At Atkinson Financial Planning, we are dedicated to delivering strategic advice specifically tailored to your individual circumstances and taxation situation, to make sure you achieve tax effective results. We prefer to use direct uncomplicated investments such as Shared, Fixed Interest and Property.
We created our business to provide a better, a more personalised alternative to wealth management and offer a high touch, private bank style service, whilst maintaining value to you. We place great importance on your ongoing involvement in the investment process, and always consult and advise when making those crucial investment decisions.
Our fees are also uncomplicated and we insist on a full and clear undertsanding, to guarantee transparency.
We value and actively foster solid long-term relationships, founded on integrity and trust.
Established in 1990, Atkinson Financial Planning is based in the Eastern Suburns of Melbourne, East Doncaster, around 20 minutes from the CBD and provides financial planning services to private clients throughout Melbourne and around Australia.
We are dedicated to delivering a total investment solution specifically tailored to our client's individual circumstances and taxtaion sitatuion, to make sure they achieve tax-effective investment results.
We created our business to provide a better, more personalised alternative to wealth manahement. We place great importance on our clients having involvement in the investment process, and always consult and advise our clients when making those crucial investment decisions.
01. Initial Meeting
During our inital appointment we step you through a discovery document to allow us to gain an understanding of your true financial needs by establishing your key goals focusing on who and what is most important to you along the journey.
We will collect the information necessary to assess your sustainability to various strategic options by asking a series of questions that allow us to ensure we are fully informed and what you would best like to chieve from your financial plan.
Using the data gathered during this meeting we will begin to develop a detailed strategic advice document.
02. Strategic Analysis
With a full understanding of your current situation and goals that are most important to you, we are then able to complete further background research as we explore and model the best strategic plan tailored to your current situation.
03. Presentation of the Strategy
In this meeting we will present to you our Strategic Advice Document (Statement of Advice) which reconfirms your current situation and key goals as we understand them from our initial meeting. This document will act as a roadmap helping to maximise your ability to achieve the goals you have set.
Smart strategic solutions with a focus on providing you with the financial freedom to allow you to achieve your goals along the journey.
04. Implementing the Strategy
After providing us with authority to proceed, proactive implementation is essential in maximising success in your strategic plan. Working closely with the Atkinson Financial Planning team, we will guide you through the process of achieving the financial setup as agreed upon within our advice document.
Implementation meetings will be arranged to ensure each step is understood by you and the optimal result achieved.
05. Review
To reinforce that you remain on track to achieving the goals you initially identified, we will provide you with scheduled reviews of your ongoing financial position and new strategies that will inevitably evolve and become available in the future.
The process of review is essential as it allows us to ensure your financial success over the journey.
Atkinson Financial Planning welcomes your enquiry. To book an appointment or simply ask us a question, fill in your details and we'll be in touch soon!
Understanding superannuation is the key ingredient to being able to fund your own retirement. The earlier you establish an understanding and gain control of your superannuation asset the sooner you can drive it harder with investments you are most comfortable with toward establishing your retirement nest egg.
There have been some significant changes to Financial Services legislation focused heavily on superannuation reform. This area continues to evolve and it is critical to have an Adviser who continues to be up to date with these changes.
A Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) is a trust where money or assests are held and managed on behalf of members to provide retirement income in the future.
Essentially, SMSF's are for family members and close business associates who wish to take more control of their retirement savings. Briefly, a SMSF is definedin the following way: has 4 members or less; all members must be trustees and all trustees must be members. Where the trustee is a company, all members must be directors of the trustee company and all directors must be members of the fun. No member of the fund can be an employee of another member unless they are also related; and, the trustee cannot receive any remuneration for fulfilling his or her duties as a trustee of the fund. Recent legislation which allows for borrowing within a correctly structured SMSF has opened the door for investment properties in Property.
Once you achieve your required nest egg in Superannuation savings, retirement becomes a realistic option. Often the adjustment from working 5 days a week 48 weeks a year to nothing needs to be considered. Which is why we query;
Estate planning is all about having control of your assets, making sure that the right amount of money and assets go to the right person(s) at the right time. It is about wealth succession. Estate planning is complex and requires the expertise offered by a solicitor in conjunction with the guidance of Atkinson Financial Planning. The specific areas of successful estate planning are: Wills, Power of Attorney and Testamentary Trust.
When considering whether Risk Insurance products are necessary “for you”, to insure against sickness, injury and death, we like to remind our clients the key reasons for undertaking such policies. The key benefit is to ensure your family is financially supported if any such occurrences eventuate in the future. There is no set formula for establishing how much Life, TPD and/or Trauma cover to take out but some key questions to consider would be;
Are you a guarantee for personal or business loans? Who would become responsible for these if you were to pass or become seriously ill or injured?
The goal to provide your child(ren) private school education can be a significant financial burden, which, depending on how many children you have and what school(s) you choose can be into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The earlier you begin saving the more achievable the goal will become. There are numerous investment options available to you, which can assist you in a tax friendly manner to getting your child into the school you most desire for them.
DDavid began with Atkinson Financial Planning in January 2004 as part of the RMIT co-operative education program. After his first 12 months with Atkinson’s he returned to RMIT to complete his Bachelor Business – Financial Planning. After enjoying a year long ‘gap year’ period in 2005/06 backpacking around the world, David returned to Atkinson’s as a Paraplanner. David became an Authorised Representative of Paragem and Office Manager in June 2014. Taking on a more hands on and key role of the practice in recent years, David is now General Manager and equity holder in the business since January 2017.
David advises on a broad range of financial planning related services including wealth creation and accumulation both inside and outside of Superannuation, Pre Retirement and Retirement planning and Risk Management and Insurance assessment. David also advises on Self Managed Superannuation Funds and is a SMSF Association ‘Specialist Advisor’ (SSA).
David is married to Kait and they have two sons, Harry (2018) and Lewis (2021) who they adore and keep them incredibly busy, equally throughout the week and weekends! David is a keen sports enthusiast, still playing social basketball with friends and an RACV Golf Club member currently playing off 18. David loves his MCC membership and following the Hawks through the winter months.
Steve has worked in the Financial Services Industry for 45 years. Steve is focused on providing high quality and personally tailored financial advice that meets the requirements of his clients. Steve has extensive experience in all forms of Financial Planning, whether it be the early stages of wealth creation, or preparing strategies for clients addressing their Retirement & Estate Planning needs.
Steve also advises on Self Managed Superannuation Funds and has excellent knowledge of purchasing Direct Property within the Superannuation environment. Steve is a SMSF Association SMSF Specialist Advisor (SSA), Licensed Real Estate Agent and Justice of the Peace (JP).
Matt joined Atkinson Financial Planning in March 2022 having previously spent 8 years working as a commercial insurance broker. Matt has a passion for investing and began a Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning during the first Covid lockdowns in 2020, transition his career from broking to planning.
Matt has taken a paraplanner role while he works to become a Registered Financial planner by completing his Professional Year.
A busy family man, Matt has 2 gorgeous girls under 5, and most weekends are spent at the park, and playing hide and seek around the house with his eldest daughter Annie. Matt is also keen Cats fan, he loves his footy and watches as many games as his girls allow.
Adam began his role as Client Administration Assistant at Atkinson Financial Planning in February of 2022, through the RMIT Cooperative Education Program.
JAdam is currently working full time whilst completing the third year of his Bachelor’s Degree in Business, majoring in Economics & Finance.
In his brief tenure at Atkinson Financial Planning, Adam has developed key administrative skills whilst building his knowledge of the financial planning sector, which will assist him in completing his degree through 2023.
Outside of work Adam can usually be found at the gym, fishing or working on his car. As a dedicated motorsport enthusiast Adam regularly volunteers at rally racing events and hopes to start participating in ‘track days’ towards the end of 2022. Adam balances the adrenaline and intensity of both the gym and motorsport, by occasionally kicking back and going fishing with mates.
