Financial Planning for People Starting Out
We Help Young Australians Build Prosperity and Freedom
A first income brings decisions about budgeting, super, insurance, any study debt and saving for what comes next. We help you see which decisions matter now and put them in an order that suits you.
Our Financial Advice Team Is Here to Help You
We Can Help You
- Build a budget that reflects where your pay goes
- Set up savings that happen automatically on payday
- Pick a first super fund and investment option that suits you
- Understand any insurance that may come with your super
- Understand how a HECS or HELP debt works and affects your pay
- Save towards a first home deposit, including through super if eligible
- Decide whether to clear debt first or start investing
- Find any super accounts from old casual jobs and whether to combine them
Who We Help
- People starting their first job wanting to set things up well from the start
- First home savers building a deposit for the first time
- Graduates with HECS debt wanting to understand what it means for them
- Young professionals earning well and ready to make it count
- Renters saving for a home keeping up with the rent while a deposit grows
- First-time investors ready to start and looking for direction
- Couples moving in together making money a shared subject
- People new to financial advice wanting to know how it works before starting
What we advise on
How Our Advice Works When You’re Starting Out
Cashflow & Financial Wellbeing
We’ll build a clear picture of what your pay covers each month.
A budget built from your account activity can be more useful than one built from estimates. Fixed costs, subscriptions and annual bills behave differently, so we separate them and help you set a savings target that fits your income and goals.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Where your money goes in the early years of earning, tracked from your accounts rather than estimated
- A share of every pay moving to savings on the day it lands, before anything else
- Essential costs such as housing, transport and food, separated from spending that’s optional
- How your living arrangements affect your budget, and what may change when they do
- A starter buffer for unexpected bills, and a realistic way to build it alongside other goals
- Which subscriptions have quietly accumulated since your first pay, and what each is for
- How much a pay rise should change your spending, decided before the rise arrives
- A simple system that suits how you like to manage money, and that you can maintain
Superannuation
Together, we’ll choose a super fund and investment option while the timeframe is long.
Your first fund may be the one an employer chose for you. Fees and the investment option can both affect your balance over many decades, so it’s worth understanding them early. We compare your current fund and options before recommending any change.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Which fund your employer chose for you, and whether you have ever made that choice
- Any accounts created by earlier jobs, and whether combining them suits you after checking cover
- The investment option you hold now, and whether it suits the long timeframe ahead
- What fees cost across a working life, rather than what they cost this year
- Whether any cover attached to the account suits your needs and its cost at your stage
- Naming a beneficiary, since super may not be dealt with by your will
- How a small extra contribution at this age compares with a large one much later
- Telling each new employer which fund you’d like used, to help avoid extra accounts
Personal Insurance & Protection
We’ll help you work out which cover may suit you at this stage of your working life.
Without dependants or debt, life cover may be a lower priority, while protecting your ability to earn may matter more. Needs differ, so we look at who relies on you, any debts and any cover already held inside super before recommending anything.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Whether anyone would be left short if you died, which helps shape any life cover
- Whether income protection is suitable, given how much your plans rely on your ability to earn
- Any cover already held inside your super fund, and what its terms may provide
- A waiting period that suits your savings and leave entitlements, weighed against its cost
- Why applying while young and healthy may affect the terms and cost of cover you hold for decades
- Whether trauma cover earns its place yet, or belongs further down the list
- How any study debt or car loan may affect the amount of cover to consider
- When to revisit the cover: a mortgage, a partner, or a first child
Financial Planning & Advice
We’ll help you decide an order for saving, debt, super and investing that suits your goals.
Saving, debt repayment, super and investing can each make sense on their own. The order you work through them can change the result over time, because interest, tax and investment growth work differently. The right sequence depends on your income, debts and goals.
Together, we’ll work through:
- A suggested order for a deposit, debt, super and investing, based on your circumstances
- What you are actually saving towards in the next two, five and ten years
- Which decisions can wait for now, and which are worth starting on first
- How a pay rise, a move or a new job changes the order you agreed
- What progress could look like for you at this stage, measured against your own goals
- The habits worth building now, while the amounts involved are still small
- Whether paid advice suits your needs at this stage, and what it would cost
- A plan short enough that you can hold the whole of it in your head
Property Investment Advice
We can help you weigh up how buying an investment first may affect first-home concessions.
Renting where you want to live and buying where you can afford is one approach, with trade-offs. Many first-home concessions have ownership conditions, so buying an investment first may affect your eligibility. We look at the options with you and work alongside your broker and accountant where needed.
Together, we’ll work through:
- Which first-home concessions you may be eligible for, before deciding to buy an investment first
- Whether renting where you live and buying elsewhere suits your plans for the years ahead
- The deposit you need for an investment against the deposit you need for a home
- How lenders may assess expected rental income, to check with your broker
- Buying with a sibling or a friend, and an exit agreement to discuss with your solicitor
- Joint borrowing, where each of you is liable for the whole loan rather than half
- A parent acting as guarantor, and what their own home may be exposed to
- How a first purchase may affect your borrowing capacity for a later home
Tax & Wealth Strategies
We’ll explain how investment income is taxed once you start holding assets.
Investment income is generally added to your other income and taxed at your marginal rate, and franking credits on Australian shares can change that calculation. Holding an asset for more than twelve months may change how a capital gain is assessed. We work with your accountant on the tax detail.
Together, we’ll work through:
- How investment income is added to your salary and taxed at your marginal rate
- Franking credits on Australian shares, and how they may affect your after-tax return
- Whether an investment should sit in your name or a partner’s, with your accountant’s input
- Records to keep from the first purchase, to make a future sale easier to report
- The twelve-month holding period, and what it changes on any eventual gain
- What a HECS repayment does to your take-home pay as your income rises
- Whether the Medicare levy surcharge may apply at your income, and how private health cover affects it
- When a registered tax agent may help, and what records to bring them
Retirement & Aged Care
We can show you how contributions made now may compare with contributions made later.
Money contributed early in your working life has longer to stay invested in super, which is generally taxed at concessional rates. Super is preserved until you meet a condition of release, so we weigh access against long-term growth and your other goals.
Together, we’ll work through:
- How a contribution made now could have longer invested in super’s concessional tax environment
- What a small regular amount could grow to over the long term, shown as a projection
- Preservation age and conditions of release, so you know when this money can generally be accessed
- Whether super or accessible savings should take the next spare dollar
- Why the investment option may matter more at this age than the fund’s name
- The government co-contribution, where your income makes you eligible for it
- What retirement planning actually means when retirement is forty years away
- A number to revisit each year, rather than a plan set once and forgotten
SMSF
We’ll tell you what a self-managed fund costs to run, and what it asks of a trustee.
A self-managed fund carries running costs whatever its balance, along with legal responsibilities as a trustee. Whether it suits you depends on the balance, what you want the fund to hold and whether another fund already offers similar options.
Together, we’ll work through:
- The fixed annual costs of running a fund, against a balance at this stage
- What being a trustee asks of you in time and in legal responsibility
- Whether a first fund’s investment options already suit a small balance better than running your own
- How your balance affects whether the costs of a fund are reasonable for you
- What you may give up by leaving your current fund, including any insurance cover
- Whether the real interest is control, or the specific investments behind it
- What to build first, so the option stays open to you later
- When an SMSF would be worth revisiting, and what would have to change first
What We’ll Work Through Together
Where Your Money Goes
A clear picture of what leaves the account each month, from your own statements.
Your First Emergency Fund
Agree on a buffer for unexpected costs and a practical way to build it.
Choosing Your Super Fund
A super fund and investment option chosen deliberately, while the timeframe is long.
How Your HELP Debt Works
Understand indexation and how compulsory repayments may affect your take-home pay.
Saving for a First Home
Set a deposit target that works alongside your other costs and goals.
First Home Super Saver Scheme
Understand whether the scheme suits your deposit plans and timing, if you’re eligible.
Starting to Invest
Build an investing habit with an approach that suits your timeframe and risk.
Deposit, Debt or Super
Weigh up which to prioritise first, based on your goals and circumstances.
Proactive, Holistic, and Experienced Financial Planning
Decisions made early in your working life can have the longest time to work, and that’s one of the things being at the start gives you. You don’t need a big income to begin, and you don’t need to know much about any of this. We’ll go through where your money goes, what may be worth doing first and what can wait for now, in an order that suits your life and the goals you have in mind.
A first home, travel, study, a business, maybe a family later on. Those are the things this is really about, and planning for them can start well before they arrive. We’ll help you take practical steps towards them while still enjoying the years in between. Nothing here is locked in, and a plan made now is meant to change as your life does. We can review it with you whenever your circumstances or priorities shift.
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.
There’s no single right fund for everyone, but three areas are worth comparing:
- The investment option, as well as the fund’s name. With a long timeframe, how much growth exposure you hold can make a meaningful difference.
- The fees, considered over the long term rather than only this year’s dollars.
- Any insurance attached, which you may or may not need yet and which is paid for from your balance.
Your first fund may be the one an employer chose for you. Super is generally taxed at concessional rates, so choices made early can have a long time to work. We can compare your fund and options with you before recommending any change.
Good content can explain how something works. Advice considers which options may apply to you, and in what order, based on your circumstances.
Some of what you’ll find isn’t written for Australian rules, and super, tax and property here can work differently from what an overseas video assumes.
Keep reading and learning. We can work with what you already know and check the options against your own position.
It depends on your plans, and there’s one consideration worth knowing about.
A HECS or HELP balance doesn’t charge interest, although it’s indexed each year, and compulsory repayments are generally collected through the tax system once your income passes the threshold. There’s no penalty for repaying it over time.
The consideration is borrowing. Lenders may count the compulsory repayment as a commitment, so if you’re planning to apply for a home loan soon, reducing the balance may be worth comparing with investing, alongside your broker’s input. Where a loan is further away, the trade-offs can look different.
It’s a scheme that may let eligible first home buyers save part of a deposit inside super, where contributions and earnings are generally taxed at concessional rates.
You make voluntary contributions to your fund, then later apply to have eligible amounts released, along with associated earnings, towards a first home.
There are limits on how much counts, eligibility conditions, an application process through the ATO and timing that matters if you’re close to buying. It suits some deposit plans and not others, so we can check it against your timeline and work alongside your accountant where needed.
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.
There’s no single figure that suits everyone. A useful starting point is moving a share of each pay to savings on the day you’re paid, rather than saving whatever is left at the end of the month.
Automating it can help the habit stick, and a modest amount you can keep up may suit you better than an ambitious figure that’s hard to maintain.
Where it goes depends on what’s next. Money needed for a deposit soon may suit somewhere secure and accessible, while longer-term savings may be invested, depending on your goals and comfort with risk. We can help you decide how to split it.
Life cover may be a lower priority if nobody would be left short if you died, although debts, future plans and any cover already held are still worth considering.
Income protection is a different question. Your ability to earn may be one of the most valuable things you have at this stage, so it’s worth looking at whether cover is suitable and affordable.
Your super fund may already provide some cover, set for its membership rather than for you. We can explain what that cover provides before you decide either way.
Yes, and it’s a good place to begin.
There’s no cost for the initial conversation, and you don’t need to have anything ready for it. Tell us what you’re working towards and what you’d like to understand better.
We’ll explain the parts that may apply to you in plain words, and what we’ll need to get started.
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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