Jack & Sara were a young professional couple in their late 30’s with 2 young children. After an extended period of working overseas, they decided to move back to Australia to raise their children. They purchased a family home in an established suburb.They planned to renovate within 5 years of seeing us and maybe having a third child. Another family goal was for their children to have a good education and to live in a cosy family home. Worried about their children, they wanted peace of mind that their family goals would be achieved even in an unfortunate circumstance.They were also working towards a comfortable early retirement and wanted to make the best use of all their available resources.After getting to know them, we needed to refine their goals. How much will the renovations cost? What are the building plans? What is a ‘good education’, does this mean a private school and do you have a one in mind? Will this be for primary school and high school? Do you want to help with funding University as well? When having a third child, how long will you be reduced to one income? Will you be returning to work full time or part-time? Will they have enough money at the right times to fund their goals?We started by putting family protection in place for them to ensure in the event of illness or death, the family home could be fully renovated and/or paid out. We also wanted to make sure there were enough funds available to invest so the surviving parent was able to have the option to work or not – depending on the children’s needs.Financial modelling was used to demonstrate if all the above could be achieved in the time frame required. It was also used to indicate what their financial picture would look like in the longer term – whether their short/medium-term plans would impact their longer-term early retirement goal.Education funds were established for each child with regular savings plans, along with setting timeframes for accelerated debt repayment. Spouse contributions, non-concessional contributions and government co-contributions were also recommended at certain times.We continue to work together to achieve their stated goals and to ensure all opportunities are optimised along the way.