Graham & Jenny

Jenny has kindly written the article below on her and Graham’s working life, family, retirement, and relationship with GFM Wealth Advisory. We greatly appreciate Jenny’s contribution to Trade Secrets.

Graham and I are relatively new members of the GFM family, signing up with Patrick as our advisor in July 2015. When we began to talk more about our plans for our golden years, we knew that our financial plans were integral to what they would look like and managing ourselves would detract from spending time on the activities that would bring us more pleasure.

So, confidence in our financial support and guidance was crucial in moving forward into retirement. GFM was recommended by my sister, a client of many years, and we had them handling my 97 year old mother’s financial affairs.

Graham was born and raised in WA, and I lived my early years in Bendigo, Ballarat, and settled in Melbourne in 1971. Graham and I met after moving to Melbourne in 1973 and working for my father at Humes Ltd. I was working for a stockbroker. After a couple of years, Graham was feeling homesick, so after visiting Perth for a holiday, we moved over in 1975.

Perth was home for ten years. We married in 1976 and spent the first year as live-in managers of a block of units, and there was rarely a dull moment. Graham worked at a real estate firm before taking a job at BP Australia. I worked with a stockbroker until our son Nick was born in 1983. We built our own home, and both of us became involved in playing hockey, a passion of mine since the age of 11. Graham was transferred to Melbourne in 1985, and we settled in Glen Waverley, where we still live today. Our son Rhys was born shortly after, and Sam in 1987. Graham’s roles with BP revolved around work with the distributor network computer systems, field audit manager and stock compliance manager, travelling to many parts of the country. I became involved in volunteer work until I became a permanent employee with the Australian Electoral Commission for twenty years until retirement. The boys also became keen hockey players with us at Waverley HC, and physical activities remain important to all of us.

By 2015 we had elderly parents in Perth and Queensland, and Sam married and living in Florida. Once we had met Patrick and determined that our finances were in excellent hands, we retired in 2016. We planned to spend quality time with our family here and the US, to continue to travel while we were fit and healthy, work on my golf handicap and Graham to play more bowls. Memorable trips have been staying on the Tundra Lodge in Churchill, Canada, watching polar bears migrate, a self-drive tour of Iceland and a cycle and sailing trip off the Croatian coast.

Patrick and GFM have become the financial rock in our lives. Working for a stockbroker, I appreciate that one needs someone looking after your interests, monitoring the market plays and analysis on a full-time basis, along with experts being on top of financial legislation requirements. The biggest factors in choosing GFM was that they are independently owned, and the business is well established. They have exhibited via their seminars and webinars that they have great relationships with the top investment companies and their investment heads to inform them about the investment landscape. Achieving a consistent presence in highly regarded industry recognition lists is also a testament to the quality knowledge and drive that fuels the GFM objectives. Graham and I are continually impressed with their commitment to investment transparency and client education, building a sense of community. We only hear praise for GFM whenever we meet other clients.

We have no hesitation in suggesting to friends and family that having a chat with a GFM advisor may be beneficial and have often brought friends to seminars and luncheons. They have always learnt something relevant and been impressed by the friendly ambience of the event. Becoming a client of GFM has been one of the best life decisions we have made, and we look forward to our continuing relationship with Patrick and all the fantastic staff.