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If you are approaching retirement and have a large amount of accrued long service leave and annual leave, there are a few things to consider when deciding to either take your leave before retiring or retire and take the leave as a lumpsum.
When the Future Fund - which is Australia’s $200 billion sovereign wealth fund - writes a position paper titled “The Death of Traditional Portfolio Construction?” it is sure to get the attention of the media and our clients alike. Portfolio construction has become a hot topic from late 2022, which is understandable considering cash was the best performing asset class. In fact all other asset classes were negative for the year, which last occurred in 1994 and has only occurred four times in the last 50 years.
Keys to de-stressing a mortgage “Don't sail out farther than you can row back.” This Danish saying is sound advice for anyone with a mortgage or other debts, particularly now that interest rates are rising and house prices softening. Most Australians have a tendency to be over-confident in our ability to repay loans. We also underestimate the likelihood of things that can wrong in our lives.
There have been many complaints regarding the amount of administration fees some providers have been charging clients for managing their home care packages. This has resulted in less care package funds being available to be used for what they are intended: help around the house, personal and clinical care, assistive equipment, and other supports to help people stay safe and independent at home.
The 1970’s were known for flared pants, safari suits, big hair, vinyl records, disco and stagflation. As a child in the 70’s I can remember most of those things I’ve just listed, except stagflation. But then again, all I really wanted to do was ride my bike faster than my mates, play test cricket for Australia and stay out of trouble at school. The economy to me back then was the bit of pocket money I would get for a few jobs around home.
If you’re about to apply for a Centrelink benefit such as the age pension or Commonwealth Senior Health Care Card, you’re going to play a game called Centrelink Snakes and Ladders… The purpose of this is to suggest some tips to finding more ladders and fewer snakes. The difficulty with a Centrelink application tutorial is that everyone's experience in applying for a benefit is different and subject to so many personal variables, let alone the complexities of the system itself. There’s a reason why so many clients prefer to simply pay us to help them with the system barriers, jargon, enormous time delays and hair pulling stress that can be avoided!
It’s tough coming up with some interesting and witty dialogue for this year’s mini federal budget, when it’s exactly that, mini. There are not a lot of maximums on offer for any demographic, although the growing spending on NDIS and Defence are certainly not ‘mini’. Parents may benefit from increased spending in Childcare and more self funded retirees will be able to get the Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card, thanks to increased income test thresholds (now legislated on Oct 28th, 2022).

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A significant update on the horizon is the transformation of the Home Care Packages Program in Australia, set to take effect from 1 July 2025.
In 2023 after 8 years in the industry I embarked on the journey to become a registered Financial Adviser. Completing my professional year in early 2024 was a significant milestone, since then I've had the privilege of directly helping people from all walks of life in navigate the complexities of personal finance. The journey so far has been rewarding but not entirely what I expected it might be.
Superannuation is something most Australians are familiar with. It’s mandatory for employers to contribute a portion of your wages into a complying super fund, which is then invested to grow over time, ensuring you have a nest egg for retirement. Typically, we rely on external super funds to manage these investments, and there’s a wide range of options available—from low-cost funds to more tailored solutions.