Financial Planning for Engineers
Financial Advice Empowering Engineers to Build Wealth and Freedom
A project ending, a contract through a company of your own, a posting overseas or a new employer can change your pay, super and cover. We help you plan your money around each of those moves.
Our Financial Advice Team Is Here to Help You
We Can Help You
- Plan your budget, super and cover for the months around a project or fixed-term contract ending
- Arrange super contributions, personal cover and a cash buffer before contracting through a company of your own
- Prepare for a posting overseas, with an accountant advising on your tax residency
- Weigh up renting out, keeping or selling a home you own here during a posting, with an accountant on the tax for each
- Compare a consultancy offer with a client-side role on salary, super, leave and any bonus
- Fit any HELP repayments, super and first insurance into a graduate engineering salary
- Plan your super, cover and household budget for the move home after a posting
- Review any shares from an employer’s share plan before you move to another firm, with an accountant confirming their tax
Who We Help
- Graduate engineers on a first salary, with a HELP debt to repay
- Civil and structural engineers at consultancies, working on chargeable hours
- Client-side engineers at asset owners, utilities or government agencies
- Mechanical and electrical engineers in manufacturing, energy and building services
- Mining engineers in planning, project or corporate roles
- Project engineers moving from one project to the next
- Contract engineers invoicing through a company of their own
- Engineers posted overseas on a secondment or a fixed-term posting
What we advise on
How Our Advice Works for Engineers
Financial Planning & Advice
Which goals outside work could your next project, contract or posting help you reach?
Planning before each move can give you a clear view of how a new role fits the goals you care about.
We’ll put together a financial plan, or Statement of Advice, around the moves an engineering career makes.
An engineering career can change shape at the end of each project: a contract or posting may be offered, or a client you consulted to may offer you a role. Each move can change your pay, leave, super and cover at once, and a new role can bring registration, where the state you work in requires it. We review the plan with you at each of those points.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A project or fixed-term contract ending, with income, leave and cover planned before the end date
- An offer to contract through a company of your own, weighed against staying employed on salary and super
- A posting or secondment overseas, with the plan for the move and the return set before you leave
- An offer from an asset owner, utility or agency, compared with a consultancy role on more than the base salary
- Offers set side by side on base pay, super, leave, any bonus and any cover that comes with the role
- Registration, where the state you work in requires it, planned into the cost and timing of a move
- Goals outside engineering, such as a first home, travel or time between projects, each with a target and a year
- Residency, PSI or redundancy questions passed to an accountant at each move, and any new borrowing to a broker
Cashflow & Financial Wellbeing
Could savings built while a project runs give you more choice about the next one?
Saving steadily while the work is there can let you choose your next role with less pressure on the household budget.
We can set up a household budget on the income you can count on across projects and contracts.
Pay can change from one project to the next. On a contract through a company of your own, the client doesn’t pay your super, so tax and super are set aside from each payment, with an accountant advising on the amounts. Any allowances or housing on a posting can be budgeted as money for a set period, and a buffer sized to your costs can help with a gap between roles.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Rent, groceries and any loan repayments matched to the pay you can count on, project after project
- Savings held for the stretch from a project’s last day to the first payday on the next one
- Any contract paid through a company of your own, with tax and super set aside from each payment as an accountant advises
- Allowances, housing or travel support on a posting, if offered, budgeted as money for a set period
- Costs that carry on at home during a posting overseas, such as rent, a mortgage, storage or insurance
- The budget for the move home, including flights, a bond and any gap before the first pay in a new role
- A first engineering salary split between rent, savings, any HELP repayments and goals of your own
- Any pay rise from a new role or promotion, with part of the increase put towards savings, debt or investing
Tax & Wealth Strategies
As your work moves between projects, firms and countries, how could tax planning support your goals?
Thinking about tax before each move can make tax time more predictable and keep your plans on track.
Together, we’ll look at the tax side of each career move, working alongside an accountant on the detail.
Ryker’s financial advisers plan tax and set tax structure and strategy, working alongside an accountant, who prepares and lodges your return. The ATO lists leaving on termination of your contract as a non-genuine redundancy, and names engineers among those who can earn personal services income. Whether either applies to you, and your residency on a posting, is for an accountant to confirm.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A payout when a fixed-term or project contract runs to its end, which the ATO generally doesn’t treat as a genuine redundancy
- Design or project fees paid to a company of your own, with an accountant assessing the personal services income rules
- The PSI results test, which asks whether you’re paid for a result, supply any equipment needed and pay to fix defects
- A secondment abroad and whether you stay an Australian resident for tax, starting with the resides test, assessed by an accountant
- Foreign employment income the law exempts for some kinds of overseas work, with an accountant checking whether the exemption covers your role
- Any employer share plan interests, taxed upfront or deferred under the plan rules, with an accountant confirming the timing when you leave
- Engineering memberships, technical courses and any registration fees, with deductibility settled by an accountant
- Records kept for a year split between Australia and another country, so an accountant has what the return needs
Superannuation
Across contracts, postings and new employers, what would you like your super to do for you?
Checking contributions at each change of role can help your super build steadily for later life.
We can plan your super contributions across employers, contracts through a company and any posting overseas.
Contract through a company and the ATO says the client doesn’t have to pay super for you. An Australian employer generally pays super on a temporary posting overseas, though this may not apply if you’re a foreign resident for tax. Where Australia has a super agreement with the host country, a certificate of coverage can stop super being owed twice.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Contributions you plan yourself when contracting through a company, since the client doesn’t have to pay super for you
- Sole-trader engineering contracts mainly for your labour, where an accountant can confirm if the client owes you super
- Super on a posting with an Australian employer, and the certificate of coverage your employer can apply for
- A new role after a project ends, where contributions generally follow you to your current fund unless you pick a different one
- A fund receiving nothing during years with an overseas employer, and the premiums still drawn from its balance
- Funds opened at different consultancies or clients, compared on the insurance each holds before any are rolled together
- Extra contributions in a higher-income year, kept within the caps, with an accountant advising on any deduction
- A role with an employer based overseas, and what it would mean for your Australian super, looked at before you accept
Personal Insurance & Protection
How would household costs be paid if illness or injury kept you away from engineering work for a time?
Income protection can be set up to pay part of your income after a waiting period, helping cover household costs.
We can compare income protection, life and TPD cover for office, site and overseas engineering work.
Income protection is designed to pay part of your lost income if you’re unable to work due to illness or injury, after a waiting period and on the policy’s terms. It doesn’t pay because a project or contract ends. On a contract there may be no paid sick leave, so any cover is yours to arrange, and the insurer decides each application.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Site inspections, design office hours and travel overseas, each answered with reasonable care on an application
- Income protection, which pays for illness or injury and not when a project or fixed-term contract ends
- The income protection waiting period on contract work, chosen from how long your savings could cover the bills
- Cover while you live and work overseas, which depends on each policy’s terms, read before you leave
- Any group cover through an employer, and what changes when a fixed-term contract or posting ends
- Life and TPD sums insured, set from any loans still owing and the income years an engineering salary would otherwise provide
- Professional indemnity a client contract may ask for, referred to a general insurance broker as it isn’t personal insurance
- Income protection that pays for a set term or to a set age, weighed against the years of engineering work ahead
Property Investment Advice
Could owning a home or an investment property fit around a career that moves between projects?
Testing a purchase against your income across projects can show what’s realistic and a timeframe to aim for.
We can weigh up with you whether to rent out, keep or sell your home if you take a posting overseas.
The ATO says foreign residents can’t claim the main residence exemption for property sold after 30 June 2020, unless they satisfy the life events test, so the timing of any sale is worth planning with an accountant. From 1 July 2027, negative gearing on residential property is limited to new builds, though property held on 12 May 2026 is exempt. Borrowing to invest can magnify losses as well as gains, and the loan must still be repaid if values fall.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A home you own here, rented out, left empty or sold during a posting, compared on cost and tax
- Selling while you’re a foreign resident for tax, and the life events test, with an accountant confirming the position
- Rental losses on a home let during a posting, and the 1 July 2027 negative gearing change, with an accountant
- A home rented out during a posting, and its eventual sale under the CGT rules for gains accruing after 1 July 2027, checked by an accountant
- How lenders may treat contract or overseas income, with a broker comparing loans for you
- A first home on a graduate engineering salary, with a deposit target and buying costs set out in the plan
- Contract or overseas income used to buy an investment property, with the loan still to be repaid even if prices drop
- Landlord insurance, a property manager and repairs for a home rented out during a posting, budgeted before you go
Retirement & Aged Care
When the projects wind down one day, what would you like the years after to look like?
Looking at your super and savings now can widen your options for how and when your working years end.
We can show you how time spent overseas or contracting can shape your super by the time you retire.
Preservation age is 60 for anyone born from 1 July 1964, and super can generally only be accessed once you meet a condition of release, such as ceasing employment at 60 or over. Years with an employer overseas, or contracts that paid no super, can leave gaps in your super that are easier to plan for while you’re still working.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Years abroad that added little to Australian super, and any extra contributions to weigh against your cashflow
- Contracting later in your career, and how much you choose to contribute to super before preservation age
- Super from several employers and projects, brought together once any insurance in each account is checked
- Stepping down to part-time or occasional project work, and how that smaller income sits beside drawing on super
- Savings or retirement money built up in another country, included in your plan with an accountant advising on tax
- Any long service leave built up with an employer, and whether taking it or a payout fits your finishing date
- Any home loan still running when you plan to stop work, and how much of it super would need to cover
- Retiring here or overseas, and how the choice of country could change your costs and the way you draw on super
Your Engineering Career, Worked Through Together
The End of a Project Contract
A plan for income, leave and cover, set before a project or fixed-term contract ends.
Your Own Engineering Company
Super, cover and tax set-asides planned for contract work through a company of your own.
Consulting or Client-Side
A consultancy offer and a client-side role compared on pay, super, leave and cover.
A Posting Overseas
A plan for the move abroad and the return, with an accountant advising on residency.
Your Home While You’re Away
Renting, keeping or selling a home here, weighed up before a posting begins.
Super on a Posting
Contributions and any cover in super planned for the years you work overseas.
A First Salary and HELP
A first engineering salary set up with savings, super, cover and any HELP repayments.
Coming Home After a Posting
Your budget, super and cover set up again for an Australian salary when you return.
Proactive, Holistic, and Experienced Financial Planning
Engineers design and deliver the roads, power, water, machines and buildings that communities rely on every day. The work can run from one project to the next, from the office to a site, and sometimes overseas for a stretch. We start by listening to how your work runs and what you’d like your money to do for you. Then we help you shape a plan that suits the way you’re paid and the life you want around it.
An engineering career can open up real choices: a home of your own, more time with family, a few years working abroad, or the freedom to pick the projects you take on. If family rely on your income, they belong in the plan too. As each project ends and the next begins, we can help you work towards a life you enjoy today, with the years beyond your working life kept in view.
Every financial decision impacts the next
Your Financial Life Is Connected
Great advice starts with understanding the bigger picture. Every stage of life presents new opportunities and challenges, from buying property and changing careers to growing your family, planning for retirement and protecting what matters most. At Ryker, we help connect every piece of your financial world into one clear strategy.
Your
Wealth
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
Frequently Asked Questions
We’re invested in your long-term success. What we do is personal, and we take it personally.
Your financial decisions connect, so we consider the parts of your financial life that are relevant to the advice you need:
- Property & Investing
- Career & Income
- Tax Strategy
- Insurance & Protecting Your Family
- Super & SMSF
- Wealth & Investments
- Life Events & Changes
- Business & Wealth
- Legacy & Future Wealth
- Retirement Planning
This is how we help you make decisions today with your longer-term goals in view.
Everybody’s situation is different, so we listen first, understand what matters to you and explain your options clearly before we make a recommendation.
Generally not as a genuine redundancy. The ATO lists leaving on termination of your contract as a non-genuine redundancy, so a payment made because a fixed-term or project contract has run to its end doesn’t get the tax-free amount a genuine redundancy can. A contract ended early by the employer can be treated differently, and an accountant can confirm how your payment is taxed.
The months around an end date are worth planning: any leave paid out, a buffer for the gap until the next role, and any cover in super once contributions stop. We can set that out with you before the date arrives. If bills or debts become hard to manage, the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 is free and confidential.
Your accountant and financial adviser bring different expertise to the same decisions. Your accountant can advise on tax reporting, structures and consequences; we help you plan how cashflow, debt, super, investments and protection work towards your goals. We can coordinate before important decisions.
What an accountant does
- Prepares and lodges tax returns, BAS and financial statements
- Advises on tax structures such as companies, trusts and partnerships
- Manages bookkeeping, payroll and ATO compliance
- Provides tax advice on the consequences of a transaction
What a financial adviser does
- Sets a long term strategy across retirement, investing and cash flow
- Builds wealth from early in a working life, starting with cash flow, a first home and super
- Recommends specific super funds, investments and personal insurance
- Operates under an Australian Financial Services Licence, which is required to give personal advice on financial products
- Handles retirement planning, Centrelink and aged care strategy, and estate planning considerations
Professional roles and authorisations matter. We provide financial advice within our authorisations and work with your accountant for specialist tax advice and lodgements.
Where they work together
- Tax position. Your accountant confirms your marginal rate, deductions and carried forward losses, which shapes decisions on super contributions, investment structures and the timing of asset sales.
- Business and entity structures. Your accountant advises on the structure itself and your financial adviser works within it for investments, insurance and succession planning.
- Cash flow. Your accountant’s figures can help us understand what’s available for debt repayment, protection and longer-term goals.
- Before key decisions. We can coordinate with your accountant on contributions, asset sales and other material choices in time to consider relevant tax consequences.
It depends on how the work is set up. The ATO names engineers among the people who can earn personal services income (PSI), including through a company, partnership or trust. If you pass the results test, the PSI rules don’t apply to that income. The test asks whether you’re paid to produce a result, provide the equipment or tools the work needs, and are liable for the cost of fixing defects. The ATO says an hourly or daily rate is unlikely to meet the first of those.
A fixed-fee design deliverable and a day-rate placement can land differently, and an accountant confirms how the rules apply to you. We can plan your super, cover and buffer around the answer.
It depends on your circumstances, not on a set number of days away. The ATO’s primary test of tax residency is the resides test, and there are also the domicile test, the 183-day test and the Commonwealth superannuation test. Factors such as physical presence, intention and purpose, and family, business or employment ties can all be weighed.
An accountant can work through the tests with you before you go. We can plan the posting with that answer in view: your super, any cover, a home here and the budget for coming back.
An online contractor pay calculator is a quick way to compare a day rate with a salary, and it’s a useful starting point when an offer comes in. Its figures are general by design.
Advice starts from your own situation: the income you can rely on, the super you would need to fund yourself, the cover you would arrange, and a buffer that suits your costs, with an accountant on the tax. We can set the two options side by side with you before you decide.
It depends on what you do with the home, and whether you’re a foreign resident for tax when you sell. The ATO says foreign residents can’t claim the main residence exemption for property sold after 30 June 2020, unless they satisfy the life events test. That makes the timing of any sale worth planning with an accountant before you go.
Renting it out brings its own questions, such as landlord insurance, a property manager and the tax on rent. From 1 July 2027, negative gearing on residential property is limited to new builds, though property held on 12 May 2026 is exempt. We can weigh up keeping, renting or selling with you.
It depends on who employs you and on your residency. An Australian employer that sends you to work overseas temporarily generally keeps paying super for you here, though compulsory super may not apply if you’re a foreign resident for tax while you work outside Australia. Where Australia has a super agreement with the host country, a certificate of coverage can exempt your employer from that country’s super while it keeps paying here. With an employer based overseas, the position can differ, so it’s worth checking before you go.
We can review your super and any cover with you before the posting starts.
Yes. Your first year out of university, the last months of a project or a long run of senior roles are all good places to start from.
There’s no cost for the initial conversation. Any advice after that is a paid service, with its scope and fee agreed with you in writing first.
Useful things to have on hand: your employment or contract letter, any posting offer, a super statement, any insurance policies, any share plan statement and any HELP balance.
Who We Help
Advice for All Stages of Life
From first job to retirement, we help you build wealth, protect it, and live well.
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First jobs, first home, first super, HECS debt, budgeting and more.
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Pre-retirees, transition to retirement, Age Pension, aged care, estate planning and more.
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Any income, any stage, career changers, separation, second opinions and more.
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Whatever’s on your mind, we’re here to help. You’ll speak with an authorised financial adviser who’ll listen first and get to know what matters to you.
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