At Dolfinwise, Retirement Planning is about helping people achieve the life style goals and objectives that are important to them. Retirement means different things to different people. For some it is becoming a grey nomad and travelling Australia, for others it’s endless days sitting on the back porch. Maybe it’s the opportunity to reduce the golf handicap or perhaps try a whole new career as an unpaid volunteer.
Money in our view should not be an objective in itself, so our job is to help clients make wise choices with the wealth they have accumulated so they can maximise the life style afforded them by a lifetime’s hard work.
When making decisions as to the strategies and structures we recommend, the types of income streams appropriate, and the mix of investments, we are always mindful of what impact these decisions will have on our clients. As part of our retirement planning service, we focus heavily on clients achieving their lifestyle objectives rather than focusing solely on taxation savings or leaving a large legacy.
Topics we expect to discuss with you about your retirement include:
Many of our clients also appreciate the interest we take in their estate planning. We provide estate planning advice and visit our clients’ legal advisors with them to ensure they and their families get the best outcome from this important area.
Superannuation, including SMSF’s (self-managed superannuation funds) is a complex area and the rules are forever changing. Almost all Australian’s have a superannuation account due to legislative requirements however few understand all the opportunities that a well-managed superannuation account can bring.
For those approaching age 60, superannuation strategies can often save a savvy investor thousands of dollars of tax without impacting on their available cash flow. Even for those who are younger, strategies such as co-contributions, spouse contributions, personal deductible contributions and salary sacrifice to name but a few, can significantly improve one’s wealth if regularly taken advantage of.
At Dolfinwise we have access to some of the lowest cost products available in the market and we are often able to save our clients significant amounts of fees.
Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF’s) are growing in popularity and we regularly assist clients to decide if this is an appropriate investment vehicle for them. We can assist in setting up self-managed superannuation funds, investment advice and management and structuring the SMSF in either accumulation or pension phases.
We also have significant expertise in the structuring of personal insurance within superannuation accounts including self managed super funds. Protecting against things going wrong is an important aspect of a well made plan, and Life insurance, TPD, Trauma and Income Protection can help minimise this risk.
Caution should be taken with superannuation investing and more particularly with contributions as it easy to incur unnecessary tax and there are now many traps for the unwary. For more information about superannuation and the services that we provide, please contact us.
After helping our clients get the right strategies and structures in place we put significant emphasis on investment advice and ensuring the portfolio is tailored to the individuals needs.
We commence with a risk profile and that drives the broad asset allocation of the portfolio. We aim to produce a portfolio on the efficiency frontier maximising the possible return relative to the risks that is appropriate for our client to take. Preserving capital is always our priority. Considerations are the clients tolerance to risk, time frame and the willingness to accept volatility.
Through our investment process we consider our clients goals and aim to help them achieve their aspirations in the medium and long term. As part of our investment advice, we focus on minimising costs of investing, finding the best funds to achieve tax effective portfolios, minimise risk at a number of levels and continuously review the results.
We recognise we are in a world that is changing rapidly and a client’s portfolio like their lives never stand still. As a result, our investment advice is tailored to those who want a pro-active approach to managing their assets.
Our Investment Philosophy
Dolfinwise has built a reputation for providing bespoke strategic advice to high net worth families and business owners. Our specialised services in this area include:
Structuring of entities (including companies, trusts, SMSFs)
We provide comprehensive financial advice for individuals, families, and their associated entities (companies, trusts and self-managed superannuation funds). Our team offers guidance on financial strategies that align with your overall family wealth management goals after considering taxation, risk management and intergenerational wealth transfer needs.
Wealth management and Investment services
Our core service is developing personalized investment strategies and managing diversified portfolios. We work closely with you to understand your financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizons to create and implement tailored family wealth management plans. We have competency in direct equities, exchange traded funds (ETFs), money market accounts, (separately) managed accounts (SMAs) and partner with some of the world’s leading managed fund offers domiciled in Australia, the US and Europe.
Family tax planning and compliance
We offer strategic financial advice that takes into account tax implications. We can help you understand how different investment decisions and financial strategies might impact your tax situation, and work alongside your tax professionals to implement tax-efficient financial plans. Our advice aims to optimise your financial position while ensuring you're well-prepared for your tax obligations.
Estate planning and intergenerational wealth transfer
Our comprehensive financial planning services include strategies for effective estate planning and smooth intergenerational wealth transfer. We help you develop a robust financial framework to support your legacy goals, ensuring your wealth continues to benefit future generations. Our team assists in creating financial strategies that align with your estate planning objectives, including analysing the long-term implications of different wealth transfer scenarios. We also provide guidance on structuring your investments and assets to facilitate efficient wealth transition, helping to preserve your family's financial legacy for years to come and ensure the wealth remains in the family.
Business Succession Planning
This protects and prepares shareholders, trustees and their families from unexpected events such as injury or death of their business partners. This includes advance planning for events that might cause the business to need winding up through to immediate issues upon retirement of a partner such as equity transfer and taxation management.
Specific areas we work on with our clients’ accountants and lawyers include:
Philanthropy
We can help you integrate charitable giving into your overall financial plan. This includes advice on structured giving strategies, the financial aspects of setting up charitable trusts, and aligning your philanthropic goals with your overall wealth management strategy.
Family Governance and Education
We facilitate a collaborative approach to managing your family's wealth, with an investment committee structure. This service is designed to involve family members in key financial decisions and portfolio management processes. We provide a framework for regular family financial meetings, where we present investment performance, discuss market trends, and explore new opportunities. This approach not only ensures transparency but also helps educate and prepare the next generation for responsible wealth management. By fostering open communication and shared decision-making, we help align your family's financial strategies with your collective values and long-term objectives.
Lifestyle and concierge services
We understand that managing complex financial affairs can be time-consuming and challenging. Our comprehensive financial planning services are designed to simplify your financial life, allowing you to focus on what matters most to you. We act as your primary point of contact for all financial matters, coordinating with other professionals such as accountants and lawyers to ensure seamless management of your wealth. Our team provides regular consolidated reporting, proactive advice on financial opportunities and risks, and timely reminders for important financial deadlines. By centralising your financial management, we help minimise the complexities and administrative burden, providing you with peace of mind and more time to enjoy your lifestyle.
Initial Meeting
During our first complimentary meeting we would expect to establish why you are seeking financial advice and what you expect from us, as well as providing you with an introduction to our service. As we strongly believe that planning is about helping people achieve their goals, we focus initially on understanding what your goals are in the short, medium and long term. We move on to understanding your current personal financial position and establishing how we can assist you.
Engagement Process
At the completion of our first meeting we will be in a position to inform you as to whether or not we think we can add value to your situation. If so we will explain what our fees will be if you choose to engage us and what we believe will be the tangible and intangible benefits to you of doing so. We will provide you with a Terms of Engagement. We will then encourage you to take it away and reflect on the ideas we have discussed. Should you feel comfortable to proceed then you can return our paperwork and we will commence working on your situation.
Preparing Your Initial Advice
Once we have gathered sufficient information regarding your financial situation, we will formulate an overall strategy. Central to the strategy will be your ‘risk profile’ – it is your attitude to risk that will principally determine the investments that we will recommend for you. This is important because investments that offer a higher rate of return have a greater risk of losing value.
Your plan will provide clearly identified recommendations relating to your goals and objectives. We will also where possible quantify the benefits to you of our recommendations whether they be fee savings, taxation savings or less tangible outcomes such as peace of mind. At Dolfinwise we focus heavily on getting the strategy right as that is where we believe the biggest benefits of advice are to be discovered.
Implementing Your Financial Plan
We consider our clients whole situation in our review including debts, cash, term deposits, listed equities and investment properties as well as the usual assets of concern to financial advisers being superannuation, pensions, managed funds and insurance policies.
Once you have agreed to the financial plan developed with your adviser, we will implement it on your behalf and assist you through the process.
Reviewing Your Plan
The preparation and implementation of the financial plan is only the starting point for your relationship with Dolfinwise. We regard the most important part of our relationship with clients to be our ongoing review service. This holistic, pro-active service includes the following:
Life is always changing and we believe by acting as an objective sounding board to our clients we can help them stay on course to achieve their goals and objectives much more efficiently.
Personal Advice Fees
Dolfinwise takes very seriously the relationship we have with our clients. We believe that the trust placed in us to advise and manage our clients’ financial affairs, should never be taken for granted. Nor should it be compromised in any way. As a result of this firm belief, Dolfinwise is paid directly by clients an agreed amount each year for the services we provide. By avoiding incentive payments from product providers, our clients can be rest assured that their best interests are being served.
Our service fee varies for each client based on the amount and complexity of work undertaken. Our initial discovery meeting is at no charge. After this initial meeting, we will send a formal Cost Agreement outlining the scope of work, and the anticipated cost to deliver these services. With our years of service and depth of knowledge, we have experience in assessing whether we can add value. We won’t accept a client engagement unless we believe we can deliver long term value.
Personal Insurance Fees
Our clients have the option to pay for our insurance advice fees directly, or in some cases, clients can choose for their fee to be funded by a commission paid by the product provider.
Let us help with your financial needs.
DolFinwise Pty Ltd
Dolfinwise is an authorised representative of Paragem Pty Ltd (AFSL no.297276).
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
Jason is a founding partner of Dolfinwise. He is well known in the Financial Planning industry being a regular media contributor and has featured in publications such as the Australian Financial Review, Independent Financial Adviser Magazine and Professional Planner amongst others.
Jason has been the Superannuation topic expert for the Financial Planning Association (FPA) and was a member of the FPA’s Policy and Regulations committee.
Jason commenced his financial services career in the Actuarial department of National Mutual and has completed Actuarial studies alongside his Applied Mathematics Degree. In 2007 Jason achieved his Certified Financial Planner™ designation (an internationally recognised standard and the Financial Planning Association’s highest professional designation).
Jason has advised a diverse range of successful clients in Australia and overseas for the last two decades but specialises in successful business owners, and pre and post retirement planning for professionals.
In his spare time Jason is a married father of two sports loving boys. He is also Secretary of Wynnum Manly District Cricket Club.
As one of the founding partners of Dolfinwise, Howard knows money is not everything, but having it lets you do more, give more, and worry less.
And he believes a good life is underpinned by financial security. With the right advice, you can make smart decisions with your money and rest easy knowing that you and your loved ones will be ok, no matter what.
Regardless of your age, in life things happen. Some planned and others unexpected, but almost all will require financial decision making.
Whether it’s planning a stress-free retirement or educating the kids, sailing the seas bound for Alaska or preserving your legacy for future generations, Howard’s specialty is to help you make it happen. This way, those tricky life decisions become less scary and those things you’ve dreamed of can become a reality.
Equipped with the money smarts, notable accolades and an impressive and diverse career in financial services and management, no matter what decision you’re facing, Howard and his team have got you covered.
Advising on all areas including wealth creation, risk management, investment planning superannuation, pre-retirement and retirement planning, and estate and aged care planning.
On a personal note, as an ex-army officer, Howard maintains his fitness through a range of outdoor and sporting activities, volunteers as the secretary of the Albany Creek GPS Junior Rugby Club and is a member of the Queensland Justices Association. He is happily married to Lauren and is kept on his toes by his three beautiful young children.
To find out more about Howard, the man who can help you get more out of your money and your life, click here.
Bronnie has been at Dolfinwise for 15 years in various roles including Senior Paraplanner and Practice Manager, providing her with a broad understanding of clients needs. She has been a licensed Financial Planner since 2013 and is now a director and proud part-owner of Dolfinwise.
Bronnie holds a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in both Financial Planning and Accounting. Whilst completing her Bachelor degree at Griffith University she was awarded an FPA bursary for her outstanding achievements as a student.
She is a Certified Financial Planner™, which is internationally recognised as the highest qualification in Financial Planning. While completing her Certified Financial Planner™ designation, Bronnie was the winner of the 2017 Gwen Fletcher Memorial Award for being the highest performer in the program.
Bronnie has also been appointed as a Commissioner for Declarations for the State of Queensland and completed additional specialist training to provide advice in relation to complex areas such as self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).
Bronnie specialises in advising areas such as retirement planning, superannuation, wealth creation, personal insurance and estate planning. She is passionate about making a difference to clients’ through strategic advice and empowering women to confidently take control of their financial lives.
Based in both Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, Bronnie is a keen world traveler, and in her spare time you can often find her at the beach.
Jack is a provisional financial adviser completing his professional year. He began his journey at Dolfinwise early in 2022 as a Client Services Officer while finishing his Commerce degree in Finance and Accounting at the University of Queensland. Jack quickly found his passion for financial advice while working with the team, leading him to commence his Master’s in Financial Planning, which he completed in January 2024.
Before embarking on his financial services career, Jack served as an engineer in the army reserves for four years through his Undergraduate studies. Outside of work, Jack is an avid rock climber and enjoys keeping fit by training for various adventures.
Tyler is a provisional financial adviser currently completing his professional year. After completing a 6-month internship with Dolfinwise in 2020, Tyler returned to Georgetown College in Kentucky, USA, where he completed his Bachelor of Finance in May 2022. During this time, Tyler won the "Most Outstanding Senior in Finance" award at his university and competed as a student-athlete for his university’s soccer team.
Upon completion of his undergraduate studies, Tyler returned to Australia and Dolfinwise, working initially as a Client Services Officer and then as a Paraplanner, supporting our financial advisers in preparing comprehensive financial plans for our clients. Building on this experience, he has expanded his knowledge by pursuing a Master of Financial Planning, which he completed in late 2023. Recently, Tyler has also been appointed as a Justice of the Peace (Qualified) for the State of Queensland and has passed his ASIC advice exam.
Outside of work, Tyler continues to play soccer for his local club and enjoys road running with his younger brother. In his free time, Tyler can often be found exploring Brisbane's café scene with his friends and family.