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D-Day for pensioners is approaching With important new deeming rules coming into effect on 1 January 2015, now is the time to review your superannuation and pension arrangements to ensure you don’t miss out on valuable Social Security entitlements. Pension deeming after 1 January 2015 will change Account based pensions have generally been given favourable…
Like a circus sideshow, the May budget has found its way back into our backyards. Yes folks, it’s time for more Federal Budget Shenanigans in Australia! As a financial planner, i find the announcements and discussion surrounding Federal Budgets highly amusing, as nearly every possible form of financial fudging is on display. Rather than discuss…
“Darling, it’s time we talked about money…” In my financial planning experiences, talking about money early in a relationship is incredibly important. Even more important is making sure you talk about money honestly and openly. When a couple start working on a budget, one of the last areas usually tackled is their differing attitudes to…
How much do you think the property you live in is worth? How about the suburb or area in which you live – what do you think would be the combined value of all those properties? Ever wondered what all the property on earth is worth? Global Property Value As usual in an information filled world,…
“Scam” is an evoactive word. It conjures up images of this or that injustice, criminal or immoral act. Looking at scams can help us clarify the ethics of what is right and what is wrong, especially when we are talking about money. So here’s a look at a video that i was sent recently, in which the…
How do you plan for happiness and a long retirement? From a financial planning point of view there are two key questions to resolve before you can come up with an answer: What is a “happy life”, and How long is “long”? Happiness in retirement This is really your part of the financial planning…
What is the price of obtaining a guaranteed return? More correctly, what will it cost you to buy a guaranteed return? We all want a great tax-free return with no risk but the reality is that every investment involves some element of risk and tax – well, we all know the old saw about death…
Risk and Return are two aspects of investment that are most often discussed separately, as if it were possible to have one without the other. This is especially true in the post-Global Financial Crisis (“GFC”) world, where the range of potential outcomes can be quite large. The GFC and its aftermath have created big huge…
Australia’s cash interest rates are currently at record low levels. If your cash account earns that interest rate of 2.5% then you are probably just keeping ahead of official inflation rates – currently noted as 2.4%. If you are paying tax then that means your purchasing power is slowly being eroded. In other words, the…
Predicting interest rates is no different to any other form of financial market prediction – it’s only a guess and has a very high chance of being wrong. There are just so many inputs into the interest rate outcome. Some people may be asking themselves whether Australian interest rates will rise? Here are some very…
