No one likes paying tax. Let’s face it. Actually, I’ll qualify that by saying ‘too’ much tax. There’s the often bandied about reason for the rich getting richer. To that I’d argue that anyone with a bit of wealth-driven nous is using the laws of the day – legal tax breaks, tax structure et al – to get their taxable income down and use potential return...
Have young kids? Well, now’s the time to introduce them to the concept of saving, and there’s no better way to do that than opening up a bank account for them. As parents, we play a critical role in educating our kids around money and, within that, establishing positive habits around spending and, more importantly, saving. To this end, if you’re good with money, chances are,...
The word ‘debt’ cops a bad wrap, in my opinion. Mention debt, and our minds tend to jump to the negative connotations of the word. And rightfully so. ‘Bad’ debt is exactly that – not great. Meaning, any debt that’s not going to make you money over the medium to long term (aka building your wealth) is something you want to avoid like the plague. Well, as much...
Trade wars aren’t new. They’ve been played out throughout the annals of time. So why is the US-China Trade War, which seems to escalate with every passing week, any different? Well, that’s a tricky one to answer. The short answer is the global economy’s been on pretty shaky ground since the Global Financial Crisis. Meaning the world’s two largest superpowers rattling their sabres is shaking what are...
Being in debt ain’t fun. Particularly if it’s credit card debt and the compound nature of interest (in reverse!) means you can see no end in sight in terms of paying it down. I met someone recently who has racked up close to $30K between two credit cards over the past 18 months. She also has close to $3K on Afterpay. Both cards, I’m guessing, would be...
Life’s all about trade-offs, particularly when it comes to financial goals. Now, I’m not going to get into the whole public vs private school debate and which is better. Private schools are expensive – we know that. The financial trade-off is enormous. To give you an idea, sending our two girls through six years of private education (high school, basically) will mean we’ll need to fork out...
Budgeting sucks. I get it. Unless you’re someone who takes great pride in creating intricate Excel spreadsheets that break down every aspect of your weekly spending in forensic detail, budgeting can be a pain in the you know where. If you can’t be bothered, like to keep your head in the sand with your finances while fearing the worst, or shy away from getting ‘bogged down...
How good are you with managing your money? And don’t worry – it’s not a trick question. The reason I ask is you’d be surprised at how many people make it well into adulthood without learning the basics of good money management. In Australia, we’re talking almost half the adult population, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Meaning, around 45 percent of Australians...
