Welcome to Solace Financial’s testimonials page! We’re a trusted financial services provider dedicated to alleviating financial stress and empowering you for a brighter financial future. Our testimonials highlight clients’ successes and the exceptional service we provide, reflecting real-life transformations in their financial lives. From navigating complex investment strategies, planning for retirement, managing debt, or obtaining a mortgage, our personalised, professional expertise shines through. These stories underscore our unwavering commitment to excellence and our passion for making a positive impact. If you’re considering partnering with us, these testimonials offer a glimpse of the experience awaiting you. Thank you for visiting, and we look forward to helping you find solace in your financial journey.
Testimonials
Having a financial planner helped me understand how my money was being spent and what I could do to alter my spending habits and reduce tax to achieve my goals and aspirations. My consultations with Scott Quinlan at Solace Financial were very insightful. He helped implement a savings plan for me to help pay off debt, save for my son and plan for my future home purchase. My money is now easier to manage and I catch up with Scott on a regular basis to make sure my money is working as hard as possible for me and not me working hard for my money. I found the benefits of the advice was advancing my position financially and is making a huge difference in my ability with my financial obligations.
Dear Scott, Hello, I am writing to let you know that I have achieved my first goal of becoming debt free. The original plan you helped me create did take a year longer than I had hoped, due to my mother being diagnosed with cancer in 2013. However, after meeting with you and taking that long hard look at my finances I changed into a significantly better paying career and began aggressively reducing my debt. This in turn meant that when my mother was diagnosed I was able divert my additional loan repayments towards travelling to Townsville for Mum’s chemo treatments without incurring any new debt. Had it not been for your advice and making these changes , my choices when Mum became ill would have been either to a) not been there for her at all, or, b) take out further loans or credit cards in order to get to Townsville for her treatment. Thankfully, Mum is now in remission and I have paid off my car loan. I would like to arrange a time to meet with you again to start setting and planning for my new financial goals.
‘We came to Whittaker MacNaught 20 years ago because we heard that the company was certainly not free but very dependable. The various people we have entrusted our life’s savings to since then have always won our trust and we are now in a stable position able to face the future with confidence that is built on being aware of the basis upon which our decisions are made and the risks that go with managing our finances. Giles Stratford has continued the tradition of informing us, working very hard and building a personal relationship with us along with providing his financial acumen so that we can make big decisions as wisely as possible. We can now focus on various personal aspirations and voluntary work that make life meaningful, confident that within the parameters of an evolving, though sometimes erratic economy, we can continue to have a secure financial foundation from which to do so.’
My wife and I are delighted with the highly professional approach taken by Stephen Horton in managing our financial affairs including both the advice and its implementation. Following our relocation to Canberra, Stephen has maintained regular portfolio reviews and is readily available via telephone and email further demonstrating his commitment to providing excellent ongoing support to his clients.
We started using Whittaker Macnaught for financial planning advice in 1981 (?). When our first adviser retired, Scott took over our portfolio in a planned manner. We have always found the advice and the explanations given by Scott to be reasonable and meeting our requirements. It is a good relationship where ours is the only short coming. We keep avoiding the annual questions of when we are going to retire and where we will retire to! Over many years Scott has got to know us as individuals and to understand what level of risk we are prepared to take towards achieving our long term goals. We look forward to continuing this relationship as we head into years of spending, rather than saving for our retirement.
We first became associated with Whittaker Macnaught in 1996 when our adviser was John Marshall. On John’s retirement Stephen Horton took over our accounts, and we are very happy with the service he continues to provide. All our queries are met with prompt, friendly efficiency. Nothing seems to be ‘too much trouble’. Our confidence and trust is based on Stephen’s willingness and ability to look after our interests. This was well demonstrated at the height of the GFC by our reluctance to take up his valuable time with comparatively trivial questions.
Stephen Horton has been my Financial Planner for more than 4 years, first at Whittaker Macnaught and now at Solace Financial Limited. I have found Stephen to be very professional and efficient and I am very happy with the service I have received and would not hesitate to recommend Stephen to my friends.
In our retirement we find comfort that Stephen and his staff are watching over our superannuation investments and keeping abreast of the latest research, news and information. Stephen welcomes discussion about our investments and our needs and is happy for us to be engaged in the investment process to whatever extent we wish to be. Most importantly, we believe that Stephen genuinely enjoys the interaction we have and has our best interests at heart.
I have known Stephen Horton on business and personal level for over 16 years. Still being relatively young it was refreshing to listen to Steve’s advice about getting in early with a long term plan. With my older kids just leaving school and my business having extra cash flow, Stephen came up with a plan and portfolio that has survived the GFC and is now growing in leaps and bounds. There is no sell with Steve. Just good, practical and understandable advice.
Lorna and I have been clients of Whittaker Macnaught for almost 20 years, and Giles has been our financial adviser for the last three years. During that time he has developed a sound core-satellite plan for our future as we transition to retirement. He has made major changes to our portfolio consistent with this plan, and we are confident our financial future is secure. Giles doesn’t just review our portfolio once a year—he looks after all our financial affairs on a daily basis through his Ongoing Service Plan. This means we can relax and not have to worry too much about financial things. His fees are competitive and we feel as though we are getting our money’s worth. I contact him by email at least once a week with queries regarding our portfolios and other financial matters, and he always answers promptly, which is essential when there are tight timelines. And he always provides a very comprehensive answer. Even if he doesn’t know the answer he makes it his business to find out as soon as possible. Giles’ advice has extended far beyond the scope of many other financial advisers. When we wanted to review our will, he suggested a suitable solicitor, and worked with us and the solicitor during this process. He has also liaised closely with our accountant, and this link has been invaluable. He has also provided good advice as we look forward to our retirement years. In fact Giles is more than a financial adviser—he’s a friend with whom we can discuss the up and downs of life. We admire the way in which Giles has moved confidently from Whittaker Macnaught to his new business, and I’m sure we will find solace in this in the future.
If I go back to 2002 I was a 44 year old male with no real savings or superannuation plan. Realising this was not a healthy financial position to be in, my late wife and I started asking questions and in the process were fortunate to find a financial adviser who suggested we borrow money to invest in the stock market. Already having a sizeable mortgage and four dependent children I initially thought the guy was crazy. How could we ever afford to do that ? I asked. He talked us through the process and of an interest only loan for investment purposes and slowly it all started to make sense. We had some equity in our house so it was possible to borrow enough to get started. With small repayments we could see that it was manageable and after studying the history of the stock market we decided to go for it. We borrowed $50,000. The financial adviser was a wise man named John Marshall and John went on to mentor my current financial advisor Scott Quinlan. I have been advised by Scott for around seven years now and have no hesitation in recommending him as a smart and savvy adviser with his finger on the ever changing pulse of the stock market. His research and knowledge has often been needed to calm my nerves when I have called him out of the blue at times when things are not looking too rosy in the financial markets. Scott makes himself available to me at all times. I can simply phone him for a chat and he will answer my questions. I receive informative monthly newsletters from him via email and he always signs off with a message to call if any clarification is needed. I can easily arrange a one on one meeting with Scott at his office where we can discuss progress over a coffee. All these qualities make a challenging task bearable. As I sneak up on retirement I now know that I will be able to support myself into a comfortable lifestyle. Has it been tough? At times yes but with Scott to advise and reassure along the way it has been worth it.
As a young father of two beautiful girls, self employed and a career history of mixed up super and absolutely no strategy at all, Scott Quinlan has been able to turn my financial situation completely on its head. He has been able to take my super and develop a self managed fund that includes sickness and life insurance so I know that my family will be covered in the event of a disaster. He’s also managed to almost double by super in just 18 months. I am more than fortunate to have met someone who deeply cares at both a business and a personal level. I look forward to a long a healthy future working together.