Australian Doctor Australian Doctor 17th November 2017 | Page 13

Smart Practice
Tech Talk
Antony Scholefield
How to get teens
to stop tanning
and smoking
Taking care of business
FINANCE
Here are five ways you can improve the
financial future for your grandchildren.
TERRY McMASTER
M
OST older doctors are in a
good place financially speaking.
They have done the hard yards,
bought the home, paid off the
loan, funded the super, hung on to the rental
property, and maybe even inherited a bit from
their own parents. They are finally financially
safe.
It’s natural to then start thinking about the
next generation. And most do.
Gifts, loans and limited guarantees are par
for the course. Most older doctors give some
economic assistance to their children. It’s just
common sense.
Inter-generational financial planning works:
treat your family as the economic unit and take
advantage of different tax profiles, life stages
and social security profiles.
Distributing trust income to children aged
over 18 is one common strategy most doctors
use at some stage of their careers.
Multiple tax-deductible cars, employing
family members and superannuating children
are all viable strategies to be considered.
But we are definitely seeing a widening of cli-
ent expectations and an extension of their time
horizons.
Older GPs are looking beyond the next gen-
eration and asking what can they do to ensure
their descendants get an economic head start
and are shielded from the financial risks of day
to day life.
They are concerned their as-yet unborn
granddaughter will never find