[hr]<\/p>\n
Submitted by: <\/b>Mark O\u2019Leary [hr]<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do it? It\u2019s a damn good question!\u201d Mark replied, when asked why he regularly offers his services free of charge to people with terminal cancer.<\/p>\n \u201cI genuinely believe we are seriously helping people when they\u2019ve got nowhere else to go, even in some cases where it\u2019s only half an hour\u2019s work, and we just point them in the right direction. We feel that it\u2019s the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n He explained that the type of advice provided in pro-bono cases differed significantly from his regular work.<\/p>\n \u201cTo a large degree we become like counsellors. We\u2019re holding their hand and helping people work through issues, keeping creditors from their door, and taking away stress from their lives.<\/p>\n \u201cIn these cases, there\u2019s probably more time spent in the back office than in front of the client. We spend quite a number of hours on tracking down lost super and lost insurance – products that a lot of people don\u2019t even know they\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n Mark shared one example of a pro-bono case he has worked on recently:<\/p>\n \u201cI met Katy* for the first time, with her husband and her kids, in a palliative care hospital. Her husband had been diagnosed as terminal, and had around one month life expectancy. Katy was sitting there with a cheque that had been paid out under terminal illness benefits. It was a $300,000 cheque which she had there waiting for me, because she didn\u2019t know what to do with it. She\u2019d never even opened a bank account.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing significant happened out of this case from a financial planning perspective. $300,000 wasn\u2019t a lot in terms of this family\u2019s needs. We talked about paying out the mortgage, and what to do about buying cars, because the only car they had was his company vehicle. The husband said he wanted his wife to get a new one, which is an example of the kind of thinking that goes on \u2013 he wanted her to have a new car, not a second-hand one, because if it broke down there would be no one there to help her.<\/p>\n \u201cI spoke to her three or four weeks ago, after he had passed away. She said she just wanted to get herself through Christmas, and get the girls started at school. She\u2019s then got to think about the next step. They\u2019re on Centrelink benefits, and she\u2019s got a little bit of money left, but not a lot. All I\u2019ve done so far is point her in the right direction in terms of paying off debt and updating her will.<\/p>\n at the end of the day, we protect families, irrespective of the numbers attached<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cSo even though there\u2019s been no formal advice, nothing written down, this case sticks in my mind because it\u2019s very, very real.\u201d<\/p>\n While acknowledging that offering pro-bono advice is not for everyone, Mark believes it can be a very rewarding experience, particularly for younger or newer advisers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe majority of advisers within our practice are very young \u2013 in their late 20s and early 30s. They\u2019re all fully trained, but they don\u2019t necessarily understand the value of insurance and estate planning. We\u2019re using this as a teaching aide of sorts. It\u2019s a way of saying to them: \u2018This is seriously what we do! We might sit here and talk about money and shares and the Dow Jones, and that\u2019s all very important. But at the end of the day, we protect families, irrespective of the numbers attached.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIt isn\u2019t easy, there\u2019s no question about it, but I feel quite good about the difference we\u2019re making. Oddly, I like the sense of responsibility, because I know that we can make a greater difference than most other professionals at this point in their life. A lawyer can tidy up, do a will, and that\u2019s important. An accountant has a role too. But when you meet with them, you get an immediate, heightened sense of responsibility and you\u2019ve just got to get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n Mark had this advice for other professionals looking to offer free services to those in need of financial support:<\/p>\n \u201cWith this, there\u2019s no end game. Because the more you look at it, the more people you can bring into the loop to support.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to think about it very carefully in terms of how you manage your time. And if you have a go, you have to do it wholeheartedly, because you don\u2019t want to let people down.<\/p>\n \u201cChoose one organisation that resonates with you, so you can focus your service. And be prepared for difficult conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n *Name has been changed to protect the clients\u2019 privacy<\/i><\/p>\n Three years ago, AMP Financial Planning and Hillross embarked on a partnership with the Cancer Council of NSW to provide free financial advice to cancer sufferers. The program has now grown to include support for patients across Australia, with more than 300 advisers volunteering their services in Victoria alone.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this claims case study, the adviser shares how he offered his services pro bono to a family dealing with cancer. [hr] At a glance Submitted by: Mark O\u2019Leary Business name: \u00a0Eluvia Licensee: Hillross Clients:\u00a0Family who lost husband and father to cancer Claim type:\u00a0Death cover, terminal illness benefit [hr] In detail \u201cWhy do it? It\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,4254,4496,4474,4624],"tags":[4506,5759,4521,247,4522,4665,4538,4525,4709],"class_list":["post-24239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-claims","category-death","category-group","category-practice-management","category-pro-bono-advice-practice-management","tag-cancer","tag-death","tag-eluvia","tag-fpa","tag-hillross","tag-male","tag-pro-bono-2","tag-terminal-cancer","tag-terminal-illness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24239"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24239\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/riskinfo.com.au\/case-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBusiness name: <\/b>\u00a0Eluvia
\nLicensee: <\/b>Hillross
\nClients:\u00a0<\/strong>Family who lost husband and father to cancer
\nClaim type:\u00a0<\/strong>Death cover, terminal illness benefit<\/p>\n<\/div>\nIn detail<\/h3>\n