Guiding your wealth journey

Achieving financial security isn’t about one-off transactions or isolated advice; it’s about an ongoing, holistic plan. When you work with First Financial, you begin a long-term partnership. Our advice is ongoing, tailored, and practical to help you grow and protect your wealth at every stage of life. We provide consistent, expert support in everything from superannuation and investment planning to insurance, lending, legal and estate considerations, aged care guidance, and more. We bring together multiple services that work in unison to form a complete strategy. You might not need every service right away, but having all the expertise in one place means we can adjust your plan as your life changes. This proactive, integrated approach makes managing your financial future simpler and more effective, with each component of your plan supporting the others.

Importantly, every recommendation we make is considered in the context of your goals. Nothing is treated in isolation. For example, if we suggest a tax-saving strategy or an insurance policy, we ensure it complements your investments, superannuation and overall roadmap. Our team’s in-house expertise means your strategy stays aligned with your circumstances and adapts as needed. It’s a personalised approach rather than any one-size-fits-all formulas.

Every financial journey begins with intelligent planning. In your working years, we help you chart a clear financial roadmap for growth. We start by getting to know you: your income, assets, debts, and aspirations. This view allows us to craft a plan that balances all key aspects of your finances, including budgeting, investing, superannuation contributions and tax positioning.

Investment and wealth management are central to growing your money. Our team employs a research-driven approach to manage risk and select high-quality assets, building portfolios that perform consistently across market conditions. We focus on asset allocation that aligns with your risk tolerance and life stage. For instance, if you’re younger and focused on wealth creation, we help you build a growth-oriented portfolio that will serve you well in the long term. If you’re closer to retirement, we tilt your investments toward more income and stability.

Alongside investing, tax-effective strategies are leveraged to maximise what you keep. Paying tax is part of life, but paying more than necessary is something we actively help you avoid. We use smart structures to minimise your tax burden while staying within the rules, ensuring more of your money stays working for you over the long run.

Even small efficiencies, like salary sacrificing a portion of your pre-tax income into superannuation, can compound to make a meaningful difference to your future wealth. Even in these early and mid-career stages, we help you protect what you’re building. Life can throw curveballs, illness, injury, or unexpected events, which is why insurance is an integral part of a sound financial plan. We help you protect your family, income and assets with appropriate cover so that a setback doesn’t derail your long-term goals.

If one of your goals is buying a home or investing in property, we’ve got you covered. Through our lending services, we can help you secure financing solutions that match your needs and financial position. Because we partner with trusted lending specialists, you’ll get guidance on mortgages or loans that consider both your immediate goals and your long-term plans. From your first home loan to refinancing or investment loans down the track, we integrate borrowing into your wealth plan responsibly.

Our lending partners handle the paperwork and lender comparisons for you, ensuring a smooth process from application to settlement. They remain available afterwards to review your loan or adjust it if needed as your situation changes. The key is that any lending decisions are made within the context of your broader financial roadmap.

First Financial continuously works with you to adapt your strategy at each life stage. In mid-life, you may be juggling growing investments, higher earnings, kids approaching university, or business ownership. We act as your financial co-pilot during this phase, helping you make informed decisions and adjustments so you stay on track. Regular reviews are a cornerstone of our approach. We meet with you to check progress, discuss any life changes, and proactively tweak your plan. Because we’ve built a deep understanding of your situation over time, you won’t need to re-explain your story; we already know you and your goals, and we’re focused on keeping everything aligned.

Tax planning and investment management often take centre stage in these wealth-building years. We will refine your investment portfolio as needed, which may involve diversifying into new asset classes or dialling down risk as you get closer to key goals. Throughout, our emphasis remains on evidence-based strategies and quality investments that perform consistently.

Our team ensures your insurance cover evolves with your life, increasing or adjusting life insurance as your family and liabilities grow, and potentially scaling back or restructuring policies as debts are paid off and retirement nears. We advise on safeguarding your business (if you have one) and can recommend appropriate business insurance or succession plans as part of your financial strategy.

Because substantial wealth brings new considerations, we also incorporate estate planning discussions. Through our partnerships with legal professionals, we help you align your wills, powers of attorney, and estate plans with your financial strategy. This means you can be confident that your legacy will be handled according to your wishes and that your family is looked after. Whether it’s setting up structures to pass on wealth tax-effectively or planning for contingencies, we integrate these legal considerations so nothing is overlooked.

Everyone’s retirement vision is different, but the common question is: “Will I have enough?” Our mission is to make sure the answer is yes. Retirement planning is our specialty. It’s never too early to start thinking about retirement. In fact, the earlier you start, the more opportunities you have to accumulate wealth along the way and set yourself up for success. Whether retirement is 30 years away or just around the corner, we work with you to map out a clear path. This might include boosting your superannuation, eliminating debts, and choosing the right investments so that by the time you retire, you’ve built a comfortable nest egg.

When you reach the transition phase heading into retirement, we guide you through critical decisions: When can you afford to stop working? How should you access your super? What pension strategies make sense? Retiring doesn’t have to mean a sharp drop in income if you plan it right. We help you determine the optimal way to convert your lifelong savings into a reliable retirement income stream.

This can involve starting an account-based pension from your super, which can provide tax-free income after age 60; planning lump-sum withdrawals for major expenses; or using a Transition to Retirement strategy if you choose to gradually downshift work.

Our advisers crunch the numbers on how much money you’ll need to live on and set up a withdrawal plan that supports your lifestyle without running out of funds.

During the early active years of retirement, we continue to work closely with you. This is the time many retirees travel, enjoy hobbies, and tick off bucket-list items. Expenses in these years can be higher than in later retirement, so a solid financial plan is essential. We create strategies to sustain your lifestyle and ensure stability, including planning for unexpected costs. Regular reviews are conducted to manage your spending levels and adjust as needed. We essentially act as a financial coach during retirement.

As you move into later retirement, your focus may shift to health and security. We help navigate aged care decisions with sensitivity and expertise. If you or your loved one needs to move into aged care or assisted living, our advisers will guide you through the financial implications.

We provide personalised advice to help protect your assets, manage the costs of care, and support your family through the transition. This can involve complex decisions, such as how to fund refundable accommodation deposits, whether to sell or rent the family home, and how to structure income to cover care fees. We work with legal partners to make sure your wills, trusts, and nominations reflect your current wishes and that your wealth transfer to the next generation is orderly and tax-efficient.

Throughout your financial journey, First Financial’s team is by your side, providing knowledgeable guidance and genuine care. Our clients often tell us that having everything under one roof, investments, super, tax, insurance, lending, and retirement planning, makes their lives so much easier. There’s no need to juggle multiple advisers or redo paperwork for each new life event.

We check in regularly, celebrate milestones with you, and course-correct whenever needed. If markets shift or rules change, we stay ahead of them. “Staying Ahead” is one of our core service principles, ensuring your strategy remains on track. This consistent, proactive support means you can focus on living your life, while we focus on keeping your financial plan in great shape.

Our aim isn’t just to grow your wealth, but to give you long-term confidence and freedom. As we often say, the goal is retiring on your terms, with the means to live the way you choose.

At First Financial, our advisers specialise in tax-effective strategies, superannuation, and comprehensive retirement planning. We tailor retirement plans that ensure you live your later years the way you intended.

The team at First Financial cover everything from retirement and financial advice, investment and wealth management, superannuation and SMSF, insurance, tax, aged care, legal and lending services.
Contact us for holistic, well-rounded financial management strategies.