Advice helps them reach their goals

Glen Hare, 34, and his business partner, Jess Brady, met when working in advice at Macquarie Bank and saw a gap in the market.

“We noticed most clients were preretirees and post-retirees. Most people didn’t seek advice until five years before retirement. Jess and I wondered who was looking after the other people when they had to navigate big decisions,” says Hare.

It was then that the pair decided to start their own business, Fox and Hare, targeting the millennial market, which they were a part of.

The first thing they noticed was that a lot of their prospective clients weren’t motivated by talking about money but more what money could provide them. They wanted to start a family or buy a house and they needed a strategy to reach those goals.

Property is top of mind and comes up in most conversations. People default to property and for a lot of millennials it’s sometimes seen as the only option, says Hare. And rentvesting is certainly happening.

“One couple live in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and if they bought a property they’re interested in it would cost $3 million. But rent is comparatively low so the conversation we’re having with them is rent in the east but buy a house in Brisbane to make sure the money they have is not just sitting in the bank but it’s working harder.

“Given the current climate with Covid, people are saving a little bit more. But people don’t know what to do with their savings. They were afraid of doing the wrong thing but they wanted to make their money work harder and didn’t know how,” he says.

Hare says his clients turn to him for any decision that has financial implications – day-to-day cash flow, budgeting, investments, superannuation, personal insurance and tax minimisation strategies.

“They want to know how to drive towards the goals: buying a house, starting a family, establishing a passive income. We talk through pros, cons, risks and potential returns,” he says.