Chris & Anne Perazzo

Chris has kindly written the article below on his and Anne’s working life, their family, and their relationship with GFM Wealth Advisory, which extends all the way back to 2007. We greatly appreciate Chris’ contribution to Trade Secrets.

We are Chris and Anne Perazzo. We met when working at the Commonwealth Department of Employment way back in 1969. We were both clerical staff, and we sat two desks away from each other. We married in 1973 and have a daughter (Nicole) a son (Garry) and five grandchildren from four to 11 years old.

When Nicole was born in 1977, Anne resigned to take up her “mother” position. I continued to work at the department until 1989 when I took a retrenchment package because the department moved to Canberra. I did a few different things over the next six or seven years, including WorkCover Insurance Assessor, Computer Trainer, Technical Writer, and Heating and Air Conditioning Salesman. I also had a bout of unemployment (which was the most difficult and confronting period of my life). Anne worked part-time throughout her “home duties” as a waitress, rising to senior positions until she became maître d.

In the late 1990s, we both got jobs at Monash University in Student Administration. For the second time, we were working at desks a couple of metres apart! We lived together, travelled to work together, sat together, had lunch together and went home together.

Back in the 1970s, we also played basketball together. I was in the men’s team while Anne was in the women’s team. I also coached the women’s team, and sometimes the men’s team. We also played cards together (500 and Canasta). Fast forward to today, our activities are mostly family-related or going to dinner on a Friday night, alternating between local restaurants with a group of long-standing friends, two of whom go back to our basketball days of the 1970s.

So, what about GFM?

I guess my (Chris’) first foray into personal superannuation was when I left the Dept. of Employment and decided to roll over my retrenchment package instead of just remaining in the Commonwealth Superannuation scheme. I don’t recall now how I came to seek out my first Financial Advisor. However, I remember that whenever we had our face-to-face meetings, it always seemed that he was talking at me, rather than to me.

In early 2007, a friend suggested I talk to GFM, and the rest is history. Right from the start, when we met Paul Nicol, we could relate to what he was saying and relate to what he was telling us.

To me, this is the biggest single thing that keeps us happy at GFM. Paul and all the team KNOW us. They listen to us. And we listen to them.

Paul has seen us through significant changes in our lives and circumstances. From when Anne and I were both working, to when I took my second retrenchment package (from Monash) while Anne kept working, to when I became of age pension age, to when Anne retired, to when she reached age pension age. Paul and the GFM team tweaked our SMSF at each turn. And these tweaks were things we would never have thought of – and we appreciate it greatly.

I am sure there are hundreds of honest and competent Financial Advisors and firms out there. But the thing that sets Paul and GFM apart for Anne and I is that they talk to us and understand us. GFM has improved our financial situation immeasurably through their knowledge, their professionalism and their care.