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You’ve spent years building your business, serving customers, and supporting your team. Now it’s time to ensure your hard work translates into the financial security you deserve.

As an Australian small business owner, you face unique challenges beyond daily operations. While you’ve mastered the art of growing revenue and managing cash flow, the bigger picture questions often keep you awake at night: Am I going to be OK?

The questions on your mind

Should I contribute to my super or pay down debt? With interest rates fluctuating and superannuation caps changing, this decision requires balancing immediate cash flow needs against long-term retirement planning.

How can I reduce CGT when I sell my business? The small business CGT concessions can be complex, but getting them right could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars when you eventually sell.

When can I afford to retire? Your business may be profitable but understanding when to step back requires careful planning around superannuation, personal assets, and projected living expenses.

From working in your business to working for your future

Whether you’re in aggressive growth mode, considering slowing down, or preparing to sell, these decisions shouldn’t be made in isolation. Every choice impacts your personal financial future, and the stakes are too high to navigate alone.

Professional guidance helps you transform business success into lasting financial freedom. Because after years of taking care of everyone else, it’s time to take care of yourself and secure your own future and peace of mind.

You’re excelling in your career, climbing the corporate ladder, and earning a solid income. But are you making the most of your financial opportunities? For many Australian professionals, the answer is frustratingly unclear.

Between demanding work schedules, family commitments, and the overwhelming amount of financial information available online, it’s easy to let money management slip down your priority list. Yet with each passing year, you’re potentially missing out on thousands of dollars in growth, tax savings, and strategic opportunities.

Is your money working as hard as you?

How do I balance my lifestyle and financial future? You’ve worked hard to afford the lifestyle you want, but striking the right balance between enjoying today and securing tomorrow requires a personalised approach that reflects your values and long-term goals.

How can I make my money work for me? Beyond your salary, your money should generate returns through strategic investments, superannuation contributions, and leveraging tax-effective structures aligning with your income level and career trajectory.

What are my options? With managed funds, ETFs, property, shares, and countless investment platforms available, the options can be paralysing. The right strategy depends on your risk tolerance, time horizon, and specific financial circumstances.

How can I pay less tax? As a higher-income earner, tax efficiency becomes increasingly important. From salary packaging and negative gearing to superannuation and insurance strategies and various investment structures, there are legitimate ways to reduce your tax burden while building wealth effectively.

Am I on track? Without clear benchmarks and regular reviews, it’s impossible to know whether your current approach will deliver the financial freedom you’re working toward.

The Professional’s dilemma

You’re time-poor but money-rich – or at least money-positive. You’re making a good income, but suspect you’re not making the most of it. You’re drowning in financial information but starving for clarity and direction.

This is where professional, tailored financial advice becomes invaluable. Rather than generic solutions or one-size-fits-all approaches, you need strategies that work with your specific situation, career path, and lifestyle goals.

Because your professional success deserves a financial strategy that matches your ambition and delivers the security and freedom you’re working so hard to achieve.

If the daily grind is starting to feel a lot like Groundhog Day, if boredom, burnout, or a hunger for purpose keeps nudging you. You’re not alone. A recent SEEK survey[1] found 57 % of Gen X workers would choose a different career if they had their time again.

Yet most stay put. Why? Two big stories we tell ourselves: “It’s too late to start over” and “I can’t afford the financial risk.”

So, how can you address these concerns and tackle them, instead of letting them dictate the rest of your working life.

Exploring Your Late-Career Change Options

If you’re thinking about making a career change, start by asking yourself this one question: Why do I want this change?

Are you craving flexibility, fresh challenges, deeper purpose, or something else entirely?

Write your answer in a single sentence and keep it where you can see it. With your ‘why’ in clear view, it’s time to explore the “how.” The five practical pathways that follow are designed to spark ideas and show you how, with a little creativity, you can reimagine your career on your terms, without derailing your future.

1. Lateral Shift – same industry, fresh seat

The quickest reinvention can be right under your nose: moving sideways into a new function or business unit.

Why it works: You keep your sector knowledge but swap the tasks that bore you for ones that light you up.

Try this: Ask for a “stretch project” in the area that interests you, then request an internal secondment once you’ve proved your chops.

2. Portfolio Career – mix, match & monetise

A portfolio career blends part-time employment, freelancing, and passion projects so no single gig needs to meet every need.

Why it thrills: Variety kills boredom, protects income streams, and lets you test-drive new interests before leaping fully.

Try this: Draft an “ideal week” grid, block two days for consulting, two for part-time employment, one for a passion micro-business, then pilot it during annual leave.

3. Entrepreneurial Play – build your own thing

Tapping decades of know‑how, many Gen X‑ers are turning their hard‑won experience into profitable ventures—consulting gigs, e‑commerce stores, digital products, you name it.

Lean launch tips: Start small. Validate demand with a one-page website and a paid pilot. Use gig-platforms (Upwork, Fiverr Pro) to land first clients without quitting your day job.

Try this: Write a 100-word “value proposition” and mention it to three contacts this week for instant market research.

4. Sabbatical or Gap Year – strategic time-out

Sometimes the smartest career move is to pause.

Why it works: A planned break, whether for study, travel or simply breathing space, lets you reset your energy and perspective. Many return with fresh skills or a renewed love for their existing field; others gain the clarity needed to pivot.

Try this:

1. Check your long-service or unpaid-leave entitlements and confirm how a break affects super and insurance.
2. Draft a sabbatical budget that covers living costs plus any course fees or travel.
3. Set one intention for the time out (e.g., finish a micro-credential, brainstorm business ideas, or recharge).

Treat the pause as an investment in your next chapter, not a detour from it.

5. Upskill & Pivot – new skills, new industry

Maybe you’re keen to leave your whole sector behind. Short, subsidised study can make that leap faster than you think.

Micro-credentials: Universities and TAFEs now offer six-month certificates in areas like UX design, cyber security, and aged-care leadership.

Try this: Identify three transferable “power skills” (e.g., stakeholder management, data analysis, mentoring) and map them to potential growth sectors. Then, price the shortest course that fills any gap. Or the one that most piques your interest.

Your Next Chapter Starts Now

A late‑career change isn’t about throwing away everything you’ve built; it’s about repurposing your skills and life experience into work that lights you up for the decades ahead. Whether you shift sideways, retrain, juggle a portfolio of gigs, launch a venture, or take a strategic pause, the common thread is intention.

Start with your why, take the smallest actionable step this week, and build momentum from there. Your future self will thank you!

If you’re considering making a career change and want to ensure your financial future remains on track, speak with a financial planner today.

[1] https://www.seek.com.au/about/news/article/the-evolving-working-life

When it comes to helping your children or grandchildren get a financial head start in life, there are many options available. However, your generosity could create tax issues down the track. Here are a few ways you could help give your kids a financial head start, preferably without putting your finances at risk.

Education

If you want to guarantee that money invested for a specific purpose in your child’s life is used for that intention, there are several ways to ensure this happens.

When you look around, there are plenty of investment products aimed squarely at helping parents save for education. Education funds are often referred to as “Education Savings Plans”. These funds can be set up to transfer to the child’s name at an age specified by you. Many charge minimal fees, and the money can be used to pay for books and uniforms, repay HECS debts, and even purchase musical instruments and lessons.

Alternatively, you may look at investment bonds. Investment bonds are a type of insurance policy primarily used as an investment vehicle. Available from a range of providers, investors can choose from a suite of underlying investments in much the same way as regular managed funds. Investment bonds shouldn’t be confused with interest-paying government or corporate bonds. They are a unique type of asset offering a range of advantages.

As a form of life insurance, if the owner dies, the proceeds will be paid directly to nominated beneficiaries. The money doesn’t go through the estate and can be paid out quickly. In addition, the proceeds are not taxable in the hands of the beneficiaries, even if the bond is less than 10 years old. Allowing for relevant tax rates, they may also be a good vehicle for saving for a child’s education or other long-term goal.

Home ownership

Due to the increasing difficulty faced by many young Australians in saving enough to afford their first home, assistance from family members is becoming more common. A facility is available that enables parents to help with the purchase at no direct cost to themselves. The “family guarantee” loan allows parents, or another family member, to use their own home as security on a portion of their child’s mortgage, generally to increase their deposit amount.

If you choose to act as a guarantor, be aware of the implications. For example, you may be responsible for the entire loan if your offspring cannot meet repayments. Or even worse, if they default on the loan and the lender sells the property at a loss, you may be at risk of losing your own home.

Another option that places less risk on your assets is to lend your child money to make their deposit. Combining a parent’s loan with the first homeowner grant can substantially impact the life of the mortgage.

Accessing tax breaks

Parents may be aware of the value spreading income across family members may have when it comes to tax time. But beware. The Australian Tax Office ensures money is not placed in children’s names, purely to give Mum and Dad a tax break. For this reason, it applies more aggressive tax rates for passive income invested in the name of a person under age 18. So, when setting up any investment in this way, make sure you check with your adviser first.

The key to giving your kids a leg-up is to have a clear objective before you start. With so many options available, it can get confusing, so be sure to ask us for professional advice.