Third generation Concord West resident and St. Pat’s old boy, Jason Khoury knows a thing or three about mortgages, super and estate planning as over 100 locals discovered at a free seminar in early June at Concord RSL when he gathered together financial experts who explained money matters and made it entertaining.
Jason, who taught economics and religion at high school before becoming an economist and then commercial banker at NAB, is finally doing what he is passionate about – helping people understand financial planning from his Concord Road based iChoice, which he opened three years ago to be closer to his young family.
“I get to help people, and in 99 cases out of 100, I can save our clients money immediately on their mortgage loan and better still, it doesn’t cost them a cent,” Jason said. “Too many people think a home loan is just a loan and that a 0.7 per cent discount off a variable loan is a good deal. It isn’t anymore. I can access far better discounts from the major banks than 0.7 per cent.”
“Banks still don’t understand that they are selling benefits, not products. What we do at iChoice is spell out the benefits in simple language. The banks confuse you with websites full of ticks and boxes. Think of banks as you would supermarkets. Each bank has different specials at different times. Moving around is a good idea and we can help you,” he said.
The new iChoice website is a simple-to-use comparison tool to see what rate you deserve but Jason says mortgages are just the start.
“Financial planning is about creating and protecting wealth and then distributing it in a tax effective manner. 45 per cent of Australians die without a will and more than that don’t know or understand about Testamentary Trusts, which can minimise stamp duty and capital gains,” Jason explained.
“Often the mistake people make is to leave his or her wealth to their partner, which can affect pension entitlements. A good example would be an investment property. If one of the children wanted to buy the property – stamp duty and possibly capital gains tax would apply, but maybe not so if distributed through a Testamentary Trust.”
Jason is planning another seminar in November but you can find him earlier than that at 323 Concord Road, Concord West. It’s well worth the visit and you will come away having learned something new.