Financial Adviser workforce set to halve by 2023

This was in the news last week. A large number of Financial Advisers are leaving the job because they must pass an exam testing their knowledge of financial regulations by the end of this year. The exam is not hugely difficult but there are a significant number of advisers who are unwilling or unable to …

Financial Stress

There is no doubt that the disruption & uncertainty caused by Covid has triggered enormous financial stress to many people. Landlords and Business owners are seeing their investments evaporate in front of their eyes.  Unexpected lockdowns and border closures have made it hard to plan ahead and as a consequence, people have become hesitant towards …

New Year’s resolution: Savings Plan

Many people make New Year’s resolutions to save money but without a plan, most struggle to get started.  There are countless reasons for failure but they generally include not having a specific target amount, not having a compelling reason for wanting to meet the target and not making enough changes to ensure success. Some people …

Life Insurance Review

‘Protecting Your Super’ Reforms On 1 July 2019, the government made new rules for Superannuation Trustees.  One of those changes was for Life insurance to become optional for accounts that have not received any contributions for 16 months.  This was intended to prevent those accounts from being eroded without the consent of the member. Recently, …

Dover Heights Ponzi Scheme

Melissa Caddick disappeared from her Dover Heights home on 12 November and subsequently it was revealed that she was under investigation by ASIC.  The unusual circumstances of this case has attracted a lot of press attention.  It appears that her disappearance was intentional but there has been no trace of her. It is alleged that …

Biden wins US Presidential election

On Saturday, Biden’s lead in the vote count for the US state of Pennsylvania reached 40,000 (with 95% of votes counted).  With that unassailable lead he has secured more than 270 electoral college votes and will win the presidency when the results are formalised on 14 December.  Biden is also leading in other swing states …

Superannuation Advice Case Study

Retirement shouldn’t hang over anyone’s head as a frightening prospect. The current gender gap statistics that show women retire with 47% less in their superannuation balance compared to men are especially worrying. With the benefits of time and compounding, the earlier you start, the easier it is to retire with a healthy balance. Let me …

Shonky Property Guru or the real deal?

On Friday, I met up with a friend and asked him what he was doing on the weekend.  My friend told me that he had some money he wanted to invest and was doing an online seminar to learn more about the options.  I was immediately interested in finding out more. The seminar was provided …