Make the future YOU want… relaxing
Introducing Brad and Sheryl - Managed Portfolio Service clients
Brad, an engineer in his mid forties wanted ‘off’ the corporate treadmill. His children had all left home and were living in various parts of the globe. Tired of trading time for money, Brad and his wife Sheryl decided to start trading a few luxuries for a better future instead.
The Challenge
The couple knew if they put their minds to it, they could channel a large chunk of their salaries, together with dividend income from Brad’s employee share scheme into a savings plan that would work hard for them. Their key goal was never again to work hard themselves. They soon discovered however, that building up that ‘freedom nest egg’ within five years was going to be a little harder than planned.
A friend suggested they approach ABN AMRO Craigs to devise a smarter strategy.
A postcard of a deck chair on the beach as it turned out was instrumental in keeping them on target, revealed their ABN AMRO Craigs advisor.
The Solution
“The Dallimores wanted to pack up and head to Australia, explore the country for a period of time and then settle somewhere there. We established the capital amount they would need to reach, before putting ‘Project Deck Chair’ into action - and it was significant”, their advisor recalls. “To have them focused on a capital goal and not a timeline was important”.
Over the five years that followed, the Dallimores met with their advisor every three months. They tracked the performance of what was initially an aggressive investment strategy with 70-80% in equity investments and the remainder in fixed interest. Given that their goal was to live in Australia, whenever the New Zealand dollar was strong against the Australian, they would invest in currency. Likewise, whenever there was a win from equities, the strategy was to clip the top off, reinvesting in fixed interest. So effectively, the Dallimore's portfolio became more risk averse as they got closer to their capital goal.
Despite this cautious approach, there were definite pain points such as a market downturn that set them back. Still, with constant encouragement from their advisor and reassurance that they would reach their goal, they stuck to their plan.
The Dallimores reached their goal earlier than expected. They decided to continue to work a little longer and pushed their portfolio even further. By the time they sold their house and set their adventurous plans in motion, they’d achieved an annualised return of 15-18% and grown their capital base well beyond their initial hopes.
The Dallimores have since travelled around Australia, fallen in love with Noosa and stayed put there.
They now enjoy a sunny, relaxed lifestyle, working casually in tourism-related jobs now and then (to top up their portfolio income and to meet people).