At the recent Federal election, the new government announced a new scheme ‘helping first home buyers into their first home’. The scheme was supported by the Labor party, so it will become law. But there is also an existing scheme that will remain in place. So, if you are looking to buy your first home, it is worth understanding how … Read More
Money Magazine
Steve has contributed to several Money Magazine issues. Three recent ones are featured here.
Glenys Cook: Putting Clients in the Sweet Spot
Glenys Cook knows firsthand the importance of a good insurance policy. A few weeks before she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she cancelled her critical illness insurance on a whim. “I thought, ‘Oh, I don’t need that,’ ” Cook says. “I still kick myself for cancelling it.” Cook’s was a particularly aggressive form of cancer, and her medication, which wasn’t … Read More
A Changing Mortgage Market
We are experiencing a changing mortgage market. The other day I was speaking to a retail banker who said to me that there had been more changes in the Australian mortgage market in the last 12 months than in the last 25 years of his working life. I agree with him! Things are gettting tougher for borrowers. What’s Driving The … Read More
A Good Ethical Investment with Great Returns
The idea of ethical investment sounds good, but until recently we have had difficulty finding a fund that we could confidently recommend to clients. We believe we have found an ethical fund that has great merit (more on that later). But first a few points on why ethical has been hard to deliver: 1) Lack of Clarity One of the … Read More
3 Scary Sounding Financial Things You Actually Need To Do
Recently Steve was interviewd by Huffington Post journalist Emily Blatchford: 3 Scary Sounding Financial Things You Actually Need To Do
Five Things To Think About With Your Super
Recently Steve was quoted by News Limited journalist Anthony Keane. Here is an extract of the article. A FRESH bunch of superannuation rule changes came into force on July 1, opening some new opportunities for Australians to build bigger nest eggs. While the new rules lowered the cap on tax-deductible contributions to $25,000 a year and introduced more restrictions for … Read More
The Sweet Spot
Recently we helped out with the latest Money Magazine cover story. We looked into the effect of the new asset test rules on how much money one will need to live on. Here is the original information that our technical chap, Peter Kelly of Centrepoint, came up with: “I have found the ‘sweet spot’ in terms of maximised income that … Read More