A client success story..from humble beginnings to a fulfilling retirement..
Meet Jock Kelso
Jock Kelso started from humble beginnings and is now a retired radio advertising executive. With his lovely wife Dot, they have a family and lived in Sydney while Jock worked for various top radio stations and was Sales Manager at Radio 2UE Sydney. He describes these years as an incredible buzz, but could see that going onto senior management was not his forte, so instead decided to go out and set up his own company, MediaMart. During his career he managed radio advertising campaigns for numerous big name household brands.
Jock and Dot, his wife of 52 years, now live a comfortable and envious retirement.
Q: What’s been a contributor to your financial success?
Trust your instincts, and know what you’re good at is the short answer. A good example is when I was looking after the Harvey Norman account, I took the opportunity to invest in the company and purchased shares when they first listed at $1, we then added to the portfolio on many occasions, they split on some occasions and we reinvested further. We sold some of those shares 15 years ago at $7 which enabled us to make improvements to our holiday home. By investing progressively over time and having confidence to take the profits, we had a second home the whole family could enjoy. It’s a great story for any new Profile clients showing the value of investing in solid companies and taking advantage of the good returns.
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Q: What has been hardest financial concept to grasp?
I did not get the debits and credits of accounting; my school vocational guidance suggested I study accounting but after a year I left, I didn’t like it and it just didn’t make sense and I wanted to try sales. Biggest hurdle has been teaching myself accounting and bookkeeping by using MYOB. All my learning to read profit and loss statements etc has been self-taught.
Q: What do you feel is the greatest financial challenge for young people these days? What advice would you have for them?
Greatest challenge really is watching pennies day by day, young people need to budget so carefully to make sure they are within their means with cost of living and real estate rising. If starting out a business, having the right advisers in place (e.g. accountants and bookkeepers), and ‘budgeting’ is such an important word. It’s extremely important to have a financial adviser, there is so much to know and it’s impossible to know this ourselves and the Government make changes year by year. So in essence: have a good accountant, bookkeeper and financial planner.
Q: What do you value in your relationship with your adviser?
I really love our reviews! To meet in person and make sure we’re heading in the right direction is key, and we find it valuable that we are informed of anything new in the investment world. We make an attempt to go to the client seminars, getting that extra knowledge is invaluable.
Where should you retire?
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The first step in retirement planning is knowing where you'll live. Will it be beach, country, or city? Take the short quiz to find out where in Australia suits your plans.
Q: What is one thing you always look out for when assessing real estate?
Certainly location, and if purchasing more than one property, a diversity of locations. Ensure its tenantable in the long term, so consider the future returns. Look for factors that you yourself value because if you do then most likely others will also. Like good access to public transport and convenience of lifestyle, or close to water or district views will ALWAYS be in demand. I’m a big believer that property is a good separate asset class, so have investments across the board.
How Jock created a comfortable lifestyle for him and his loved ones
From a steady and consistent career, measured financial decisions, a few sacrifices along the way and being occasionally opportunistic, Jock and Dot have created a comfortable life not only for themselves but to share with their family of 2 children and 5 grandchildren, and have every right to declare themselves supportive parents and doting grandparents.
Jock Kelso is a man who watched the Sydney Opera House be built, made connections throughout regional NSW, and established a successful radio advertising company. He makes life seem pretty good. With Dot they have plans for an 8-week trip through North America with friends, and with their new e-bikes together look forward to exploring the coastline of Port Stephens. As he says, “keep active because you don’t know what the future holds”.
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