Federal Government Budget 2021/22

The Australian Federal Government released their budget for the 2022 financial year last Tuesday. The most useful measures that were announced relating to individuals are: Super Contributions age limit increase At present, anyone under age 67 can make a personal contribution if their account balance is less than $1.6m.  Anyone under age 65 with an …

AustralianSuper

We have recently been approved by AustralianSuper to give advice to their clients.  Unlike nearly every other financial institution AustralianSuper have a rigorous vetting process that must be completed by Financial Advice providers.  This ensures that their members only have access to high calibre advisers who are diligent and provide high quality advice. If you …

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 …