No paid sick leave, income shown in your business accounts, any debts in your name and any cover in super shape your cover. We help you review any cover, set out your income, compare, apply and claim.





What we advise on
Who would cover the bills if illness or injury stopped you running the business for a while?
Income protection can pay part of your income after a waiting period, helping you keep up with bills while you recover.
Together, we’ll compare income protection around how your business earns and how long your savings could carry you.
Working for yourself means no paid sick leave to fall back on. Income protection can pay a percentage of your pre-tax income after a waiting period if illness or injury stops you working, subject to the policy’s definitions. Waiting periods can run from 14 days to 2 years. The benefit is usually based on your earnings in the 12 months before the illness or injury, and can be paid for a set number of years or to an age.
What we weigh with you for income protection:
Could your loved ones keep up with everyday costs, and could any debts in your name be cleared, if you were no longer here?
Life cover can pay a lump sum to your beneficiaries, towards any debts in your name and the costs your income meets.
We’ll work out a life cover amount with you from any personal and business debts held in your own name.
Life insurance can pay a lump sum to your beneficiaries if you pass away. A sole trader is legally responsible for the business’s debts and losses, so an amount can look at business and personal debts together. If no beneficiary is named, your estate or the super trustee may decide who receives the payment. Where life cover is packaged with other cover, it may be reduced by any amount paid on other claims in the package.
What we add up with you for life cover:
Where would your plans stand if you were never able to work again?
Total and permanent disability cover can pay a lump sum, as the policy defines it, giving you room to reset your plans.
We’ll start with the skills your business relies on, then weigh TPD definitions against them with you.
A TPD policy can pay a lump sum when illness or injury leaves you unlikely to work again, under the policy’s own definition. Own occupation looks at your usual job, while any occupation looks at any job suited to your education, training or experience. Own occupation cover is usually only available outside super, and where TPD is packaged with life cover, a TPD claim may reduce the life amount.
What we compare with you for TPD:
How could treatment costs and time away from the business be met if a serious illness were diagnosed?
A lump sum from trauma cover can help with treatment and time away, if a listed condition meets the policy’s definition.
We can explain what a trauma policy lists with you, and where a lump sum could sit beside income protection.
Trauma cover can pay a lump sum when a listed critical illness or serious injury meets the policy’s definition and isn’t excluded, and medical definitions can be different between insurers. New trauma cover can’t be held inside super, which has been the rule for policies written since 1 July 2014. If trauma is packaged with life cover, the life cover could be reduced by the amount paid on a trauma claim.
What we read with you in a trauma policy:
Now that you work for yourself, does any cover inside your super still suit you?
Checking each fund can show what cover you hold and help you keep what suits the way you work now.
We can read each fund’s insurance with you and set out any changes in a financial plan, or Statement of Advice.
Some funds add income protection to default life and TPD cover. Default cover inside super can usually be issued without medical checks, though it may carry pre-existing condition rules set out in the fund’s PDS, and increasing it is usually underwritten like any other application. Premiums are deducted from your super balance, not your take-home pay. As a sole trader, you don’t have to pay super guarantee for yourself, and personal contributions are your choice.
What we look at in your super with you:
In a strong year or a slower one, how could your cover keep pace with what the business earns?
Setting your business income out clearly can give any application a sound starting point.
Together, we’ll set out your business income the way an insurer may look at it, before you apply.
An insurer may work out a self-employed person’s income from their share of the business’s profits or losses, rather than what the business takes in. Some policies allow certain items to be added back to the profit, such as super paid to you or depreciation, depending on the item and the amount. For higher amounts of cover, an insurer may ask for business and personal tax returns and financial statements from recent years.
What we set out with you on business income:
When two of you run one business, how could cover be arranged for each of you?
Planning cover for you both can help the business, and those who rely on each of you, if one can’t work.
We can work through cover with each of you, and how the business’s income is shared between you.
Partners in a partnership aren’t employees of the partnership, and each partner is responsible for their own super. Without a written agreement, income and losses are shared equally between partners. Where a spouse works in the business mainly for income splitting or tax reasons, an insurer may base benefits on the income each person generates.
What we plan with each partner:
Would it help to have someone beside you at each step of a claim?
Gathering the paperwork with you and following up the insurer can leave more room for recovery and the business.
We’ll lodge a claim with you, gather the business records the insurer asks for and follow it up while it’s assessed.
Moneysmart suggests speaking first to whoever you arranged the cover through, whether that’s the fund, the insurer or a financial adviser. An insurer can ask for medical reports, details of your work duties, including physical requirements, and the hours you work each week, along with payslips and tax returns, or financial statements if you’re self-employed. The insurer assesses the claim. A complaint goes first to the insurer or super fund, then to AFCA if unresolved.
How we help with a claim:
Your work and your cover
This list isn’t complete, and nothing on it decides anything on its own. We start by learning about your situation, and any decision on cover is the insurer’s.
Your options
| A Ryker financial adviser | Directly from an insurer | An online broker or comparison site | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type of advice | Personal advice Personal adviceAdvice tailored to you. Like most financial advice, it’s given under an Australian financial services licence.Personal, not general. General advice is a recommendation or opinion that doesn’t consider your circumstances. Personal advice is tailored to your objectives, financial situation and needs.In your best interests. When we give you personal advice, the law requires us to act in your best interests.In writing. You’ll usually receive a Statement of Advice that explains the strategies and cover recommended to you, and why.On the public register. Financial advisers who give personal advice on life insurance, super and investments must be on ASIC’s Financial Advisers Register. See our financial advisers on the register:Ray RegmiRicky (Rajiv) RegmiJack OinezaDean DesoukeyRyker’s financial advisers are authorised representatives of Synchron Advice Pty Ltd, AFSL 243313. | Usually general advice | Usually general advice |
| Advice that considers your health, family, work and goals | Yes, as part of your advice | Not with general advice | Not with general advice |
| Choice of insurers | A wide range | That insurer’s policies only | A panel of insurers, side by side |
| Help preparing your application | Yes, alongside you | The insurer’s own process | Varies |
| Advice on holding cover inside or outside super | Part of your advice | Not with general advice | Not with general advice |
| Support if you need to claim | Yes, we’re in your corner | The insurer’s claims team | Varies |
| Cost of advice | 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. Choose: | No separate advice fee | No separate advice fee |














Business Income Set Out for Cover
Your share of profit and any items an insurer may add back, set out for an income protection application.
Records Gathered for an Application
Tax returns, financial statements and any BAS gathered with you before you apply.
A Waiting Period Weighed Against Your Buffer
Waiting periods compared with your savings and the invoices still to come in.
Any Cover from Past Jobs Found and Read
Any cover in super from past employers found and read before anything changes.
Life and TPD Sized Against Any Debts
Any business and personal debts in your own name totalled for life and TPD amounts.
Cover Looked at for Each Partner
Income, duties and super set out for each of you when two people run the business.
Cover Reviewed Before a Move to a Company
Who owns any policy and how income shows in the accounts, looked at before the structure changes.
A Claim Lodged with You
Your accounts and duties gathered for a claim lodged with you, then followed up with the insurer.

Choosing cover starts from how your business runs day to day. We listen first: the work you do, how money comes in across a busy month and a quiet one, and what you want protected. Conversations fit around your work, each type of cover is explained in plain terms, and the pace is yours to set. You’ll usually see our recommendations in writing, and the choices along the way stay with you.
Much of the paperwork can sit with us. With your consent, we can request details from any fund that holds cover for you, gather tax returns and financial statements for an application, read the PDSs with you and stay in contact with insurers while they assess it. Whoever you run the business with, or share your life with, is welcome at any conversation. Should you ever need to claim, we’ll lodge it with you and keep following it up until the insurer reaches a decision.
Every financial decision impacts the next
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

Ryker’s financial advisers are licensed to give personal advice under Synchron Advice’s Australian financial services licence (AFSL 243313). We start with you: your business, your family, work, income, assets and goals. Then we recommend the types and amounts of cover that suit your life.
Working for yourself can mean no paid sick leave, income an insurer may read from your business accounts, and any debts held in your own name. Each can affect how an insurer assesses an application and how a policy pays, so your business income, records, duties and debts are part of what we look at.
With a financial adviser, you also have:
Going directly to an insurer can mean no separate advice fee, but you’ll only see that insurer’s policies, and you’ll generally receive general advice only, which doesn’t consider your personal circumstances.
Going through an online comparison site or broker, you may see more options side by side, but they also generally provide general advice only, which doesn’t consider your whole financial picture.
When we give you personal advice, the law requires us to act in your best interests, which we take personally. The insurer still decides whether to offer cover and on what terms.
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:
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.
Each policy has its own definition of income, and an insurer may start from your share of the business’s profit or loss rather than what the business takes in. Some policies let certain items be added back, such as super paid to you or depreciation, depending on the item and the amount.
Income protection is usually based on your earnings in the 12 months before an illness or injury, so a quieter year, or a year with large deductions, can shape the income a policy works from. Tax returns and financial statements usually support the income you apply with. We can set out your business income with you before you apply, and the insurer decides on the cover it offers.
An insurer sets out what it needs, and for income protection that usually includes medical reports, details of your work duties, including physical requirements, and the hours you work each week. For your income, Moneysmart lists payslips and tax returns, or financial statements if you’re self-employed. Income protection is usually based on your earnings in the 12 months before the illness or injury.
Running the business yourself can mean the core work as well as quoting, admin and the books, so each part is worth setting out as it happens. The insurer assesses the claim and may ask for updates while it continues. We can gather the documents and lodge the claim with you, then follow it up.
A few things an employer arranged no longer come with the work. Self-employment means no paid holidays or sick leave, and as a sole trader you don’t have to pay super for yourself, though you can choose to make personal super contributions. Any default cover in a past employer’s fund is worth checking, because insurance terms vary from fund to fund.
Workers compensation is generally an employer’s insurance for its employees, through a state, territory or Commonwealth scheme. Whether a scheme covers you depends on how your work is set up, which is a question for the scheme. Income protection can pay part of your income after a waiting period, subject to the policy’s terms. We can work through what’s now yours to arrange with you.
Premiums for income protection held outside super are generally a tax deduction, while premiums for cover held through your super fund aren’t deductible for you. Any income protection payment you receive goes in your tax return. Life and trauma premiums aren’t deductible.
How a sole trader claims the premium, how any payment is treated and how both fit with the rest of your return are for your accountant to confirm. Ryker’s financial advisers plan tax and set tax structure and strategy, working alongside your accountant, who prepares and lodges your return. We can weigh cover inside and outside super with you, with your accountant confirming the tax side before you decide.
The amount comes from your own numbers rather than a rule of thumb. A useful start is everything owed in your name, such as any business loans, equipment finance or leases alongside any home loan, because a sole trader is legally responsible for the business’s debts.
From there, add what anyone who relies on your income would need for everyday costs and future plans, then count any life cover already held in super or through a policy. Where life cover is packaged with TPD or trauma, a claim on those may reduce the life amount. We can work through each part with you, and the insurer decides on the cover it offers.
Partners in a partnership aren’t employees of the partnership, and each partner is responsible for their own super. Cover for each of you, including who owns each policy, is worth working through person by person. Without a written agreement, income and losses are shared equally between partners, and that split can shape how each person’s income is shown.
Where a spouse works in the business mainly for income splitting or tax reasons, an insurer may base benefits on the income each person generates. So the work each of you does, your hours and your share of profit are all part of setting cover for two people. We can look at cover with each of you, and the insurer decides on the cover it offers.
A quote tool works from the answers you type in, so it can show options, but it may not show how your accounts, debts and any cover already held fit together. Comparison sites generally give general advice only, which doesn’t consider your personal circumstances.
Personal advice starts from your business income as an insurer may assess it, your records, your debts and any cover in super, then compares policies from a wide range of insurers. We can look at the full picture with you, and the insurer decides on the cover it offers.
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
What a financial adviser does
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
Yes. If you’re new to an ABN or have traded for years, we begin with how your business runs, how you’re paid and what you’d like protected.
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. Your last two tax returns or financial statements, a recent BAS if you lodge one, each fund’s statement, any policy you hold and a list of any business and home debts are useful to have on hand, and together we’ll agree on a practical next step.
Who We Help
From first job to retirement, we help you build wealth, protect it, and live well.

First jobs, first home, first super, HECS debt, budgeting and more.

First home buyers, new parents, school fees, single incomes, young families and more.

Doctors, dentists, pharmacists, allied health, nurses and more.

Lawyers, accountants, brokers, engineers, consultants and more.

Electricians, plumbers, builders, sole traders, franchisees and more.

Executives, senior managers, directors, board members and more.

Police, firefighters, paramedics, ADF personnel, teachers and more.

Pre-retirees, transition to retirement, Age Pension, aged care, estate planning and more.

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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