Joe Virgona, Financial Planner at Your Money Manager –
During my teenage years I began following the ‘big business’ people in the news at the time, people such as Kerry Packer, Bill Gates and Rupert Murdoch. My interest in following these businesspeople wasn’t because they could buy anything they wanted or because they might have had flashy lifestyles. It’s just that it seemed to me that they had more choice about what they could do, where they could go, who they could impact and how they could live their lives on their terms.
In realising these business people I followed all managed their own businesses, after I finished high school I went on and completed a Bachelor in Business Management. With my interest in how people build wealth continuing to grow, I began my financial planning career. After working for a few years at Westpac and later an accounting firm, I helped begin Your Money Manager with two mortgage brokers.
Over the years I’ve seen firsthand with the hundreds of individuals and families I’ve worked with that when it comes down to it with finances, most people have similar values and dreams. Most people don’t want to have to stress about their money in the short term and want to be able to enjoy their lives now. They want to be able to go on holidays, have some spending money and be able to provide for their families.
Most people also want to know they are setting themselves up for the long term so they will have enough money for when they retire or step back from work, to be able to do what they want to do, as well as be able to help their children and families too.
A big problem I’ve found though is that many people don’t really think too much about how they manage their money now or their long term financial future; at least not until it’s too late to make a big difference. Too often when it comes down to money and investing and financial planning, it’s very common for people to either not think about it at all or just not set aside the time to look at what they could or should do.
After more than 20 years of working with people from different levels of income and wealth backgrounds, I still love seeing the feeling of excitement and accomplishment with people after we start working with them and they see their savings finally build to be able to buy their first home or they realise they are capable of investing or they see they can have a strategy for their retirement. It’s sometimes like a weight is lifted off their shoulders when they can see they have a plan in place for their money, they are setting themselves up and they have a coach and adviser to work with them so they don’t need to work it all out themselves.
I can tell you for sure in working with many different people from many different levels of wealth that I agree with the words of the late billionaire Kerry Packer who once said “money doesn’t guarantee happiness, but it doesn’t guarantee unhappiness either”. And while you don’t have to end up on any ‘rich list’ to become financially secure, working on your money now means you’ll have a much better chance of not having to always work for your money in the future.
We want to help as many families as possible to get their money right today so they can grow their wealth for tomorrow.