Stephan Independent Advisory

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Stephan Independent Advisory help successful family business owners and self-funded retirees preserve, protect, and transfer their wealth, while ensuring that their familyโ€™s legacy is preserved.

I recently celebrated the milestone of recording the 81st episode of my podcast, ๐ผ๐‘กโ€™๐‘  ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐ด๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘€๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ฆ.It got me thinki...
31/08/2026

I recently celebrated the milestone of recording the 81st episode of my podcast, ๐ผ๐‘กโ€™๐‘  ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐ด๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘€๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ฆ.

It got me thinking about how much Iโ€™ve learnt since that very first episode โ€“ and how different the experience has been from what I expected when I started.

In this article, I share five things I wish Iโ€™d known before starting a podcast, including why recording is the easy part, why I outsource some parts of production (but never the research and thinking), and why the person whoโ€™s benefited most from all those conversations is probably me.

More than 80 episodes in, Iโ€™m still learning โ€“ and thatโ€™s a big part of why I keep doing it.

๐‘๐ž๐š๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž: https://siadvisory.com.au/things-i-wish-i-knew-before-starting-a-podcast/

Iโ€™ll be speaking at the ๐…๐€๐€๐€ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ in Melbourne this November on a topic thatโ€™s close to my heart: how our clientsโ€™ f...
24/08/2026

Iโ€™ll be speaking at the ๐…๐€๐€๐€ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ in Melbourne this November on a topic thatโ€™s close to my heart: how our clientsโ€™ financial decisions often sit within a much broader family context.

My session, โ€œ๐๐ž๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ˆ๐ง๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ: ๐๐š๐ฏ๐ข๐ ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐…๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐’๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž๐ฑ ๐‚๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ƒ๐ž๐œ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌโ€, explores what happens when different perspectives and competing priorities intersect โ€“ and how advisers can navigate that complexity, ask better questions and ultimately give better advice.

Iโ€™m looking forward to the conversations this session sparks, and to hearing how other advisers are approaching this in their own work.

Earlybird registrations are now open via the FAAA website: www.faaa.au/congress

Hope to see you there.

As business co-owners, my brother James like to say that weโ€™re building and leveraging our โ€œBrother Wealthโ€.If we work t...
10/08/2026

As business co-owners, my brother James like to say that weโ€™re building and leveraging our โ€œBrother Wealthโ€.

If we work together and align, we can do things to benefit each other's families. But our families can still have separate investment strategies.

Hereโ€™s how we do it, and how you can too.
https://siadvisory.com.au/lessons-from-sibling-business-owners/

Joe & James

A few months ago, I wrote for the ๐…๐€๐€๐€ about why the future of financial advice depends on the wisdom of its elders - an...
03/08/2026

A few months ago, I wrote for the ๐…๐€๐€๐€ about why the future of financial advice depends on the wisdom of its elders - and the response told me this conversation matters to a lot of people in our profession.

But wisdom only transfers if the next generation is actually in a fit state to receive it.

That's what's been on my mind since my conversation with ๐ƒ๐ซ. ๐๐š๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐œ๐ค ๐€๐จ๐ฎ๐š๐ on ๐ผ๐‘ก'๐‘  ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐ด๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘ก ๐‘€๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ฆ. He made a compelling case that poor health is a silent tax on productivity - one that shows up in slower decisions, higher error rates, and eventually, people walking out the door.

If younger advisers are screening for employers who protect their cognitive capacity, they're not avoiding hard work. They're selecting for environments where their best work is actually possible - and where they can stay in the profession long enough to develop the very crystallised intelligence we keep saying we need more of.

The question isn't whether the older generation has wisdom worth preserving. It's whether we're building businesses capable of passing it on.

My latest article explores what that means - and why building a business worth inheriting matters more than ever.

[Link in comments ๐Ÿ‘‡]

Grateful to for publishing the first piece in this conversation, and to . Patrick Aouad for the thinking that shaped this one.

~ Joe

๐–๐ก๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ'๐ซ๐ž ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐ž-๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฉ, ๐ฐ๐ž'๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐ซ๐จ๐ค๐ž๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ค๐ž๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐›๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง...
13/07/2026

๐–๐ก๐ž๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ'๐ซ๐ž ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐ž-๐ญ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฉ, ๐ฐ๐ž'๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐ซ๐จ๐ค๐ž๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ค๐ž๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐›๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ .

From choosing the right legal structure to planning for succession, these decisions shape not just your business โ€” but your familyโ€™s future.

Read the article to explore the foundations every family business needs.

๐Ÿ‘‰ https://siadvisory.com.au/structuring-and-starting-what-is-the-best-structure-for-a-family-owned-business/

"It's not intergenerational wealth. It's intergenerational chaos."That was a line from ๐๐ž๐ข๐ญ๐š ๐ƒ๐ข๐š๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฌ during our rece...
06/07/2026

"It's not intergenerational wealth. It's intergenerational chaos."

That was a line from ๐๐ž๐ข๐ญ๐š ๐ƒ๐ข๐š๐ฆ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฌ during our recent conversation for ๐„๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐›๐ฅ'๐ฌ ๐ผ๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘›๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐ถ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘  series, and it really stuck with me.

Because while intergenerational planning is often framed around wealth transfer, the reality is usually much more nuanced.

It's ageing parents. Adult children. Family businesses. Competing priorities. Difficult conversations. And the ripple effects these things can have across an entire family.

I've shared some reflections from our conversation below.
https://siadvisory.com.au/the-conversations-that-shape-a-familys-future/

Iโ€™m honoured to be named a finalist for the  Financial Advice Association Australia - FAAA of the Year, an award that re...
29/06/2026

Iโ€™m honoured to be named a finalist for the Financial Advice Association Australia - FAAA of the Year, an award that recognises excellence and leadership in our profession.

While the recognition carries my name, it truly reflects the values instilled in me by my late father, Magdy Stephan, who helped pioneer financial planning in Australia.

His commitment to honesty, clarity and service continues to guide everything we do at Stephan Independent Advisory. I want to thank the judging panel for this honour, my clients for their trust, my brother James for his partnership, and my entire family for their unwavering support.

Most of all, I see this as a way of honouring my fatherโ€™s legacy and carrying it forward in the work we do every day.

Whether we are ultimately going to be successful, I already feel hugely successful, and I am really, really proud.

Joe

Business owners consistently tell us that succession planning is the number one issue keeping them up at night. At the s...
22/06/2026

Business owners consistently tell us that succession planning is the number one issue keeping them up at night. At the same time, financial literacy cannot be outsourced. The next generation learns most from what they see at home.

We explore why these two insights matter so much for families who want their wealth and legacy to last.

๐Ÿ‘‰ Download our free kids booklet on Next Gen Education: https://siadvisory.com.au/next-gen-education/

๐ŸŽง Listen to our podcast episode with Simon Brown: https://itsneveraboutmoney.com.au/empowering-the-next-generation-with-financial-education-simon-brown/

https://siadvisory.com.au/next-gen-education-why-families-cant-afford-to-wait/

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5 Porter Street
Hawthorn East, VIC
3123

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

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