After a long period of financial markets being treated largely as background noise, news of their daily swings have been promoted back to the front pages of newspapers and the top of TV news bulletins. Naturally, ordinary investors are suddenly sitting up and taking notice. What’s causing all the volatility? More importantly, what if anything […]
Are you retirement ready?
Recent research has indicated that a worryingly high 66% of Australians are concerned about their retirement. The study suggests this uncertainty exists despite Australia’s relatively strong super system, with constant political adjustments resulting in this confusion. However, the study also found that those Australians who have engaged a financial planner are three times more […]
NBA player blows $110m because he didn’t listen to his financial planner
I read an interesting article over the weekend about an American Basketball player who earned more than $110m over the course of his playing career but blew the lot and has since declared bankruptcy and now lives in a home with his five family members. What I found interesting about this article is that […]
Strategies for all Australians
As part of my ongoing education within the ever-evolving financial advice industry, a number of changes were implemented on 1 July as part of the Living Longer, Living Better (LLLB) program. The emphasis of this program is that Australians now have greater flexibility from 1 July regarding their care, now known as Client Directed […]
Have you considered your Estate Plan?
Part of my role includes discussing the topic of Estate Planning. Although it is a topic that no-one likes to discuss, it is a topic that nobody can avoid. What I find fascinating, is that many people either don’t have a Will, have a misguided notion as to what happens to their assets after they […]
Important things to look for in your Super Statement
Over the past several years I have heard many people say they receive their super statement but do not read it, do not understand it or both! By now you should have received your latest super statement and I have noted some key points below of areas you should look for on your statement to […]
Do you have any unclaimed money out there?
Did you know there is a government website that allows you to search for unclaimed money such as dividends, lost bank accounts, outstanding investments, lost super etc. I recently searched under my surname (which is an unusual name) and it brought up a relative of mine with an amount of $104 that was a […]
Does getting married really have to be that expensive?
I recently married and whilst organising the wedding I came across numerous wedding-planning websites that stated the average cost of a wedding was $45,000! $45,000! That’s a deposit on a house! That’s nearly a year’s after-tax salary of the average Australian worker! That’s a lot of money! Being a financial planner, I kept track of my spending and calculated the […]
Funeral Plans – Are they what they seem?
I have a client who is a 38yo male, single dad and we were working on his budget to determine his total cost of living. I noticed an amount of $22 pm kept appearing from an insurance company. I asked him about this and he said it was funeral insurance. When I contacted the insurer […]
Aaargh! My super lost money!
At this time of year people are starting to receive their annual super statements. Many will simply open their statement, not understand what they are looking at and file it under “S” for super. Some will leave their statement unopened in its envelope whilst few will bin theirs! If you are one of those […]