He could have been a champion cricketer, but Les McGuire followed a path from optical technician to being recognised as one of Australia’s best financial advisors. The Lismore born lad who died three times as a young man has gone on to achieve a lot. These days, he is the senior managing partner of Future Proof Financial. He is the only financial adviser in regional NSW to be recognised by Barrons, which has named him in the top 100 financial advisors across Australia.

Died and back to life

He wasn’t to know it at the time, but in 1999 when a six-tonne truck hit Les McGuire, it was the event that marked his journey to becoming one of Australia’s best financial advisors.

Les was 22 when he tried to cross the Bruxner Highway in Goonellabah, near the Hilltop Hotel. That’s when the large truck, travelling at 87 kilometres an hour, hit Les so hard that he was thrown 37 metres onto the road.

“It was crazy - I actually died three times,” Les said. “I died at the scene and paramedics brought me back and took me to Lismore Base Hospital where I had a grand mal seizure and died again.

“My head injuries were so bad, the rescue helicopter flew me to the Royal Brisbane Hospital. The fact I survived goes to show you that anything can happen. I was in a coma on life support for six weeks before I started to come out of it. The doctors said my brain injuries were so bad, I had no chance of living a normal life.

“After the accident, that was when I started wondering how I could help people.”

Coma and cricket

Les was born at Lismore Base Hospital, grew up on College Road and went to Lismore High school.

Despite becoming a financial advisor later in life, he said maths was not his passion. In fact, after his accident, he realised that giving advice and helping people was his passion.

“At the time of the accident, I was actually doing optical studies at the University of Technology in Sydney,” Les said.

“I was also a great cricket player and on the day I was hit by the truck I had two first grade scouts from Brisbane coming to Lismore to watch me play and offer a chance to play with the Queensland Bulls.

“When I was in a coma, they came to see me and brought me a Bulls tshirt saying get well soon.

No more sport

“After the accident, I was lonely. I went from being state level sportsman to maybe not ever playing sport again.

“I had changed from being a young bullet-proof kid to someone who was told I would never work again because of brain injuries.

“Now, I’ve been named in the top 100 of Australia’s best financial advisors by Barrons three years in a row. There are about 24,000 advisors in Australia, so it’s a pretty big honour.

“For someone the doctors said would never achieve anything and would need assistance and care in life’s journey, that’s pretty amazing.

“I really believe the mind is powerful tool. With determination and resilience, anything is possible.”

Why financial planning?

After Les finished studying to be an optician, he went on to study a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). He had always been able to save money and had an interest in becoming financially independent.

“My goal was to get ahead and not have to ask others for money – so I started to invest,” he said.

“Money often creates a massive disconnect with people and then creates health related issues like stress, anxiety and depression.

“As a financial planner, I help them achieve a better understanding of financial outcomes, which provides better social and lifestyle outcomes.”

Les said to be a great financial advisor, it’s not about maths.

“It takes extreme emotional intelligence and being able to work with people and their challenges,” he said.

“Giving advice takes more than maths and strategy - as a financial planner, I was able to help people navigate through life’s difficulties to achieve better outcomes – emotional and financial.”

High achiever

His path to being recognised among Australia’s best financial planners, was a journey of a high achiever who worked in different industries until he found his calling.

“After my accident and more study, I was the chief executive of a medical company, then in the motor home industry, where I managed lots of staff,” Les said.

“Then I joined Fairfull as a financial advisor in 2008 and I eventually became the owner and rebranded it to Future Proof Financial. Now I have offices in Lismore and Ballina with 13 staff.”

In 2010, While he was working at Future Proof Financial, his university offered him an opportunity to study financial planning at a specialist academy, where he topped the course.

National stage

These days, the boy who grew up as a country kid now works on a national stage and has clients who are big name sport people, managers of big banks and state department commissioners.

Last year, Les was mentioned twice in parliament twice for his commendable contribution toward financial advice in industry.

Les said his being named in the Barrons top 100 listing of financial advisors was because of his giving “highly technical and compliant advice”, as well as being personable.

“The quality of advice and compliance needs to be exceptional,” he said. “They also look at your philanthropy and charitable work, education and expertise, client outcomes and feedback.”

Why see a financial advisor?

“Regardless of wealth, everyone has goals they want to achieve,” Les said.

“People might want to pay off their home early or pay less tax - no one is the same.

“When a client comes to me – everything is about them. We talk about their goals and dreams and come up with a plan.

“Life without a plan or goal is just a wish – we need to achieve outcomes.

“It’s a misnomer that good financial advisors start with your cash flow. You don’t nee.d lots of money to see one. Some people don’t have a lot of money but love what we do for them

“So, we start with what people want, before looking at cash flow. It’s amazing how many people don’t know about things that affect them.

First meeting is free

“The first meeting with me or one of my financial advisors is always free. We meet and discuss where people are sitting financially. If they won’t benefit from the advice we will say they, if we can, we will put them in a better position.

“The second meeting is fact finding – and we do a risk profile and get an idea of who you are.

“We do detailed research about your current super investments, insurance policies and put together a strategy and then we implement them for you.

“Even with Covid and superannuation investments and low interest rates, there are always opportunities.

“With the right strategy and careful positioning in these uncertain times, investments can still be good in the low term.

“Some people put money in bank, but is it safe? Interest rates in banks are low right now, but it’s also taxed.”

So how much will you pay a financial planner?

Les said it depends on how much money you have – but between $2000-3000 is an average.

“Some financial advisors charge a lot of money just for a statement of advice," he said. "We are more simple and fees can be paid through superannuation and investments.

“If you gave us a call, it’s a risk free opportunity – you can sit down and chat and decide if it’s worthwhile.

“Someone who is working and paying rent may not be able to how to dig themselves out of a hole of paying rent and tax. They might want to plan for holidays, buy a new car or retire.

“There are so many ways advice can be provided. Structuring cash flow into a better tax environment than savings and get where you want to be in ten years.

Superannuation and Covid

“Superannuation is a powerful tax tool with right advice. It is the retirement vehicle for many people and some people think the government will get hands on it, but that’s not possible, it’s your asset.

“Some people are tapping into their superannuation through Covid. In some cases, it’s important for people, but lots are tapping into it for the wrong reasons and the impact later is massive.

“With an ageing population, there is no guarantee we will have an aged pension in the future, so how do we become self sufficient?

“We need to plan for tomorrow because it may not be as rosy as we want it to be.”

To find out more about Future Proof Financial, visit https://www.amp.com.au/ampadvice/futureprooffinancial/contact-us