Main Street Financial Solutions

This morning we had our first experience of “Birthday Bombing” in the office. It was only a 41st birthday, so we may need security guards when a big birthday milestone arrives.

The suspect is still on the loose.

This year our very own Charles Badenach has made the shortlist for the 50 most influential Australian Financial Advisers as nominated by the readers of the Financial Standard and FA Advice – The Australian Journal of Financial Planning. The FS Power 50 are financial advisers deemed to be best at promoting the value of the financial advice profession whilst providing outstanding service to their clients and the wider community.

The final list is subject to a national vote and if you would like to support Charles click on the link below to vote .

We love it when Tasmanians are on the national stage !

FS Power50 The FS Power50 is made up of the 50 most influential financial advisers in the Australia according to the readers of Financial Standard and FS Advice.

It has been a few years but the team were back in front of the cameras again this week as part of the Main Street Insurance Solutions evolution with our newest team member and Risk Specialist Chris Matlock.

As always the filming took longer than expected and there is no danger of us losing any of our staff to Hollywood anytime soon !

It has been an interesting journey from West End to Wembley to Main Street for Scott Ciscon.

After the article in the "Hobart Mercury " today, newsagents will no doubt run out get in early !

Yesterday one of our advisers Charles Badenach made his debut appearance on the Ausbiz News Channel explaining how Main Street Financial Solutions has navigated the changes to the personal insurance sector and created a blue print for insurance specialisation, providing clients with a “best of breed solution”.

Exciting times on Main Street !

The Big Mac as a guide to the Cost of Living Crisis – MacDonalds Economics

Burger prices up, sales down globally for the first time since the pandemic, which is a sign of how higher prices can become too much in difficult economic times !

Consumer spending and interest rates have an inverse relationship. When interest rates are high, consumer spending decreases. When interest rates are low, consumer spending increases.

Interesting times ahead !

Enjoy the journey and don’t forget to smell the roses along the way we all end up at the same destination

Over the last week one of our Principals and Private Client Advisers Dave Woolford coached the Tasmanian Over 40’s Masters Hockey Team at the National Championships to a sliver medal losing 4-2 in the Grand Final.

Normally Dave would be playing but having torn his hamstring off the bone a few months ago, he is in rehab mode before heading off to South Africa in September to represent Australia in the over 40’s World Cup.

Suffice to say he is one of the fitter members of the Main Street Team

Within our office, we all have different interests and talents, but Scott Ciscon, having moved here from the United Kingdom and the world of entertainment, offers something slightly different.

After spending the last 30 years singing in venues around the world - including at Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup Final, he is now making his Hobart debut at Wrest Point Casino in August with his “Edge of the World Tour”.

Working in financial advice by day and as a professional singer by night is, well…an unusual combination and worth sharing !

Scott Ciscon – The Edge Of The World Tour | Wrest Point Hotel Scott CisconThe Edge Of The World Tour Buy Ticket Event details Date: Saturday, 24 August 2024Time: 7:00pmLocation: Showroom After performing for 30 years all around the world, Scott makes his Tassie debut and brings his brand new solo show to the Showroom at Wrest Point. Don’t miss this wonder...

With Life insurance becoming a complex and specialised area of the financial planning process, Main Street Financial Solutions has taken the step to establish a specialist, one stop shop, tailored service.

We are incredibly proud to introduce to you "Main Street Insurance Services" (MSIS), a specialist risk advice service for all of our existing and new clients, ran by one of Australia’s pre-eminent risk advisers Chris Matlock.

MSIS will be providing tailored advice to clients who need personal insurance cover (death, TPD, Trauma or Income Protection), reviewing clients with existing personal insurance cover where your needs have changed, and providing buy/sell and key person advice to business partnerships and companies who have key people they want to insure.

As Chris Matlock says, “The avoidable losses that people suffer due to having no or incorrect life insurance cover is devastating. It undermines the goal to protect families and businesses and the great wealth building strategies they have worked hard at for years – losing everything in an instant following a pivotal health event”.

To find out more visit www.mainstreetfs.com.au/msis

In rare instances you come across timeless pieces of advice, and in 2006 Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio wrote 42 lessons life has taught her and it is worth reading,

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short – enjoy it..
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
11. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
12. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it...
14 Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
15. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
16. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
17. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.
18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
20. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
21. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.💖
22. The most important s*x organ is the brain.
23. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
24. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
25. Always choose life.
26. Forgive but don’t forget.
27. What other people think of you is none of your business.
28. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does..
31. Believe in miracles.
32. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
33. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
34. Your children get only one childhood.
35. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
36. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere. (I love this one)
37. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
38. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have not what you need.
39. The best is yet to come...
40. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
41. Yield.
42. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

It is not often you have a staff member that has severely overworked their computer and just like a car, it ran out of fuel and died. We were all very impressed with their work ethic! However when the computer technician attended the office and made some further investigations this employee learnt that computers are not designed to

- Be stored in a back pack whilst you run home,
- Left in a car on a hot day
- Not be sleep deprived

As the technician reminded the employee "computers are like humans, they do everything except think"

On the first friday of every month we have a "Work on the Business Day " with the objective being how can we improve the outcomes of our clients. With 10 staff working for one day each month (ie 8 hours) over a 12 month period it enables us to have 960 hours per annum doing this.

However the highlight of the day is the lunch choice with the staff rotating on whose choice this is . This month it was a local favourite " Potsticker " and if you get a chance we highly recommend the food.

In 2007 one of our advisers wrote a book , and now 17 years later this book has now made its way to Bali being located in a hotel room by a client .

We all found this very amusing today and have been debating as to whether the book was found in a “backpackers room “ or a more upmarket establishment such as “Club Med”. We await the clients further advice on this .

10 years ago this week our Principals Rebecca Fergusson and Charles Badenach established Main Street Financial Solutions. It has been an enjoyable yet challenging journey for them both.

It is amazing what can happen in 10 years, the lives you can touch, the experiences you have, the people you meet, the camaraderie amongst your peers and the ability to create your own destiny.

Below is a video that was created when Main Street started and apart from a few grey hairs, some wrinkles and Charles being slightly more solid nowadays nothing has changed.

Thankyou for the support over the journey we really appreciate this and we are all looking forward to the next 10 years on the street !

Why did we establish Main Street Financial Solutions Leaving an established client base and the comfort of an ASX business to building an unaligned fee for service boutique financial advice business from scrat...

We love it when Tasmanians achieve excellence on the national stage, Great work Bignell Family at the Bream Creek Diary !

For much of the past year we employed Emily Grainger to review our systems and processes with a mandate to improve the outcome for our clients. As an office this has been confronting and challenging at times but it has certainly improved what we do.

As they often say “a good system shortens the road to the goal” , we appreciate your efforts Emily, and we hope you enjoyed your time on Main Street !

Over the years at Main Street we have had a number of wardrobe malfunctions from broken zips, to spilt coffee on a white shirt, the wrong suit combination, split pants etc , so we thought we had seen it all. However this morning one eagle eyed staff member pointed out a male member of staff that they had actually a mismatching pair of black shoes which they were unaware of, can you spot the difference ?

RM Williams v Blundstones

With only 3 males in the office they are heavily outnumbered by the females and are regularly given guidance by the fashion police.

This week 2 of our advisers Charles Badenach and Dave Woolford attended the Step Professional Development Event assisting Keat Chew Head of Technical Services at Netwealth with his presentation "Super and Death - Planning for the inevitable".

STEP = is a global professional body comprising lawyers, accountants, trustees and other practitioners that help families plan for their futures.

An interesting day learning about the intricacies of trusts and estates whilst engaging with other professionals from around the country.

Failing to plan = planning to fail !

It is a sad day today as we bury our old phone system and move into the age of a computer based phone system.

In 2014 the phone system cost $30k and now 10 years later we need to pay to dispose of it. How times have changed !

Another Xmas, another year of Santa’s helpers making “Lolly Bags” for the Colony 47 Xmas Party. Lots of calories around the table today, a few helpers were caught sampling but now they are safely locked away from the office sweet tooth’s !

Santa will be collecting these from the Main Street roof at 2am on the 25th December 2023 ready for the Xmas lunch .

We had the Main Street Xmas Party on Friday braving the elements on the high seas, we were even joined by Captain Stubling, a relaxing and enjoyable afternoon with plenty of light hearted banter.

Another Xmas, another year of Santa’s helpers making “Lolly Bags” for the Colony 47 Xmas Party. Lots of calories around the table today, a few helpers were caught sampling but now they are safely locked away from the office sweet tooth’s !

Santa will be collecting these from the Main Street roof at 2am on the 25th December 2023 ready for the Xmas lunch .

In conjunction with Morningstar we ran a webinar today on “Market Outlook and Portfolio Positioning” for clients and the key messages were,

- Inflation is falling (now approx. 5%)

- Those older workers (55+) haven’t returned to the workforce post COVID in the same levels with many electing to retire early

- Personal savings rates have decreased

- Credit card balances have increased

- Indicators are clearly pointing towards a recession but the big questions are how long and how severe ?

If you would like to listen to the video recording of the session please don’t hesitate to contact us [email protected]

As Warren Buffett says “Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful”

We had our corporate photo's last week and we inadvertently had our own Roald Dahl BFG moment with Charles as the Big Friendly Giant and Chloe as Sophie .

There were a lot of photo's taken but getting 12 people to look at the camera and smile at the same time was very challenging for our resident photographer

Today the cameras came to Main Street to update our corporate video, it was certainly stepping outside the comfort zone for us all, and we look forward to reviewing the finished product in a few weeks.

We are certainly not in danger of losing any of the staff to Hollywood though after today’s performances.

At our monthly Work on the Business Day today we had Sam Dobinson from Intuit visit us for a "Cyber Security 101" session. This is an area we are all conscious of and our resident cyber security champion John Lawrence certainly keeps us all aware of the new and frightening innovations in this space !

We learnt today that a 14 character password with a combination of numbers, upper and lower case letters together with symbols will take 200 million years to crack (see picture 2) !

If you would like a copy of the presentation please email our office - [email protected]

Yesterday we farewelled Elissa after 5 years as she is moving to Brisbane to join her fiancée and will be working with one of our corporate partners. When Elissa joined us 5 years ago she was working in hospitality and had a Degree in Supply Chain Management whereas now she is a fully qualified Financial Adviser having just completed her professional year.

As a business it is really satisfying to be able to help people move forward and achieve their long term objectives. The relationship has been a win for Elissa and a win for us.

We had over 8 months notice of her departure so we have been able to plan around this but Elissa will be missed !

As we have an “International Cocktail Barman “ on the payroll we started our 30th June event with “cocktails” before moving to dinner. It was great to catch up in a social setting with lots of laughs, stories and banter.

The 2023-24 financial year will be our 10th year in business and we have some exciting projects over the coming 12 months. Stay tuned !