Top advisers share the best advice about managing money

Matthew Cassidy – Partners Wealth Group

The best advice I’ve ever received is to always have a strategy. Without a plan, it’s easy to make emotional decisions that can derail your long-term goals. Diversify your investments, understand the cycles of different asset classes, and know when to act – take your wins when assets perform strongly, and don’t be afraid to cut your losses early when things aren’t going to plan.

Andrew Dunbar – Apt Wealth Partners

“You’ll regret the things you didn’t do rather than the things you did.” We only live once and we have to make the most of this life, experiencing it and leaving it in a better place. What people lose sight of is that real financial planning is about giving you confidence and peace of mind about tomorrow so you can live the life you want today.

Ben Kohn – Focus/Link Financial Services

One of my early mentors taught me the value of being coached. Whether it’s improving fitness, mastering technology, or refining investment decisions, the principle is universal: progress comes from guided learning.

The best advice I received was this: “Knowledge is an asset no one can take from you.” That lesson became a cornerstone of my professional philosophy. It also reflects the values instilled by my parents – my mother a teacher and my father a doctor – who taught me that education underpins all forms of success.

In practice, this means not allowing financial decisions to be driven solely by product features, emotion, or market noise. True wealth management begins with understanding. Invest in your financial literacy first. Understand how your structures work, how tax interacts with your strategy, what gearing means in your context and how estate planning protects multi-generational wealth. With that foundation, then clarity, confidence and discipline follow naturally.

At our firm, we work closely with clients to build that understanding muscle. Our approach ensures that every structure and strategy makes sense to them – not as a black box, but as a transparent, purposeful framework aligned with their goals.

That original advice continues to shape my philosophy today: every conversation is an opportunity to educate and empower. When clients understand the “why” behind their strategy, they gain not just financial outcomes but a sense of control and stewardship over their family legacy.

Chris Smith – VISIS Private Wealth

Pay yourself first. No matter what. Put money away to achieve your goals. This could be a property deposit, a debt repayment or anything that is important. Effectively, the lesson is adjust your lifestyle to the net income you have available after you put your goals-based saving amount away first. And then, don’t touch it!

Kellie Davidson – Pitcher Partners

Different advice at different stages for me. Early on when I received my first pay cheque from Coles at age 15, my dad instilled the discipline and importance of budgeting and saving.

He used to take half of my pay cheque and deposit it in a savings account that I couldn’t access.

Even at that early age, I learnt that setting savings goals builds financial security and creates a buffer for unexpected events or opportunities.

This habit not only helps accumulate wealth over time, it also encourages disciplined budgeting and smarter spending decisions.

I find it beneficial to automate savings whenever possible, so that a percentage of my income is directed straight into a separate account or investment, making it less tempting to spend impulsively.

The second piece of advice was an extension of my savings lesson in understanding the power of compounding and therefore the importance of starting to save early.

For my 21st birthday, I was given a small sum of money to buy a few shares. The income from these was used to buy more shares and this, together with additional consistent savings, had a snowball effect.

The benefit of compounding is more powerful the earlier you start.

Troy Theobald – RFS Advice

Don’t lose it. It’s advice that a previous adviser gave me. They said: “Don’t have major drawdowns first.” And that’s been my philosophy my whole working life for clients. You don’t need to take excessive risks. You don’t need Hail Marys and you don’t need guru calls. Very few good financial decisions are made that way.

Amanda Fong – Escala Partners

The best advice my parents gave me about managing money was simple: don’t spend what you don’t have. They always taught me that avoiding debt is one of the smartest financial moves because once you start owing money, it can control your choices. Instead, they encouraged me to save for what I wanted, even if it meant waiting longer. It taught me patience, discipline and living within my means.

This article first appeared in The Australian as Top advisers share the best advice about managing money