Dealing with being asset rich and cash poor Reverse mortgages could be one way to help with living expenses, but they may also erode any equity you have in your home over time. Given longer life expectancies, the rising cost of living and the property boom, more and more retirees find themselves asset rich and cash poor. One option is to downsize to a cheaper home, but this often has major disadvantages. If they are …
Making the most of record low interest rates The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) took the cash rate to a record low of 1% in July, bringing mortgage rates to their lowest level in more than half a century. However, the low cash rate also means your money in the bank could be earning less interest. Why did the RBA cut rates? Rate cuts are a way for the RBA to help stimulate the economy. …
Helping grown-up children with their finances It’s only natural to want to help your kids with big ticket items to give them a good start in life—particularly in an era when tuition fees and house prices make higher education and owning a home less affordable than in previous generations. But it can be difficult to know when to start turning off the tap. If you have an adult child who isn’t very good with money, …
Why people choose the wrong credit card Now we have a bit more proof that these warnings from consumer advocates were spot on. As banks face pressure to live up to claims they “put customers first”, the Reserve Bank released research finding almost two out of three Australian cardholders receive no “net monetary benefit” from having a credit card. When you think about it, that’s a surprisingly high proportion of customers who are no better …
5 financial hacks to set you up for life With life’s big financial milestones just around the corner getting off to a good start in your 20s and 30s will help set you up for financial freedom later in life. We asked senior financial adviser, Nga Vu, from Kearney Group, for some simple ways to manage your finances each step of the way. Getting married Q: Transitioning from ‘my’ money to ‘our’ money can be tricky. …
How close are we to a cashless society? With tap and go payments becoming ever more popular and the advent of instant transfers between domestic bank accounts, how much longer will we be using cash as a form of payment? Find out more about when we can expect Australia to go completely cashless and what it means for us, as business owners and consumers. Got any cash on you? According to recent survey results produced …
Finding your disappearing dollars Do you earn a decent salary but still find it hard to live within your means or save? If your strategy is to save what is left in your bank account at the end of the month, you probably won’t have any savings at all. Invariably there is nothing left at the end of the month, so this is not really a strategy. We talk to two CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals about …
Five ways money can wreck your relationship Although women are often portrayed in television and film as “shopaholics” – for example spending thousands of dollars on shoes – in reality it is more likely for women in relationships to be the conservatives and the men the risk takers, says Kane Jiang, managing director at AA Financial Planning in Perth. “From a financial planner’s perspective,” Jiang says that couples often argue due to their “different risk …
First home buyers find success with advice and coaching Most of the conversations I have had with clients about their adult children are about buying and paying off their first home. Getting into debt is relatively easy, but high home prices and the need to pay it off make the challenge of home ownership more difficult than a generation ago. This is especially true in Sydney where home prices are over 12 times average earnings …
Under 40 and broke: Why young people need financial advice more than ever With increasing debt and falling home ownership among the under 40s, their financial prospects are less than rosy. If this trend is set to continue, young people are going to be needing financial advice more than ever to help them make the best choices for a secure future. There’s been a lot of talk in recent years about how much better off …
