one on the federal budget. Last year, it was around COVID and the share markets and that type of thing, because he summarizes it in a brief package, 10, 15 minutes that I can sit here and listen to that. Whereas, if you listen to the news it's a bit here and a bit there, and you're kind of, "What's the right--? Are you getting all the bits to make your decision or be informed?” I love that James does that and does it so quickly after the event as well so that you're in the know.

I think with my goals, personal goals, I've always had the long term goal, which has remained the same. The journey to get to my long term goal has changed quite a bit over the last two, three years. Northeast Financial advisers have guided me on that and given me advice and given me that clarity of why I should be doing things. Or, if I decide to make a decision, what the potential outcomes of that decision would be. If you go another way, another direction, what the potential outcomes of that would be.

When we started engaging with Northeast, that’s how I thought, “Oh, it’s a more holistic type of advice.” It links backs to our life goals.