Having insurance is one thing, Having a Financial Adviser is another...

Matt Leech 10th May 2013

​I want to share this story with you, not because I'm a financial adviser but because it's important.

About a year ago, I met with a client who just needed a simple superannuation rollover. I was happy to help with the forms etc because super rollovers can be difficult if you don't know the process. It all went smoothly and he was happy. He then asked me if I could do the same thing for his Son who has super everywhere, again I was happy to help.

It wasn't until we discussed his family that I learnt his Son had been on a Centrelink pension for 5 years due to a crippling illness which stopped him from working and the financial responsibility was with the Mother & Father.

My immediate thoughts went to insurance instead of super rollovers so my question was, "Have you ever reviewed your Son's insurances within his super? you could potentially have a claim" The look on their faces indicated that I had two heads!

After compiling all the information and superannuation statements, I could see that the Son had some insurances and that we had a potential claim. The super fund had 'default' insurance (which he wasn't even aware of) and hadn't even thought to have looked there (Even after 5 years out of the workforce)

Recently, after a year of pushing his super fund/insurer, they have approved the claim. Whilst I think it was a positive to have had the insurance in the first place, what is the point of having it if you're unaware of it's existence. So having insurance is one thing, but having a financial adviser who can assist is another.

If I can stress to you that you review your insurance cover (wherever it is) and if this falls into the too hard basket, then seek out a professional financial adviser to assist.

I can tell you from personal experience that it's always going to be a purchase but that you begrudge but when in need, it will be the best purchase you ever made!

If you or someone you know may have a claim, feel free to find me on;

• Twitter @MattLeech
• Website www.mattleech.com.au

-Matt Leech

There is no traffic on the extra mile

Matt Leech 1st February 2013

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I thought I'd share with you a story about a taxi driver I once heard about. Nothing fancy, just a taxi driver who transformed his job of driving people around to something memorable.

Friends of mine were contemplating buying an investment property in Melbourne and had a few meetings with buyer’s agents and local real estate agents in the area that could help narrow the search.

Their journey began one early morning walking out of Melbourne airport at 7:00 am to the taxi rank. A taxi pulled over for them and a driver with a big smile,  jumping out of the car to welcome them to his taxi, “Good morning, how are you this morning? Have you had breakfast yet?”.  No they replied, “Great, I know this amazing place that you will love, they also serve the best coffee in town”. They were instantly taken a little off guard but replied with a “breakfast sounds great”.
As the driver took off, he talked in detail about the coffee they are about to drink and where they get their beans from etc..

“Hi my name is Frank, and I will look after you the entire time you’re in Melbourne do you mind if I ask the nature of your stay in Melbourne?” My friends continue to tell Frank that they are contemplating buying an investment property, and that they are meeting a few experts in the area. Frank continues to ask questions about whom they are seeing and what times they had booked.

After the 30 minute drive, Frank pulls into the cafe and tells them to enjoy their meal, he tells them he will be back in 30 minutes to take them to their hotel.


After enjoying the great breakfast and coffee that Frank had recommended, Frank pulls up out the front exactly 30 minutes later holding the door open for his clients. Once back in the car, Frank passes my friends an itinerary for their week in Melbourne which had Frank's availabilities and phone number. He goes on to say that he will drop & pick them up from every meeting they had whilst they were in Melbourne and would also drive them around to different parts of Melbourne to get an understanding of the area.

For the entire week, Frank drove my friends around to their meetings and dinners, the experience my friends had was extremely positive and in fact helped them greatly as he helped them understand the local market. When it came time to actually meeting the property experts, they were better prepared and were more decisive in their decision making which entailed them buying a property which did really well for them.

After their fantastic week in Melbourne, Frank eventually dropped them back to the airport to catch their flight home, as my friends were saying thank-you, they asked him “Frank, why are you so different to other taxi drivers?” Frank replied with “I just understand that people are on a journey and it's important to help the best I can"


Still to this day, I will never forget that story because it highlights that we all have a place or job in this world (and it doesn't matter what job it is) and we have a responsibility to do it the best we can and to go the extra mile for others.

Fail to prevail

Matt Leech 29th January 2013

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Take a look around and look at the people that make it and you will learn that they were all failures at some point. 

Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team (and cried for days), Walt Disney was told he lacked creativity, Henry Ford went bankrupt 5 times before he was successful, the list goes on and on.

What can we learn from this?

Personally, I think it means we need to be fearless, try new things, implement ideas and take risks because I believe you need to fail to prevail.

I heard that when applying for a job in Silicon Valley, the main question and focus was on how many failures you have had and if they were big enough to justify working in their business. I think they might be onto something...



Winning isn't fun if you can't share it

​Matt Leech 19th January 2013

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I've learnt a lot about winning recently that I wanted to share with you.

I used to think winning was important but it can be an isolating experience, I have come to realised that it's not important at all. The only time winning can be great is if you can share it.



So I wanted to share a story with you that a friend of mine told me, he said “success is nothing if you can’t share it.” I must admit when I heard this, I knew it was instantly something important but not something I had considered before. I was interested so I asked, “What do you mean?”

He began to tell me a story about how he and nine other friends share in a race horse for fun & love of horse racing. They make the effort of getting together at race days and cheering on their horse. He told me that their horse was to race at one of the big meets and himself and nine other mates would all catch a plane to the event, stay in a hotel and spend a few days together. They were having a fantastic time at the airport, plane trip, hotel and eventually getting to the big day.

When they arrived on the big day, there was a well known horse owner right beside him and his group, so they all went and introduced themselves and discussed their horses and wished each other luck for the race.

The race started and eventually got closer to the finish and they all started to cheer and enjoy themselves together as a group as their horse started to look like it could come third. They noticed that the well known horse owner was not cheering his horse on even though his horse was leading the pack and looked to be the certain winner.

The nine of them ended up getting third place which was of major excitement, and the well known horse owner got first place. My friend went on to explain “even though we came third, we were the winners on the day as we experienced it together and celebrated over the following days, we will never forget such a great experience”. I couldn't help but ask about the well known owner who won first, he replied, “As soon as the race had finished he congratulated us on third place and went on to say he was heading home. He was actually there with no one to celebrate his win with."

Obviously, winning can be great but personally, I think winning is much better if you can share it...