Redundancy

You never plan on losing a job

If you do find yourself in the midst of a redundancy, getting your finances under control helps reduce the stress on you and your family, and helps avoid costly mistakes. Research suggests one in three executives face retrenchment at least once in their career. Others opt for significant career changes, which often take time to pay off financially. While these transitions are common, it doesn’t make the financial impacts easier to manage. And there are important choices to make.

Points to Consider

First you’ll need money until you find another job. You could use your termination pay to fund your costs for a while, and you may also consider selling some assets. If so, which ones? Many people find it useful to set up a regular income from a cash trust to pay the bills while they get reorganised.

You may be entitled to Centrelink benefits, although waiting periods and income and assets tests apply. You’ll need to understand exactly what you can claim and when.

If you’ve enjoyed benefits like life insurance, super contributions and employee share schemes, you’ll have decisions to make with these too. It’s easy to make hasty decisions that you may later regret. Are you eligible to rollover your termination payment into super and, if so, should you? The tax paid on your termination payment may be lower and you’ll get the tax benefits of saving in super, but your money is locked away until you retire.

Good News

The good news is most people can come out the other side of retrenchment or a career change better prepared to get ahead financially.

Quality financial advice can help you make the right decisions, and reduce one of the key causes of stress during this unsettling period. Our advisers find that they add the most value when people come to see us while they are finalising redundancy arrangements and before they have left work.

Contact us today to arrange an initial meeting to discuss how we might be able to assist you.

Disclaimer

This is general advice only and does not take into account your financial circumstances, needs and objectives. Before making any decision based on this document, you should assess your own circumstances or seek advice from a financial planner and seek tax advice from a registered tax agent. Information is current at the date of issue and may change.