Financial Planning for Lawyers
Financial Advice Empowering Lawyers to Build Wealth and Freedom
An equity offer, the bar or your own practice can change how you’re paid, and with it your super, cover and tax. We help you plan those steps as one, from your first years in practice to stepping back.
Our Financial Advice Team Is Here to Help You
We Can Help You
- Plan your own super contributions if equity, the bar or your own practice means no employer pays super for you
- Review any insurance held in super at each career step, and what it costs against what it would pay
- Prepare for any PAYG instalments in a first year without tax withheld, with an accountant confirming the amounts
- Plan a move to the bar, from set-up costs and slower fees to super and cover
- Size income protection to income earned as drawings or fees, with the insurer setting the terms
- Compare a salaried partner offer with an equity offer on pay, super, leave and capital
- Weigh how a share of firm profits could be held, such as through a trust, with an accountant advising on the tax
- Plan a move in-house, into government or to fewer days, and what it changes in pay, super and cover
Who We Help
- Graduate and junior lawyers early in a career in private practice
- Senior associates with partnership starting to come into view
- Salaried partners considering an offer of equity
- New equity partners in their first years of drawings and a profit share
- Solicitors coming to the bar and leaving a regular salary behind
- Barristers building a practice of their own
- Lawyers opening their own practice on their own or with others
- Lawyers moving in-house or into government, or weighing fewer days
What we advise on
How Our Advice Works for Lawyers
Financial Planning & Advice
Will the next step in your legal career change how you plan your money?
Planning each step together, before it arrives, can show its effect on income, super and cover, and which path suits you.
We can map with you the steps that change how you’re paid, from equity or the bar to leaving private practice.
An equity partnership, coming to the bar and opening your own practice can each end your time as an employee. Your super, any cover held in super, the way your tax is paid and the household’s cashflow can all change at the same moment. A move in-house, into government or to fewer days changes them again. We can set a review point with you at each step and plan all four together, rather than one at a time.
Together, we’ll work through:
- An offer of equity partnership, set as a review point for super, cover, tax and household cashflow before you accept
- A salaried partner title compared with an equity offer, with an accountant confirming how each arrangement is treated for super and tax
- Coming to the bar, with the cost of setting up in chambers and a first stretch of slower fees planned before you make the move
- Opening a practice of your own, with set-up costs and the household budget planned before your first invoice goes out
- An offer in-house or in government, compared with staying in private practice on salary, super, leave and the work you want
- Part-time practice at any point in your career, priced in income, super and cover before you decide on it
- Any capital returned to you on leaving a partnership, built into the plan once its timing is known
- What you’d like life outside law to include, written into the plan so each career step is weighed against it
Superannuation
From a salaried role to partnership or the bar, how could each step add to your super?
Contributions planned around how you’re paid can let your super build steadily, whether your income is a salary, drawings or fees.
We’ll plan your super contributions with you, for the years an employer pays them and the years you fund them yourself.
The ATO says that if you’re self-employed as a sole trader or in a partnership, you don’t have to pay super guarantee for yourself, which can include equity partners, barristers and sole practitioners. Super can still be built with personal contributions: to claim a deduction for them, you give your fund a notice of intent in the approved form and receive its acknowledgment. From 1 July 2026 the general concessional cap is $32,500, and caps are indexed.
Together, we’ll work through:
- The super an employer paid while you were salaried, used as a benchmark for the contributions you plan once you’re a partner or at the bar
- Personal contributions you plan to deduct, with the notice of intent, your fund’s acknowledgment and other eligibility conditions checked with an accountant
- Contributions timed around drawings or fees, set at an amount your cashflow can carry in a quieter month as well as a busy one
- Contributions made as a lump near the end of a financial year, once your profit share or fees for the year are clearer
- Unused cap from a lower-earning year, such as a first year at the bar, which can be carried forward if your total super balance allows
- Super left in an account an employer used to pay into, checked for fees and any cover before deciding whether to keep or combine it
- A spouse’s super, if you share finances, considered beside your own when one of you moves off a salary
- A fund you choose yourself, which can stay with you through employment, partnership or the bar, so your contributions can go to one account
Personal Insurance & Protection
If you needed time away from practice through illness or injury, how could part of your income continue?
Income protection can pay part of your income after a waiting period, so the household can keep meeting its costs.
We can weigh income protection, life cover and TPD with you, and review any cover in super before contributions stop.
Income protection usually bases the benefit on your earnings in the 12 months before illness or injury, so a first year at the bar can shape it. The insurer sets the terms and decides any claim.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Any insurance in a super account an employer paid into, reviewed before a move to equity, the bar or your own practice ends those contributions
- Premiums for any cover in super, which come out of your balance, weighed against paying them from your own income once you fund super yourself
- Income protection on income from fees or drawings, and how a policy using your earnings in the prior 12 months may count a lean first year
- A longer or shorter waiting period, chosen with its premium in view, once self-employment means no paid sick leave to use first
- Life and TPD sums insured worked out from your debts and household costs, including any borrowing taken on to become a partner
- A benefit period chosen to suit your plans, weighed against the premium as your fees or drawings rise over a career
- Cover applied for before a move to the bar, if that suits, with terms based on your health, job and other details at the time
- A fresh look at your cover at equity, the bar or a move in-house, since any of those can change income and debts together
Tax & Wealth Strategies
In a first year as partner, or a year of strong fees, how could tax be planned in from the start?
Knowing the tax early can let you set it aside as you earn, and direct the rest towards your goals.
Together, we’ll plan the tax side of each step with you, with an accountant advising on the detail.
Ryker’s financial advisers plan tax and set tax structure and strategy, working alongside your accountant, who prepares and lodges your return. Once tax is no longer withheld from a salary, the ATO uses your latest tax return to work out whether you need to pay PAYG instalments, usually once every 3 months. The ATO also has a guideline on how professional firms allocate profits, and an accountant assesses whether and how it applies to you.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Any first notice of PAYG instalments after your first return as a partner or barrister, with an accountant estimating the amounts and timing
- The tax on a first year’s profit share or fees, which can fall due close to instalments for the next year, planned with an accountant’s estimate
- The ATO’s guideline on professional firm profits, if a share of profits flows to a trust, company or spouse, with an accountant assessing it
- A trust or company, if one is proposed for your share of profits, weighed within your wider plan with an accountant advising on the structure
- A move from salary to partnership partway through a financial year, with an accountant estimating the tax on each part of it
- The timing of any investment sale, if you hold investments, weighed against a high-earning year with an accountant on the CGT
- Invoicing your own fees after leaving a firm’s payroll, with an accountant setting up how income and expenses are recorded
- Investment income earned alongside a profit share or fees, with an accountant on the tax and the investments planned with us
Cashflow & Financial Wellbeing
When income arrives as drawings or fees, what would you like each month to cover beyond the bills?
A budget built on reliable income can give each month a plan, with the rest set aside for tax and your goals.
We’ll build one household budget with you for income that comes as drawings, a later profit share or fees.
Once tax isn’t withheld from your pay, part of each payment needs to be set aside for tax. As an equity partner, drawings may arrive through the year with a profit share later, and any capital contribution to the firm is a cost to plan for. At the bar, fees can arrive well after the work is done. We can set your fixed costs against a level of income you’re confident of, with a buffer for the gaps.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A set amount drawn each month for regular bills, with anything above it held back until the year’s profits or fees are clearer
- Tax set aside from each drawing or fee as it arrives, with the amount to hold back estimated by an accountant
- Savings put aside before a move to the bar or your own practice, sized to the months it may take for first fees to be paid
- Any capital contribution asked of you as a new partner, planned as one cost in the household budget alongside everything else
- Setting up in chambers or opening a practice, with each cost given a month in the budget rather than paid all at once
- Practising certificate renewal and other yearly costs, saved for through the year so they’re ready when they fall due
- A profit share paid after the year ends, held apart from everyday spending until you’ve decided where it goes
- Two incomes in one household, if you share finances, with the steadier one meeting fixed costs while drawings or fees settle
Property Investment Advice
Can buying a home fit alongside the career steps you may still have ahead in law?
Mapping a purchase beside each planned step can show when a home might suit, and what it would ask of your budget.
We can look with you at where a home purchase sits beside equity, the bar or a practice of your own.
Lenders decide how they assess income from a salary, drawings or fees, and a broker arranges any loan and can explain any offers lenders make to legal professionals. We look at the order of your plans with you, and at the cover and savings each step needs, before you apply for any loan.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A home bought while you’re on a salary, compared with waiting until you have a record of drawings or fees to show a lender
- Repayments tested against the leaner months of fees or drawings, not only against a strong month
- A deposit saved alongside any capital a partnership asks of you, with each given its own timeline in the plan
- Any lender offers for legal professionals, with a broker comparing their cost and terms, and your budget, savings and cover planned with us
- A new home loan added to the debts your cover is measured against, before you sign rather than after
- An investment property, if you’re considering one, where borrowing can magnify losses as well as gains and the loan must still be repaid if values fall
- Buying with a spouse or partner, if you are, and how ownership and costs are shared when one income moves off a salary
- Living close to work compared with further out, weighed on price, commute and the hours you’d like back each week
Retirement & Aged Care
What would life after practice look like for you, and when would you like it to begin?
Super and investments built across your career can help you decide the timing and pace of stepping back from practice.
We’ll go through with you how super, investments and any capital returned from a firm fit together in a retirement plan.
At the bar or in sole practice there may be no practice to sell, so super and investments can carry more of the plan. 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. For gains accruing after 1 July 2027, indexation and a 30% minimum tax generally replace the 50% CGT discount.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A career at the bar or in sole practice, where there may be no practice to sell, with super and investments planned as the main income
- Any capital returned when you leave a partnership, planned into retirement once the timing and amount are known
- Costs that can continue after you stop practising, budgeted for in the years after your last matter
- Access to super from preservation age once you meet a condition of release, set against the date you’d like to stop
- Stepping back in stages, such as fewer days, mediation or teaching, with the income each stage could provide
- Investments held outside super, and the CGT change for gains accruing after 1 July 2027, weighed with an accountant before you sell
- Income in retirement drawn from super and investments in an order set around your spending and the risk you’re comfortable with
- Beneficiary nominations on your super, reviewed when you step back, alongside a will kept up to date with a solicitor
Your Legal Career, Worked Through Together
Super You Fund Yourself
Personal contributions planned for the years no employer pays super for you.
Cover Reviewed Through the Change
Any cover in super and outside it reviewed before contributions stop or income changes.
Your First Year of Instalments
Tax set aside for a first year without withholding, with an accountant estimating the amounts.
A Plan for the Bar
Set-up costs, slower fees, super and cover planned before you come to the bar.
Salaried and Equity Compared
A salaried and an equity offer set side by side on pay, super, leave and capital.
Firm Profits and Structure
How a share of profits could be held, planned with an accountant advising on the ATO’s approach.
Income Protection on Fees
A policy weighed for income from drawings or fees, with the insurer setting the terms.
Stepping Back From Practice
Super, investments and any capital returned, planned into the years after practice.
Proactive, Holistic, and Experienced Financial Planning
A legal career often starts with years of study and long hours. Later, a single offer can change how you’re paid: equity in a firm, a move to the bar or a practice of your own. We’ll take the time to understand what you want from your work and from the rest of your life, and help you plan for each of those steps before it arrives, so you can weigh each one against what matters most to you.
Your super, your cover and your household can all sit in one plan, reviewed with you whenever your career changes direction. The plan can include the things outside work that matter to you, such as time with family and friends or the interests you’d like more hours for. Whether you stay in private practice, move in-house or into government, or choose fewer days, we’ll work with you on a plan for the life you want, now and in the years after practice.
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.
As a partner in a partnership, your firm generally stops paying super for you. Moneysmart says you don’t have to pay yourself super, and the ATO says you can choose whether to contribute. If your firm is incorporated, an accountant can confirm how this applies to your role.
You can still build super with personal contributions. To claim a tax deduction for them, you give your fund a notice of intent in the approved form and receive its acknowledgment.
We can plan how much to contribute, and when, around your drawings and profit share.
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 helps to start well before you make the move. At the bar you practise as a sole practitioner, so there’s no employer paying your super or your sick leave. Points worth planning:
- Set-up costs, such as chambers and equipment.
- A buffer for the months before fees start to arrive.
- The super contributions you’ll make yourself.
- Any insurance in your super, reviewed before contributions to that account stop.
- Income protection, and how a lower-earning first year may affect a future benefit.
We can build the plan with you, so the move is costed before you make it.
A policy generally looks back at what you earned. Moneysmart says income protection usually bases the benefit on your annual earnings in the 12 months prior to an illness or injury. Early at the bar, fees can be lower or slower to arrive than they are later, so that figure may not reflect the practice you’re building, and each policy defines income its own way.
Without paid sick leave, the waiting period is worth choosing with care, and most policies offer one between 14 days and two years. We can compare policy terms with you and review your cover as your income changes. The insurer makes the final decision on any claim.
As an employee, tax is withheld from each pay. As a partner it generally isn’t, so the tax on your share of profits is worked out once your return is lodged. The ATO also uses your latest tax return to work out whether you need to pay PAYG instalments, usually once every 3 months.
That can mean the tax on your first year as a partner and instalments towards the next year falling close together. An accountant can estimate the amounts and the timing. We can plan with you how much to set aside from each drawing, with the timing of those bills in view.
Managing your own super and investments is a real foundation, and a platform or an online comparison can help you choose investments or a fund and track them.
Advice looks at the decisions around them: how a move to equity or the bar changes your super, cover and tax at the same time, how much to hold in reserve, and how each choice affects the next. A comparison tool can show features and fees, but it may not take in your whole position or your goals.
We can work with what you already hold and help with the decisions that come first.
It depends on your firm’s structure, your household and what the arrangement is for, and an accountant assesses the tax side. The ATO has a guideline on how it approaches the allocation of profits from professional firms to the individuals who work in them and their associated entities, and one of its worked examples is a legal practice.
We can weigh with you how any structure fits your wider plan, including super, investments, cover and your estate, alongside an accountant’s advice on whether it suits you.
Yes. Wherever you are in a legal career, from your first years at a firm to an equity invitation or a first brief at the bar, the conversation starts with your own position.
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 with you: a partner statement or pay advice, a super statement showing contributions and any cover, and the terms of an offer if you’ve had one. Meetings can be in person or online.
Who We Help
Advice for All Stages of Life
From first job to retirement, we help you build wealth, protect it, and live well.
Starting Out
First jobs, first home, first super, HECS debt, budgeting and more.
Growing Families
First home buyers, new parents, school fees, single incomes, young families and more.
Medical & Health
Doctors, dentists, pharmacists, allied health, nurses and more.
Professional Services & Tech
Lawyers, accountants, brokers, engineers, consultants and more.
Trades & Business Owners
Electricians, plumbers, builders, sole traders, franchisees and more.
Corporate & Executive
Executives, senior managers, directors, board members and more.
Public Sector & Defence
Police, firefighters, paramedics, ADF personnel, teachers and more.
Approaching Retirement
Pre-retirees, transition to retirement, Age Pension, aged care, estate planning and more.
Other Stages
Any income, any stage, career changers, separation, second opinions and more.
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Grow & Protect Your Wealth Today
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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