Smart Money Strategy

Smart Money Strategy

by Luke Smith
Released March 2023
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781394176946

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Book description

Be your own financial planner and create a winning strategy to achieve your money goals

Do you want to learn and apply the strategies that experts use to grow and protect wealth? In Smart Money Strategy, popular financial planner Luke Smith comprehensively reveals the principles, methods and tactics that real financial planners use with their clients. Every person’s—and every family’s—financial journey is different. There’s no silver bullet or one-size-fits-all approach. But there are financial strategies that can be applied, no matter what stage you’re at in life, to get your money working harder for you with less stress.

Smart Money Strategy will help you to define your priorities and create a personalised, actionable plan to achieve your goals. You’ll learn effective strategies to manage your income, reduce your debts, and maximise your investment, superannuation and retirement outcomes. Even better, you’ll learn how different strategies can be stacked together for maximum benefit. In other words, you’ll learn how you can stack the financial odds in your favour!

You’ll discover:

  • The basics: 5 truths about money and the 5 foundations you need to get started
  • The actual strategies used by financial planners when it comes to cash flow, risk assessment, investing, protecting wealth, retirement, and estate planning
  • How smart planning can minimise fees and taxes on your investments
  • How to combine your money strategies and put together your own detailed financial plan

From adopting a money mindset to protecting your assets, with Smart Money Strategy you’ll uncover the secrets to achieving your financial goals. Whether you want a hands-on DIY approach, or you’re looking for the essentials you need to talk more confidently with your own financial planner, this book will help you create a tailored plan for growing your wealth.

Table of contents

  1. COVER
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT
  4. DEDICATION
  5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  6. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  7. HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
  8. INTRODUCTION
    1. Personal financial advice and general advice
  9. PART I: THE FOUNDATIONS
    1. CHAPTER 1: Five Truths about Money
      1. Truth 1: Your education doesn't prepare you for your adult financial life
      2. Truth 2: Your parents probably didn't prepare you for your adult financial life
      3. Truth 3: Most people plan for a tax deduction, not a lifestyle
      4. Truth 4: Nothing's going to change if you don't change
      5. Truth 5: To change, you need to equip yourself — and that's where this book comes in
    2. CHAPTER 2: Your Adult Financial Life Starts and Ends with ‘Why?’
      1. Figuring out your ‘why’
      2. Challenging your ‘why’
      3. Adding a time frame
    3. CHAPTER 3: Setting Strong Foundations
      1. Foundation 1: Respect your earnings
      2. Foundation 2: Pay attention to your spending
      3. Foundation 3: The cost of money is interest
      4. Foundation 4: Be realistic
      5. Foundation 5: Reward yourself
  10. PART II: STRATEGY STACKING
    1. CHAPTER 4: Understanding the Strategy Stacking Philosophy
      1. Understand your ‘why’
      2. Remember the five foundations
      3. Start with the Basic Stack: Budgeting, where earnings meet spending
      4. Use a Risk Assessment Strategy
      5. Stack your strategies appropriately
      6. Assess, execute, review, refine and repeat
    2. CHAPTER 5: Strategy Stacking around Significant Life Events
      1. Redundancy
      2. Marriage and divorce
      3. An unexpected windfall
      4. Trauma and disability
      5. Stacking for the next generation
    3. CHAPTER 6: Getting Started: Assessing Your Starting Position
      1. Know your money truths before you begin
      2. The Strategy Stacker's Starting Position
      3. Working out your starting position
    4. CHAPTER 7: Making a Plan: The Strategy Stacking Calendar
    5. CHAPTER 8: Strategy Stacking Scenarios
      1. Strategy stack: ‘I want to save more and buy a house one day’
      2. Strategy stack: ‘We want to reduce the mortgage and raise our family’
      3. Strategy stack: ‘We want to retire comfortable and debt-free’
      4. Strategy stack: ‘We want to retire, but how do we actually do it?’
      5. A final note on these scenarios
  11. PART III: THE STRATEGIES
    1. CHAPTER 9: The Framing Strategies
      1. The Budget Management Strategy
      2. The Cash Flow Management Strategy
      3. The Debt Reduction Strategy
      4. The Risk Assessment Strategy
    2. CHAPTER 10: The Investment Strategies
      1. The Diversification Strategy
      2. The Dollar Cost Averaging Strategy
      3. The Investment Structure Strategy
      4. The Asset Allocation Strategy
      5. The Asset Selection Strategy
      6. The Investment Selection Strategy
      7. The Franking Credit Strategy
      8. The Fee Reduction Strategy
      9. The Appropriate Tax Strategy
      10. The Gearing Strategy
    3. CHAPTER 11: The Superannuation Strategies
      1. The Super Vehicle Strategy
      2. The Consolidation Strategy
      3. The Contribution Strategies
      4. The Contribution Catch-up Strategy
      5. The Super Splitting Strategy
      6. The Spouse Contribution Strategy
      7. The Government Co-contribution Strategy
      8. The Re-contribution Strategy
      9. The Appropriate Super Fees Strategy
      10. The Appropriate Tax in Super Strategy
      11. The Downsizing Contribution Strategy
      12. The Super Investment Strategies
    4. CHAPTER 12: The Retirement Strategies
      1. The Retirement Readiness Strategy
      2. The Transition to Retirement Strategy
      3. The Retirement Income Vehicles Strategy
      4. The Retirement Investment Strategies
      5. The Appropriate Retirement Fees Strategy
      6. The Appropriate Tax in Retirement Strategy
    5. CHAPTER 13: The Wealth Protection Strategies
      1. The Income Protection Strategy
      2. The Trauma Protection Strategy
      3. The Total and Permanent Disability Protection Strategy
      4. The Life Protection Strategy
      5. The Key Person Protection Strategy
    6. CHAPTER 14: The Estate Planning Strategies
      1. The Last Will and Testament Strategy
      2. The Testamentary Trust Strategy
      3. The Power of Attorney Strategy
      4. The Superannuation Nomination Strategy and the Reversionary Pension Strategy
  12. PART IV: PUTTING YOUR FINANCIAL PLAN INTO ACTION
    1. CHAPTER 15: Why Seek Personal Financial Advice?
      1. You don't know what you don't know
      2. Things change — you'll never keep up with the latest options
      3. Asking family and friends for financial advice is a risky idea
      4. Trying to go it alone is just too difficult
      5. Advice is not just for the ultra-rich
      6. You've got goals you want to achieve
      7. You don't want financial stress
      8. You're looking for a better way to manage your money
      9. You're facing a redundancy
      10. You want certainty when you retire
      11. You've had an unexpected windfall
      12. You've gone as far as you can by yourself
      13. It's all too complicated!
      14. You think you're paying too much tax
      15. You want to stack strategies in your favour for a better life
    2. CHAPTER 16: What to Expect from the Financial Planning Process
      1. The financial planning process in six steps
      2. The financial plan: What should it cover?
  13. ENDINGS AND NEW BEGINNINGS
  14. INDEX
  15. END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

Product information

  • Title: Smart Money Strategy
  • Author(s): Luke Smith
  • Release date: March 2023
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781394176946