Goran Loncar is a Senior Adviser and head of dad jokes at Money Empire. He’s quick to laugh and loves to spin a yarn, but he’s also one of the most effective financial advisors we’ve ever met.
There’s a bit of a story behind how he ended up here at Money Empire so we had a chat with him to help tell the tale.
Leaving Yugoslavia
Goran was born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) in 1985 and lived in a small, tight-knit town with a population of about 3,000:
“There were no phones or games, everyone played football on the street, everyone knew each other, no one locked their doors,” Goran said.
When Goran was 12, his parents started looking for opportunities to move. His aunt had immigrated to a little old place called New Zealand and loved it, so the Loncar family applied for residency and were successful.
Shortly after the move when Goran was a twinkly-eyed 13 year old at Glendowie college, he caught the attention of Elesha – his future wife (must have been the dad jokes that got her). Fast forward to today and they’ve been married for 3 years and known each other for 22 years! They’ve got two cheeky kids – six year old Coen and two year old Maximus and live together in Mt Wellington.
Taking the long way round
Our mate Goran wore a few hats before becoming a Senior Adviser here at Money Empire:
- He left school in the sixth form and got a job sanding and spraypainting louvres – which he quickly found out was a pain in the ass and only paid $250 a week in the hand.
- He enjoyed his 1.5 year long career as a tiler much more – the work was less gruelling and the pay was better.
- Next Goran became a soft furnishings salesman where he worked for five years. This man could sell curtains to a caveman.
- A friend of his offered him a position in an insurance company following a boozy lunch at the Waipuna Lodge in Mt Wellington (which is currently being used as a managed isolation facility).
- This was where Goran really hit his stride. Under his manager Yvonne, he learnt everything there is to know about insurance.
A year and a half there, Goran struck up a bromance of sorts with another tenant on the same floor, with none other than Kayne Wahlstrom. Over that year and a half, Goran, Jess and Kayne become good friends and saw great potential in Goran and offered him a position at a new venture they were starting – an end-to-end financial advisory firm called Money Empire. He has been an essential part of the Money Empire team now for four years.
He’s been here for four years now and the office wouldn’t be the same without him.
Goran’s day-to-day
Goran’s day-to-day here at Money Empire involves a lot of talking – which is probably why he enjoys it so much! He speaks to clients, loan assessors, BDMs at the banks, and is constantly bantering in the office.
But ultimately, his job is all about finding solutions for his clients, whether that means securing a mortgage after the bank has turned them down, or building a property investment portfolio. He says that’s the best part of the job:
“I love writing loans for people who’ve had a no from other mortgage brokers and banks. People who are different and who need a bit of strategy and holistic advice to get them over the line. That’s what sets Money Empire apart – we offer holistic financial advice and strategy instead of just looking at the numbers and saying yes or no like the big banks might.”
Have a Giggle with Gogi
You may have seen recently we have been profiling some of Goran’s funny man material in a new segment called ‘Have a Giggle with Gogi’. Each month, he will feature in our monthly newsletter, and on our social media. Check out his latest joke here.
