Oliver’s Insights: Federal Budget 2020-21 overview The 2020-21 Australian Budget – spend, spend, spend as the focus remains on recovery and jobs, jobs, jobs Key points The Government now expects the Federal budget deficit to peak at a record $213.7bn this financial year. That’s around 11% of GDP, its highest since the end of WW2. The risk is the deficit will be worse at around $230bn. Key measures include earlier tax cuts, massive tax breaks …
Teaching your kids to spend wisely There are many reasons we fall into the trap of overspending. One reason is we get bombarded with very effective advertising on social media where data scientists and algorithms seem to know what we will be tempted by before we do. Perhaps we are emotional spenders and buy things because it feels good. Maybe we’re trying to keep up with the Joneses, or perhaps we lose track of how …
Be aware of your money biases Knowledge is power. The more you’re aware of how your mind works the more you can adjust your attitude towards money. Six cognitive biases that influence how we save, spend and invest money We like to think we’re rational beings. But the reality is that a lot of our daily behaviour is influenced by our subconscious. Behavioural scientists have looked at the way human beings are wired and discovered …
How to spend more to save The old saying “penny wise, pound foolish” couldn’t ring truer than in today’s throw-away world of overconsumption and excessive production of disposable items. Did you know that many manufacturers have been using techniques to deliberately reduce the life of a product to increase its replacement rate and sell you the same thing again? It’s called planned obsolescence. Some products are not built to last. Others are specifically designed to make …
Digital payment options could see you spend more this Christmas With the festive season just weeks away, Australians are gearing up for the annual peak spending period, and the growth of digital payment options could be widening the gap between what we regard as our spending limit and the balance of our bank account. The disconnect between cards and cash Credit cards make spending (and overspending) very easy, and a new breed of “digital wallets” …
Money can buy you happiness – if you spend it right At AMP’s recent Amplify program, high-profile Harvard Business professor and behavioural finance expert, Michael Norton, asked the crowded room a question. If you found $20 in the street today, how would you spend it to make yourself happiest? Norton, whose TED Talk on money and happiness has attracted almost 3.5 million views, followed up with another question: Think of the last $20 you had …
How to Give Saver’s Block the Boot Are you suffering from saver’s block? If you don’t know if you are or not, we will list two of the most common symptoms associated with saver’s block. Lack of ideas or never ending to-do lists are two symptoms that lead to saver’s block. The most prominent sign that you have saver’s block is that you lack the ability to save money. Money, at this point, is not …
