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Protecting your Family’s Wealth

Protecting your Family’s Wealth…

We all care deeply about the health and prosperity of our family. Beyond material wealth, a thriving family is built on the pillars of physical well-being, strong relationships, and shared values. Ensuring future generations enjoy these benefits involves careful planning and the implementation of robust financial strategies.

Understanding asset protection

Where significant family wealth is concerned, there are often risks that can jeopardise the future prosperity of the family, be it through business operations, risks to key individuals, economic downturn or legislative reform.  As such, strategies should be considered to ensure private wealth, business ventures and risk are separated where possible and appropriately managed.

Beyond providing traditional insurance to manage risks to key individuals, a considered asset protection strategy for families should involve using separate legal structures to safeguard assets from potential creditors, legal disputes, and other external risks.

Wealth structuring

In structuring wealth, most successful families understand their key risks and how to effectively manage their tax obligations. In doing so, legal structures can take many forms such as self-managed super funds for retirement, private investment companies to extract and separate wealth from trading entities, private foundations and trusts. The establishment of one or more legal structures is often fundamental in providing asset protection as well as potential tax benefits.

By placing assets within a trust or company structure, they are legally owned by that company or trust which provides clear separation of wealth building assets from individuals and trading entities which usually carry greater risk. Ultimately helping to shield assets from personal legal issues among beneficiaries and family members.

Engaging in philanthropy not only benefits society but can also instils a sense of purpose and responsibility for family members and if structured correctly can result significant tax savings whilst enabling charitable goals to be achieved.

Family dynamics

Family wealth is often the result of the continued success of key individuals. Broader financial education can help to equip members of a family with the knowledge and skills needed to manage future business operations and wealth they may inherit whilst understand the importance of preserving the family’s values and legacy.

Often less discussed, yet still critically important to managing risk is the role of family dynamics. Clear family governance helps to establish clear roles, responsibilities, and processes for decision-making. This helps foster transparency and unity whilst mitigating the impact of conflicts among family members, particularly when setting expectations for wealth distribution. Unfortunately, even the most harmonious families can fall victim to disputes and challenges when a family member retires, become ill or passes away. Therefore having a robust succession and estate plan ensures assets and control is transitioned according to the family’s wishes, with mechanisms such as wills, powers of attorney and clear instructions guiding distributions.

McKinley Plowman Private Wealth – Protecting Your Family’s Future

Engaging an appropriate adviser is crucial when looking to secure your family’s financial future, and your legacy. The Wealth Management team at McKinley Plowman takes a proactive, nurturing approach to your family’s wealth and has a range of leading specialists in-house to help educate and guide you on appropriate structures for risk planning, investment strategies for wealth building, tax advisory and much more.

If you are interested in speaking to one of our specialists, please reach out to us on 08 9325 2411 (Perth), 08 9301 2200 (Joondalup), or contact us via our website.

Please note the information provided within this article is general of nature and is not a personal advice recommendation. Prior to considering strategies discussed in this article we recommend you seek personal financial advice. Please be aware that, without the benefit of financial advice, you may be committing yourself to financial strategies or products that are not appropriate for your overall personal situation, needs and objectives.

written by:

Will Lyons

Will has 15 years industry experience working in both consultant and technical positions. Prior to becoming a qualified Financial Planner in Australia, Will worked as a pensions consultant in the UK gaining Advanced Diploma qualifications whilst working there. He has also attained an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning and has completed the FASEA Financial Adviser Exam and Ethics qualification.

At McKinley Plowman, Will has progressed over the years from our UK Pensions Division all the way through to senior Financial Adviser and now Associate Director within the Wealth team – amassing invaluable experience and knowledge along the way.

Will is a keen cyclist and occasional triathlete that loves going out and socialising with friends.

Will is an Authorised Representative of Fortnum Private Wealth Ltd.