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What to expect when meeting a financial adviser
April 11, 2018
A financial adviser can help you work out how to manage your money to help build your wealth and reach your goals. Money may not buy happiness, but a sense of control over your finances, and working towards reaching your goals, just might. Good financial advice can help with this, by giving you the opportunity to...Read More
Personal debt – maybe the mortgage isn’t so bad
March 29, 2018
Household debt in Australia is high but more of us are taking a sensible approach to debt management. Nationally, our household debt ratio is nudging 200%. On paper it means we owe twice as much in debt as we bring home in our pay packets each year. It sounds like an alarming figure but as...Read More
Why it pays to contribute to your partner’s super
March 27, 2018
If your other half is a stay-at-home parent, working part-time or out of work, adding to their super could benefit you both financially. If your spouse (husband, wife, de facto or same-sex partner) is a low-income earner or not working at the moment, chances are they’re accumulating little or no super at all to fund...Read More
If you’re a home owner who falls into the “asset rich, cash poor” category, a reverse mortgage could hold appeal in retirement. Over the next 40 years an estimated seven million Australians are expected to start living off their super savings, but many simply won’t have enough to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. The benefit of a reverse...Read More
Take your product home, pay for it within the specified timeframe, get charged 0% interest. What could go wrong? Branded the modern-day layby, ‘buy now, pay later’ services essentially offer the same thing, except you get the product up front—the outfit, the watch, even certain domestic flights within Australia. If you haven’t heard of buy...Read More
The best of times can also be the most worrying of times for investors. As we head off on the journey that is destined to become 2018, investment markets have been both kind and – until this week at least – relatively benign. Suddenly headlines are screaming at us about the billions lost off market...Read More
A lot has been said and written about Australia’s household debt levels and possible implications on the banking system and the economy more broadly. But could Australian households be even more constrained than the headline numbers are suggesting? Michele Bullock, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Assistant Governor, highlights the stresses households will likely be facing...Read More
What are the benefits of a split home loan?
February 26, 2018
If you can’t decide between a fixed or variable rate, a split rate home loan could provide the best of both worlds. If you’re about to take out a home loan and are looking for some protection against interest rate rises, a fixed rate home loan may sound like the loan for you. On the other hand,...Read More
Love and money? It’s not about control
February 12, 2018
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s a good time to explore shared ideas, and how you manage money as a twosome. Our approach to managing household finances can make a big difference to the health of a relationship. Thankfully, the old line about “I earn the money. She spends it” no longer has relevance...Read More
What is the retirement age in Australia?
February 7, 2018
With no definitive retirement age in Australia, the date you exit the workforce will probably come down to personal circumstances and whether you can afford it. The age you retire in Australia isn’t set in stone. You can really retire whenever you want to, but health, financial commitments and your ability to fund the lifestyle...Read More