The help you need to live the life you want.
Age. You can defy it – but you can’t beat it.
As you grow older, certain physical, mental and administrative tasks that used to be easy, get harder to complete – or just take an irritatingly long time. It might be managing complex financial decisions – your investments, rental properties etc. Or it might mean big projects like remodelling your home so you can live there longer. It could be something as mundane but important as organising (and arranging payment for) home maintenance.
Perpetual’s Lifestyle Assist service wraps all those types of needs into a single package you can tailor to meet your exact needs as you age. If you want the help, your Perpetual financial adviser can integrate Lifestyle Assist into your overall financial planning service so your financial and lifestyle needs are met in the same place.
You’ll have your own Lifestyle Assist consultant who works with you, co-ordinates help from other experts and answers any questions you or your family might have as the service evolves to meet your needs over time.
Most importantly, Lifestyle Assist keeps you in control as you age – so you have more time with the people that really matter to you.
Helping you get the most out of life
Adjusting to change
Old age, just like every other major lifestage (think marriage, parenthood, retirement) brings with it big changes. Both physically and mentally, things get a little bit harder. But just because age is inevitable doesn’t mean we can’t manage it.
The secret is to identify what’s getting harder and what you still enjoy. What you need help with, and what you still like to do yourself. Then you can enjoy your independence and get the help you need to make life that much better.
Read more about some interesting insights into what old age is really like.
Managing the money
Money gives us choices; it frees us to be independent. But it also carries a heavy load of responsibility. When we were younger, money decisions were about how to earn and save money. Old age presents us with different questions, such as: How do you manage your assets and income so you always get to live the way you want to? Can you afford the best possible medical care? Will you have assets you need to move into aged care if that’s a choice you want to make?
Perhaps most importantly of all – when it comes to making those financial decisions – about wills, estate planning, aged care and your investments - will you have someone by your side who is both independent and trusted?
Maintaining your lifestyle
As you get older it’s more important than ever that your home is comfortable, clean and safe. That it’s built to suit your needs (better heating and cooling, fewer stairs!). You want to make sure you can get where you want, when you want, eat well, stay in touch with friends.
That takes money – but it’s also easier if you have someone to help you arrange those services –from cleaners to builders, architects to Uber drivers and everything in between. You don’t need someone who can help you with everything. You need someone who can get you help with everything.
Your family and you
Family is the great joy of old age (and not just for the person who is old!). With some luck, and good health, it can be a time when you have more time for grandchildren and close family, help them financially if you can and perhaps even get them involved in some charitable giving.
But families are complicated things and these days family trees have lots of different branches. Some expert help and good advice (from financial planners, solicitors, estate planning and philanthropy experts) can make sure your goals become reality – and that your family pull together rather than apart.
Some recent Perpetual research delves into what Australians think about the importance of family.
Expert tips on ageing happily
In collaboration with Home Instead Senior Care, a national provider of high-quality in-home care for older Australians, Perpetual have developed this free guide that demystifies the aged care maze, helping seniors age successfully.
Client stories
Jeanette and Bunty
Three Lifestyle Assist life stories
For older Australians, getting expert help to manage their money and lifestyle is an investment in their quality of life. Here’s three true-life stories where we delve a little deeper into these clients lives to find out how they’re using Perpetual’s Lifestyle Assist service – and the lessons that has for other older Australians looking for help.
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Managing wealth
- Strategic financial advice
- Investment advice & management
- Income, savings & debt management
- Personal insurance
- Tax & accounting
- Health & personal injury support
- Family office
- Property management
Exceptional financial advice to protect and grow your wealth. That’s our enduring commitment to you backed by an investment philosophy that has stood the test of time.
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PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT
- RETIREMENT & SUCCESSION PLANNING
- Superannuation & pension management
- Power of attorney & Lifestyle assistance
A post-work paradise takes careful planning. We can help you to structure your finances effectively and create an investment portfolio that protects your wealth without jeopardising your lifestyle.
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GIVING & PASSING ON WEALTH
- Charitable giving & philanthropy
- Trust setup & management
- Wills, estate planning & executorial services
From the creation of your estate plan through to tax-effective giving structures, our team can help you to create a legacy for the people and causes closest to your heart.
Lifestyle Assist – you choose the help you need
The essence of the Lifestyle Assist service is that it’s tailored to what you need. Here are some of the key features.
Control of your finances is what gives you independence and more lifestyle options. As part of the Perpetual financial planning service your adviser will cover off a whole range of financial considerations including:
- Strategic advice – taking a holistic approach to all your financial decisions
- Investment advice
- Tax and accounting
- Self-managed super fund management
- Estate planning advice – including advice on wills, trusts, taxation and more
- Asset Protection
- Succession planning for any of your business interests
- Aged care advice.
They can then introduce you to a Lifestyle Assist consultant who integrates the additional care services into an overall package – ensuring you get a service that looks after your financial and lifestyle needs in a harmonised and highly-effective way.
A Power of Attorney (POA) gives someone else – a member of your family, a friend, or a trusted professional organisation like Perpetual - the ability to make decisions on your behalf when it comes to investments, financial and business affairs.
Giving Power of Attorney is a crucial and highly personal decision so should not be taken lightly. However, it provides flexibility and security as you age and managing your finances gets harder – especially if you suffer from mental or physical incapacity (an Enduring Power of Attorney continues to operate even if you lose ‘legal capacity’).
As a trustee company of over 130 years standing, Perpetual has deep institutional experience in providing Power of Attorney services to clients. Our people, training and culture always puts the client first.
Many clients move into the Lifestyle Assist service because it’s a sensible extension of the relationship we’ve already formed by providing Power of Attorney services.
Your Lifestyle Assist consultant is the key to the Lifestyle Assist service because they work with you to shape it to your needs. They’re your first and primary point of contact, dedicated, empathetic and someone you can rely on for whatever you need.
What do they help with?
Everything except financial advice. From paying bills all the way to helping source aged care facilities or packing up and coordinating the sale of your home. And if they don’t do the tasks themselves, they arrange the services of a whole suite of other providers – whether that’s carpenters or counsellors, electricians or estate planning lawyers. Because all those services are linked through one person, you get a joined-up service, you get a team working for you, not just a bunch of individuals.
Whilst your consultant is always working in your best interest – they can – if you wish, act as a conduit to other family members. Keeping them informed, as appropriate, about the services you’re using and the decisions you’re making.
Many people find they enjoy their home even more as they age – the familiarity, the comfort, the neighbourhood. So many of the services co-ordinated by Lifestyle Assist consultants are focused on the home – and keeping you in it as long as it’s comfortable. Those services range across:
- organising carers
- renovations and reconfiguring your home
- property maintenance
- managing utilities.
Our financial advisers – in their own words
“For many of our clients, I’d suggest the biggest worries and anxieties stem from the fact they need help to maintain their lifestyle and don’t have anybody close by who they can turn to for help. Our Lifestyle Assist consultants are real people people. They build rapport very quickly and put our clients’ mind at ease - to the point you can see the relief wash over the client once they hear and understand what the service offers them.” – Brent Lynch, Senior Financial Adviser, Perpetual Private
“Clients, at first meeting, are usually overwhelmed and don’t know where to go to get help to manage a variety of matters. This can be from finding a cleaner to moving home, or how to declutter all the paperwork and ‘stuff’ accumulated over the years. They need an impartial party to bounce ideas off. The service can start with just a few simple ways to streamline the finances and get them back on track with bills and insurances. Or to a full service of managing house maintenance, insurances, rental properties, appointments etc. etc.” – Nicola Baker, Lifestyle Assist Consultant, Perpetual Private
Meet the team
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Brent Lynch
Senior Financial Adviser
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Brent is a Senior Financial Adviser for Perpetual in New South Wales, with over 14 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
Brent looks after many of our High Net Worth relationships with clients across Advisory, Discretionary, Custody, Power of Attorney and Health and Personal Injury. As a senior adviser, Brent not only provides advice for these clients, he also oversees the broader ongoing service they receive, and the support staff involved.
As a specialist adviser in the area of aged care and Perpetual’s Lifestyle Assist service, Brent also helps clients put in place the strategies to preserve their independence and fund their care in for the appropriate care in the latter stages of retirement.
Brent is a qualified Certified Financial Planner ® or CFP ®. He also holds a Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning qualification and a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Finance.
When not at work Brent loves a round of golf – currently playing off a single-figure handicap.
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Francois Petitto
Senior Financial Adviser
Francois is a Senior Financial Adviser in Victoria. Francois joined Perpetual three years ago and has been in the financial services industry for over 18 years.
Francois works with many Private Wealth clients, providing financial advice needs and assisting them with long-term wealth strategies. Often Francois will call on his in-depth financial analysis skills when providing advice to clients.
Francois also has deep experience assisting clients with aged care financial advice to ensure they are looked after in the latter stages of their retirement.
A specialist in this area, Francois has been able to develop strategic partnerships with Aged Care facilities, in home care providers and other related professions to ensure that any client seeking Aged care advice is looked after holistically.
He also advises clients on intergenerational wealth strategies, so when the time comes to pass wealth on, it is done so in a tax-effective way and according to their wishes. As a result of his work in this space, Francois has many family groups as clients, often up to three generations of the same family all work with Francois, together and also separately to achieve their goals.
Francois also gives his spare time, volunteering on the board of a not for profit organization as their current sitting treasurer.
Francois is a qualified Certified Financial Planner ® or CFP ®.
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Pamela Charlton
Lifestyle Assist Consultant
NSW-
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Pamela is a Senior Consultant for Perpetual’s Lifestyle Assist services, with over 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry.
Based in New South Wales, Pamela makes a big difference in her clients’ lives by giving them peace of mind that their affairs are managed in a diligent and timely fashion.
Pamela loves the variety of ways she can help her clients - whether it’s as simple as taking care of the everyday activities, such as paying the bills or home maintenance, through to life changing events, such as moving home. Pamela also co-ordinates activities with service providers and liaises with government agencies.
For Pamela, it’s a very rewarding job as she helps clients keep their independence later in life.
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John Carrigan
Lifestyle Assist Consultant
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John works as a Manager in Perpetual’s Lifestyle Assist service in Victoria, having joined the financial services industry over 26 years ago - the last 20 of those with Perpetual.
With a wealth of experience in fiduciary services, John has worked with many different teams and departments across Perpetual. John uses his experience to assist clients with a wide range of general and aged care services to help them maintain their independence later in life.
John also offers estate planning and trustee services for clients to protect and provide for those they care about. Operating under Power of Attorney for clients for over 15 years, John is deeply trusted by clients to act in their best interests. With regards to their personal, financial or legal affairs.
John has a Diploma of Financial Services.
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Nicola Baker
Lifestyle Assist Consultant
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Nicola is a Senior Client Consultant for Perpetual’s Lifestyle Assist service in Queensland and has been in the financial services industry for 10 years.
As a registered nurse for over 25 years, Nicola is passionate about people and their health care. For our Lifestyle Assist clients, Nicola’s experience and empathy has helped them maintain their independence for longer – making a huge difference in their lives.
For Nicola, no two days are the same and she loves being able to help clients with their wide variety of needs and whatever stage of life they’re at. This may be building confidence to take on life’s daily tasks – both big and small – to organising and simplifying finances or simply stepping in to help when children aren’t around. While their needs are very different, Nicola says her clients tend to have one thing in common - they usually feel they should have taken up the Lifestyle Assist service sooner!
Originally from the UK, Nicola has called Australia home for the last 15 years – and loves it!
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Your best interests at heart
The personal touch
Dealing with a mix of your financial, practical and lifestyle needs requires a deeply personal touch. Your Lifestyle Assist consultant provides that. They’re the first person you call when there’s a problem you need fixed or when you want to do something to improve your day-to-day living situation or manage a money issue. Over time our consultants become ‘almost like family’ to their clients. (See the Bunty and Jeannette video above for real-life examples).
This personal approach becomes ever more important when you are faced with major decisions late in life – like moving out of the family home and into some form of aged care. Your Lifestyle Assist consultant will work with you and your adviser to help you make a decision that delivers the lifestyle, social and emotional benefits you’re looking for.
Perpetual and Home Instead (a specialist provider of personal lifestyle needs for older Australians) have produced a booklet to help you navigate the big late-life decisions.
End to end service
Your investments, day to day finances, looking after your home, providing financially for your children. These may be things you’ve done all your life but you don’t have to do them all anymore. Perpetual’s Lifestyle Assist service is end-to-end – you select the range of things you want help with and your personal consultant works with your financial adviser to coordinate them all.
Trusted partner
Perpetual is an ASX-listed, diversified financial services company which has been serving Australians since 1886 when it was established as a trustee company by a group of businessmen including Sir Edmund Barton, later to be Australia’s first Prime Minister. That trustee heritage – and the culture it created around putting clients first – is what makes Perpetual unique.
We have been earning the trust of our clients for more than 130 years and pride ourselves on our long-standing client relationships – some of which span five generations.
Trust is earned, every day.
ENJOY THE LIFE YOU DESERVE
Would you like to enjoy the best possible lifestyle as you age? Appreciate some expert help when it comes to everyday lifestyle fixes and big financial decisions? Want someone you can trust to pull it all together for you? Talk to us today. Call us on 1800 631 381 or complete the form below.
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