Financial Planning

Whatever your goals in life, there’s a simple and powerful way to improve your chances of achieving them. How? Write them down. That’s right. Research^* has concluded that people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. That’s why Bridges Financial Services* has developed a great online tool to help you do exactly that.

Visit the "My Goals" website now

After you’ve added to your goals, you’ll be sent a clear set of prioritised life goals delivered to your inbox, in about 10 minutes.

Start here

About Bridges

Bridges financial planners cover a wide range of financial planning and investment services to help you achieve your financial goals. They are committed to providing clients with professional, ongoing advice and service and can help you with retirement planning, superannuation strategies, salary packaging, stockbroking and so much more.

Bridges Financial Services Pty Limited is one of Australia’s largest financial planning companies focused on providing financial advice to the customer-owned banking sector including credit unions and mutual banks. They have over 60 offices and more than 160 planners across the country. Bridges has been helping Australians reach their financial goals for over 30 years. Bridges holds an Australian Financial Services Licence issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and is an ASX Participant.

Financial advice makes a difference

It pays to seek advice from a qualified professional. So while many people are aware that they need professional advice, it’s often hard to know where to start. The quest isn’t simply to find a planner; but to find one you can trust. Getting the right advice can make a huge difference, especially when it comes to your financial affairs. In fact, research by the Financial Services Council shows that people who received advice were almost $100,000 better off at retirement*.

^{*Source: Financial Services Council 2011. The research shows that a 30 year old would save an additional $91,000, a 45 year old would save an additional $80,000 and a 60 year old would save $29,000 more than those without a financial adviser.}

Plan for the unexpected

Marriage, divorce, first job, new job, redundancy, first home, children, school fees, death of a loved one, illness, injury, retirement – some are expected, some are unexpected, but all are a part of life and just a few of the times when financial planning advice can make a difference. Any change in your personal circumstances can have an impact on your financial future. So, if your circumstances change, having a plan in place can provide reassurance and peace of mind at a difficult time.

• Investments - managing your investments and investing tax effectively
• Superannuation – understanding your options and maximising every opportunity
• Retirement – helping you ease into retirement

Call us to arrange your free initial consultation

Bridges Resource Centre

Start planning for a brighter future today with these tips and resources from Bridges.

Know more

Start planning for a brighter future today with these tips and resources from Bridges.

Know more

Financial planning process

Make sense of the financial-planning process with our 6-step guide.

Step 1 – Gathering information

The first meeting with your financial planner will give you the opportunity to discuss your current financial situation. Typically, they will ask about how much you earn, other sources of income, commitments, and how you spend your money.

Step 2 – Identifying goals

An essential part of this process is to clearly identify your financial goals. Your financial planner should take into account timeframes, financial commitments and other influences that may impact the development of your plan.

Step 3 – Identifying and prioritising financial issues

Your financial planner will assess your financial situation by asking you about your attitude towards risk and diversification as well as your time frame which will then help you prioritise your goals.

Step 4 – Preparing your financial plan

Based on your financial situation and goals, your financial planner will develop a complete strategy and prepare it for your review.

Step 5 – Implementing your financial plan

It’s good to approach your plan with flexibility; once you’ve agreed with your plan, it’s time to put it into action.

Step 6 – Reviewing your plan

Staying on track is important to help you meet your goals and expectations. Your situation will change, so from time to time your financial planner will review your plan and check the progress of your strategy.

Call us to arrange your free initial consultation

Maximise your super

Make your super work as hard as you do

Selecting the right investment strategy is an important step in achieving your retirement goals. A Bridges financial planner can help you achieve a strategy that suits you so you can start creating a picture of what your retirement will look like.

A Bridges financial planner may be able to help you:

• Choose an appropriate super fund with the features you need
• Select the appropriate investment mix depending on your risk profile and investment time frame
• Boost your super by making the most of the contributions limits, tax-benefits and government incentives
• Transition your super to a pension once you retire.

Everyone's situation is different. A Bridges financial planner can help you find a strategy that works for you.

Call us to arrange your free initial consultation

Retirement planning

After working so hard for so many years, don’t you deserve a retirement that’s as good as it can be? With a little bit of planning, you can do whatever you want in retirement. While many people rely on the Age Pension for their income in retirement, it only allows for a very basic lifestyle.

The Bridges retirement gap calculator projects how much you will have in super and how long it will last which is an important part of your retirement is planning. Then if there is a gap, there are a number of strategies you could consider to start closing the gap. For example, the salary sacrifice calculator illustrates the difference between making additional super contributions with pre-tax money compared with after-tax money. Super is concessionally taxed at just 15% compared to your marginal rate, which can really help your super grow.

Call us to arrange your free initial consultation

Wills service

As a UniBank member, you can make an appointment during the school holidays to prepare your Will. The cost for a single is $220 and a mutual will is $350.

Power of Attorney or Appointment of Enduring Guardian

The cost for preparing a Power of Attorney^* or Appointment of Enduring Guardian is $140 for a single and $210 for a mutual.

Book an appointment

Appointments can be made at our offices below:

NSW & ACT: As part of a wills service appointment, you have the opportunity to also speak to a Bridges Financial Planner as a complimentary service.

WA: pricing in WA differs from others States and it is highly recommended to call Slater & Gordon for a quote prior to making an appointment.

What to expect:

A Lawyer will talk through the requirements of the member in an initial telephone discussion and confirm the requirements of the member.  In most cases, a draft Will is then prepared which is finalised and signed when the member attends for his or her appointment at the Wills Day in one of our offices. 

When a situation arises where the Lawyers cannot complete the Will requirements on the Wills Days, the Will can always be finalised at the lawyers or by post. Once your instructions have been taken and documents have been prepared by our Solicitors the fees are payable in full regardless of cancellations. 

We can organise signing of documents several ways if you are unable to attend on the day of your appointment. 

The following are the most common areas which require preliminary thought:

• Executor – if one or all of your major beneficiaries is not suitable to be appointed executor, then you need to consider someone else (and discuss this with them).
• Minor Children – who would be the testamentary guardian if you and your spouse/partner were not around?
• “Catastrophe” situation – if there is a realistic possibility that the major beneficiaries (eg your spouse and children) may die before you or with you, the lawyers will discuss with you who (if anyone) you would then wish to leave your estate to.  Where people are making “mutual” Wills, the solicitor would usually suggest that they consider dividing the combined estates 50/50 between remaining relatives from both sides of the family as one option for this circumstance.

Enduring Power of Attorney & appointment of enduring guardian 

The lawyers can discuss any need you may have for an Enduring Power of Attorney and/or the Appointment of an Enduring Guardian.

The Enduring Power of Attorney “endures” if you subsequently suffer loss of mental capacity.  However, the Enduring Power of Attorney cannot be used for “health” or “lifestyle’ decisions.  An Appointment of Enduring Guardian is required to be made to permit someone to make these decisions should you become incapable of managing your own “person”.

For an Appointment of Enduring Guardian to be effective, the person (or persons) you appoint as your Enduring Guardian should preferably be present with you when you sign an Appointment of Enduring Guardian in the presence of a solicitor.  Otherwise, separate arrangements will need to be made for them to sign in the presence of a solicitor later.

Any Enduring Power of Attorney signed after 16 February 2004 requires any person appointed as your attorney to also sign the Power of Attorney for it to be effective.  It is therefore helpful, but not essential, for your attorney(s) to be present when you sign a Power of Attorney in the presence of a solicitor.

The lawyers trust that the above information will assist you. We look forward to talking to you and meeting you at the UniBank.