Recently at a Wagga Wagga breakfast seminar Commins Hendriks sponsored for 65 bankers and accountants, he shared a platform with, among others, an economist, officers from the departments of Social Security and Assistance to Small Business, and a Rural Counsellor. Follow-up is vital, Mr Thompson has discovered. Seminars get people going, but they have to be nudged along. He usually urges farmers at seminars to sort out their wills in the next two weeks and then tries to monitor the outcome. Persuading farmers to plan ahead is his major concern.
Farmers find it hard to sit down and talk.
I ask them to road-test their wills, business structures and retirement plans. Mr Thompson's experience shows that clients who own a farm which can support only one family must consider pension entitlements if the farm is operated by the younger generation. In this circumstance, farmers should consider gifting their farmlands at least five years prior to their retirement so that they could qualify under the Assets Test for a pension. Those with a farm that provides more than a living area must ensure that family members working in the business are active in the business. A regular monthly business meeting has proved a successful way of planning for the future.