Roger and Nancy’s Story

Roger and Nancy approached Initiative due to a lack of satisfaction with their previous accountant, and we’ve been preparing their compliance work for their business now for several years.

Roger and Nancy had been running a very successful Brisbane based business for many years. However, after one trip overseas, they were hooked on travelling. The travel bug also made them realise that they hadn’t really considered when they wanted to retire, or if in fact they could afford to retire. Initiative worked with Roger and Nancy to help them understand which immediate steps needed to be taken in order for them to plan for their retirement within a particular window. Following discussions with Initiative, Roger and Nancy aimed to retire in late 2010.

They put their business on the market mid 2010 and a buyer was found by October that year. Initiative worked with Roger and Nancy to ensure plans previously discussed were implemented. This not only simplified the sale process, it also minimised tax due to be paid on the sale of the business. This was achieved by Initiative working through the complexities of the CGT small business concessions and choosing to utilise the retirement exemption on the sale of the business due to the tax advantages. Our client was thrilled with the outcome and is now happily regularly travelling overseas and enjoying retirement. We now receive regular postcards from Roger and Nancy from all around the globe.

By working with Initiative, the client has:

• Peace of mind – they can retire without any future surprises
• The ability to sell their business and pay no capital gains tax on it’s sale – this saved them more than $60,000 in tax
• We were able to correct some of the advice they previously sourced which ensured the couple obtained taxation benefits
• A set up that ensures minimal tax implications for family members way into the future

Initiative gave them guidance in these specific areas:

• Reviewing the couple’s current asset positions and future sales to ensure that only minimal tax was paid, and structures were simplified
• Review future cash flow to provide peace of mind to the couple so they could retire comfortably
• Ensured pensions for both husband and wife were adequate to sustain their chosen lifestyle by utilising taxation laws surrounding superannuation
• tax status of pensions and future death taxes in superannuation