It all started with a phone call from Ellen Schafer's secretary. My husband Brian and I were invited to a workshop presented by Ellen in April 1996. At the time we thought we were doing OK financially - we owned our house outright and owed nobody money. However, we were curious and said to one another, "What have we got to lose?" We had always managed our finances together until in early 2009 my husband died leaving me to manage them alone. Thankfully by this time I had come to rely on Ellen and Julie for advice and friendship - it's good to know I have someone available at the end of the phone line when I have questions. Since Ellen retired officially, Julie has continued to run the business efficiently and always with her clients' interests at heart. She has expanded her knowledge of other aspects of the financial world - taxation and Centrelink for instance - and keeps up to date with current happenings around the world.
In 1996 our main aim was to build capital. This has changed over the years and the advice we have received reflects this. Now I no longer re-invest the dividends but use them as my retirement income, along with dividends from other shares I hold in Licensed Investment Companies. Julie encourages me to spread the investments according to current circumstances, and I have varied the mix with Term Deposits and savings accounts. She will present ideas that may work for me, and explain why but, once we've talked about the pros and cons, the decision whether to follow that course is mine - I like that.
