If you’re age 60 or over, own your home and need to access money, releasing equity from your home may be an option. There is risk involved and a long-term financial impact. Get independent financial or legal advice before you go ahead. How home equity release works ‘Equity’ is the value of your home, less … Read more
Check the income to declare, when to report a loss, and deductions you can claim for managed investment trusts. Types of managed investment trusts Managed investment trusts include: cash management trusts money market trusts mortgage trusts unit trusts managed funds, such as a property trust, share trust, equity trust, growth trust, imputation trust or balanced … Read more
Life is pretty frantic, and it is common to feel like it’s a struggle to keep up the pace. In fact, feeling exhausted is so common that it has its own acronym, TATT, which stands for “tired all the time”. While it’s somewhat comforting to know you’re not alone, it’s certainly not a nice feeling, … Read more
Why invest in property? What makes this such a popular option? You can earn rental income plus benefit from capital growth. What’s different for investors vs. homeowners? Stamp duty If you’re an investor you’ll also pay stamp duty, which varies, depending on your state. This is based on your property’s purchase price and is often … Read more
Monitor how your shares are performing compared to similar companies or the market overall. Stay up-to-date with company, economic and market changes. This gives you a better chance of acting quickly to take advantage of opportunities or to avoid losses. Set alerts to track share performance Economic and market changes can impact a company’s earnings. … Read more
Lenders use your credit score (or credit rating) to decide whether to give you credit or lend you money. Knowing this can help you negotiate better deals, or understand why a lender rejected you. Your credit score is based on personal and financial information about you that’s kept in your credit report. You can access … Read more
What is a salary sacrifice arrangement? Salary sacrifice is an agreement with your employer to contribute a certain amount of your pre-tax salary or potential bonus into your super. The aim is to potentially reduce your tax and boost your super balance at the same time. The word sacrifice doesn’t really make this strategy sound … Read more
From Proverbs to John Lennon, many people have said it – and the last nine months have been a reminder of its truth: life happens when you are making other plans. While investors were worrying about the recession that sharply rising interest rates would surely lead to, fretting about the cost of living and waiting … Read more
Rising levels of debt and finding ways to manage it is a concern for many of our clients. For some, it’s aiming to improve their credit score when applying for a mortgage or government home ownership scheme. For others, it’s being able to cover rising mortgage repayments or unexpected expenses. Fortunately, there are a number … Read more
Your superannuation investment grows through: your employer’s compulsory super guarantee contributions (concessional contributions) any voluntary contributions out of your pre-tax income, such as salary sacrifice and personal contributions you’re allowed as an income tax deduction (concessional contributions) any government super contributions you’re eligible for any voluntary contributions you or your spouse make out of after-tax income sources (non-concessional contributions). Your pre-tax income contributions … Read more
Step one: what are your financial pain points? When you start making plans, chances are you’ll both come across financial pain points. In other words, the areas that need some attention and possible alterations. These might include: post-wedding or honeymoon debts different earning capacities different savings goals different spending habits disagreements you’ve had in the … Read more
Key points: The Intergenerational Report 2023 released by Treasury gave Australians insight into the national economy from 2023 until 2062 – 2063 The care and support sector and its workforce were projected to double over the next 40 years The paid workforce participation rate was expected to dip from 66.6 percent to 63.8 percent, due … Read more