A Sydney accountant with super thoughts

When COVID-19 hit us in February 2020, I like most had no idea what was about to happen.

At the time, it was called the corona virus and the world largely had no insight of the death, destruction and economic disruption that was about to be unleashed on the unsuspecting world.

As a practicing accountant, I instinctively reached out to my clients offering assistance with government initiatives such as Cash Flow Payment Boost, Job Keeper, Job Seeker, and general compliance in businesses that had ‘hit a wall’ overnight.

it was awful, largely unchargeable work and somewhat depressing.

So what did I do. I wrote a book about the decisions we take and the outcome that we create. ‘Lifes Equation – Decide for a better outcome’ was a covid inspired (if thats the right word’) account of my take on learning from our mistakes as we travel through lifes journey. What would I have done differently, given the benefit of hindsight.

In pursuing a common thread that decisions lead to outcomes, , I explore the need to understand the capital/revenue dilemma that many do not consider as they waste away their important capital resources that will underpin their quality of retirement.

I talk about the conduits for capital growth, the importance of owning the home in which you live, and the widely disregarded capital resource that is superannuation. You see far too many people regard super as something their employer has to pay and they place little value on the money until they do not have enough in retirement.

In Lifes Equation – Decide for a better outcome, I show with financial modelling, how a decision to top up super through salary sacrifice to optimise tax breaks up to $25,000 per year, will potentially double your super over a lifetime. I break it down into the age group steps in lifes journey outlining where you should be financially depending on your age and what you should be thinking about.

I talk about shares, investment properties, AirBNB, self managed super funds, marriage breakdowns and understanding business structure and funding.

I round out the book with a chapter on COVID-19 and the outrageous early release of super.

As an accountant, I do a lot more than tax returns. I care about the well-being and financial future of my clients. I commend the book to you or anyone in your family who cares enough about their future to do something about it…value your super.

Peter Cox – Harbour Accounting