Get your finances ready to start a family Preparing for parenthood is an exciting time, but don’t let the cots and cuddly toys distract you. Your finances (and everything else) are about to change in a big way, so use these pre-baby days to plan ahead. Here are the key financial tasks to tick off before, and after, baby arrives. Before the baby: 1. Understand your health insurance Before you even start trying to conceive, …
The Shortest Road to Riches Key points Consumer expectations of instant gratification are driving down delivery times Labour shortages and traffic congestion highlight the criticality of well-located logistics facilities Rental costs are being pushed up – but rent is a small part of total logistics supply chain costs New opportunities for rental growth are emerging as logistics real estate grabs a larger slice of the supply chain pie “Lost time is …
Investment returns over the next five years are likely to slow Key points The continuing slide in investment yields across most major asset classes points to a constrained medium-term return outlook. For a diversified mix of assets, this has now fallen to around 6.2% on our projections. The key for investors is to have realistic return expectations; allow that inflation is also low so real returns aren’t down as much; and focus on …
Life’s not all beer and skittles – how to manage a lump sum Winning the lottery is the ultimate financial dream for many folk, but most people will not fall into the category of lottery winners in their lifetime. However, many will receive a lump sum at some stage – whether it’s a redundancy payment or an inheritance on the death of a relative. Thinking “spend, spend, spend” when it happens will soon end the …
School of hard knocks: public vs private education From kindergarten to Year 12 the total cost of putting a child through private school in Australia ranges from $296,806 to $543,334, depending on what state or region you live in. By comparison, the cost of public school education for the same years varies between $50,950 in regional Queensland and $69,589 in metropolitan New South Wales. Whether public or private, it might almost be worth moving to …
How to achieve goals with scarce capital It’s all well and good to think about goals when you have a million dollars in the super account, but what about people who want to achieve financial goals in circumstances where they have limited current capital. How can a goals-based approach serve them? There are many people in this position and there are some useful goals-based investment strategies customers can use. It is extremely important to be …
US reporting season and the tech sector AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver says revenue disappointments and slowing user growth at technology giants Facebook and Twitter is a warning that the US tech sector could at some stage underperform – or even suffer a serious correction. “What those disappointments tell us is there is a limit to the take up of social media,” he says. “At some point it will start to slow down.” …
What is financial planning? Regardless of your age, life stage or wage, a financial planner can work with you to reach your financial and life goals, whether short-term or long-term. This article offers an introduction to what financial planning is, how it works, and how it can benefit you. What is financial planning? Financial planning is about developing strategies to help you manage your financial affairs and meet your life goals – and the first …
Weekly Market Update 24 August 2018 Investment markets and key developments over the past week The past week saw most global share markets rise as Turkey slipped out of the headlines, but Australian shares were hit by political uncertainty. Bond yields fell a bit in the US and Australia, were unchanged in Japan and were up a bit in Germany. Oil and metal prices rose but the iron ore price slipped. While the US dollar slipped …
How Australians will use their tax return With nearly one in three people planning to save their tax return, have you considered what you might do with yours? This year more than 75% of Australians expect to receive a tax return, with a large portion of the population planning to use the money they receive to take the edge off their financial commitments.i We look at the most common ways people intend on using their …
