2020 – The year that was Wealth Factory

Personally

I adopted another dog ‘Coda’ from a neighbour and spent a bomb on having skin cancers removed from ‘Baxter’ (right).  Totally worth it. 

I’ve started back at the gym recently (to try and burn these COVID kilos away… haha) and getting back into a routine after all the disruption in 2020.  You might know I like to play with cars and motorbikes and this year was no different.  I built up the motor in my Honda Monkey for a little more pep and put over 10,000km on my Harley so pretty happy with that.  I have some project cars which as usual didn’t get any attention.  Hey, I was busy!

 

I think I must have been lucky timing my US trip last September, as I don’t know how long it will be until it recovers from COVID cases.  But other than a trip to Perth in February, I didn’t get away this year.  Maybe next year.

 

On the business side – we’ve worked long and hard this year.

We’ve made some important changes and spent a lot of time working on the ‘back-end’ – the systems and processes side of the business, to make things even more streamlined and increase our capacity…

We love doing what we do and I am now REALLY happy with how the business is setup and out new Licensee – Lifespan Financial Planning.  The new office is great, however I have ordered a new slightly smaller table to make things less cosy.

I told you last year big things were on the way.  In 2020 we changed:

• Our name to Wealth Factory – this one is long term!
• Our licensee from AMP to Lifespan
• Our address to 300 Ruthven Street Toowoomba

We have great back-office support. We’ve upgraded some of our tech. We installed a brand-new CRM system to help us with end-to-end processing and communication, and we’re currently getting trained up on the latest version of our AdviceOS financial advice software that you may have heard me talking about before.

It’s a seriously big ‘beast’, and we’re getting to know all the additional things we can do with it to help your strategic decisions. Can’t wait to show you what we can do for you.

We helped you – our clients – achieve your goals in 2020.

We had 4 client’s move from working life into full retirement mode, and another 3 transition from full to part-time work… 2 & 3 days a week, instead of 5 & 6 days a week – which is pretty cool.

They’re happier now, and also set up for the years ahead.

Your investments and the markets generally have been ticking along quiet well… Albeit there has been some pretty big swings and fluctuations…, things have played out pretty well according to our expectations and the strategies we’ve put in place have stood fast once again.

We’re keeping a close eye on things so that you don’t have to so much.

Unfortunately (or fortunately – depending on which way you look at it…), we’ve helped clients access paid out insurance claims this year with a total of just over a million in lump sum insurance payments going to our clients who needed it.

We’ve also have settled nearly a hundred thousand dollars of monthly income protection claims as well. People who have got sick or had an accident still have income coming in while not being able to work.

To say it’s been a relief financially is an understatement, and we have some pretty happy clients that chose to have (or keep) these insurance policies going!

We NEVER want our clients to need to claim on these policies, but the peace of mind knowing that they can is ‘priceless’.

It’s been a big year with COVID and everything that has impacted for us all over the year. Thank you so much for your patience and flexibility and we had periods of office closure and transitioned to meeting with many clients online on ZOOM… While it’s may not be ideal, it’s allowed us to continue to serve you and maintain a ‘digital’ relationship at least.

Hopefully things will get back to ‘normal’ really soon.

Importantly, we’re set for a huge 2021 next year!

There is a lot of change happening in the world and particular the financial world.

So much to do and actually a heap of great opportunities…

• Interest rates at all-time lows
• Banks offering incredible ‘deals’ to get your business
• Investment fluctuations present great buying opportunities
• Changes to tax thresholds free up additional cash
• Insurance companies’ consolidation and providing a great chance for you to re-visit your insurance and save money…

Lots and lots to do. We’ll be in contact to tee up a time to re-visit things and check your progress.

I’m really excited about the next 12 months

The improvements to the back-office I mentioned before mean is that I have opened up capacity to take on more new clients who are:

• Retired or looking to retire in the next 5-10 years
• Wanting to make sure they’re maximising their superannuation and tax strategies
• Needing advice to get themselves setup properly. 

If you have any friends, family or work colleges in this position who could benefit from working with me and implementing the strategies we have done, then please introduce us by passing on our details.

I do see a point in the near future where we will be at capacity and I’ll limit the clients we work with to keep up the level of service and the boutique nature, but I do have some capacity now. 

We’re incredibly excited and grateful to you. Without our clients, we would not be in business – and there is nothing else I would rather be doing that working with you and helping clients succeed financially – whatever that looks like for you.

We have some exciting things planned for 2021 and we will be in touch in the coming months to go let you know all about that. 

Hopefully that all made sense.

I’d love to hear from you about one thing you want to achieve financially in 2021. Let me know by sending me an email and I will ensure we work towards getting that done together. 

Anyway, take good care.

Have a wonderful and blessed holiday break and we’ll see you in 2021.

Rob.