I have had various insurance policies provided by Russell at Iconic Financial over the past 15 years.  At times, it has not been easy to keep these policies going and has sometimes involved short-term sacrifices.  

My life was relatively predictable at that time - l had no significant health issues, I had a steady job, and my husband and I had great kids,  which made the insurances seem superfluous to requirements - just an extra bill to pay, the money from which could have been put to some other "better" short-term use that would provide instant gratification. 
 
How easy to think there is security in our futures when things are going well, and how grateful I was to have my insurances in place at a time when I needed them most!  After years of predictability and security, I suddenly found myself abandoned by a trusted companion, and left to fight for my life by myself.  As well as major family conflict and the deaths of some close family members, I had to deal with a breast cancer diagnosis resulting in surgery and chemotherapy.  I travelled alone through that dark valley in my life, not realising there was a silver lining in the dark cloud above.  

 A phone call and follow-up visit to Russell is all that was needed for that silver lining to start shining.  He reminded me of a policy I had taken out a few years ago, and from then on, I was no longer by myself.  Russell was quick to action the required application form and he also dealt with all the phone calls needed to claim the $125,000 which has become a silver lining for my retirement fund.  

The dark valley with the dark cloud has disappeared and I am left with the silver lining and a bright future, and I cannot thank Russell and his team at Iconic Financial Limited enough for giving me a future much brighter than I would have dared to imagine possible. 

I was in my twenties when Russell first introduced me to financial planning.  At that time, I put a plan in place to protect my current financial position, I insured my ability to continue working and earning (my income) and a private medical policy to lock in my current good health.  

I also put in place a plan to fund the purchase of my first home (I was then renting).  I also started a retirement investment portfolio. 
  
A couple of years later I met my future wife and we reviewed our plan for our lives together.  Over the years we have had two beautiful children and progressed exceptionally well financially.  

With regular reviews of our financial plan, helping focus on our commitment to our goals, we now have a large new family home with sea views, a sizable and growing investment portfolio, and a full range of risk protection insurance to ensure that if something goes wrong, such as illness or disability, it will not destroy our financial dreams. 

I was 45 when I had an accident on the farm, receiving two broken legs and a concussion/head trauma.  The broken bones healed well but the head trauma was a different story.  The damage to my head meant I would forget things, and I was unable to work as a farmer.  

That was almost 20 years ago, and I have been unable to return to normal work since the time of the accident, I have been diagnosed as permanently disabled.  Russell had recommended various insurance policies and one was a policy for total & permanent disablement.  This paid out $500,000, which was a lot of money at the time.  It allowed us to clear the farm debt and secure the farm for future generations. 

As we no longer had to pay the debt servicing costs, we were able to appoint a farm manager and remain living on the farm as we do today. 

What was unexpected, but has been extremely valuable, is we also had something called premium waiver.  This means the insurance company has been paying the premiums on our insurance policy (for my wife and I) for the last 20 years!  That is a significant amount over that time, and it has meant that despite me being unable to work, all those insurance policies are still in place for us today.  

I was the sole key person in my business; if I couldn’t work, I didn’t earn.  Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with uterine cancer.  Fortunately, Iconic had some years earlier recommended I take out trauma cover.  

This provided me with a lump sum pay out: I used the money to replace my income during what was a very difficult time.  They managed to catch the cancer in its early stages and after surgery and treatment I was given the all-clear.  

I returned to work after six months and was able to invest the remaining money from my trauma insurance claim (with Iconic).  This provided financial security and to contribute towards my retirement investment or have the extra money available if my cancer returns. 

We've been with Iconic since 2004 and during that time Russell's been absolutely fantastic. He's sorted all of our insurance for both personal and business, as well as our retirement fund, and it's really just been a brilliant in-depth experience that we've had with Russell.