It’s easy to put stuff off in life. That might be joining the gym so you can start getting fit, for instance. It might be saving for that next holiday. And that’s no criticism. I’m guilty of it. In saying that, I’m definitely getting better at taking action on stuff now rather than later. Maybe it comes with age. Stuff like exercising and getting fit, for example,...
Holidays can be an expensive proposition. Once you factor everything in, sometimes you’re left wondering whether it’s actually worth the financial stretch, particularly when you could be putting that money, say, towards paying off the mortgage. If you’re a long-time reader of my blogs, you’ll know that getaways and holidays are a must for me and my family. We always bake-in holidays when planning next year’s...
Yeah? You might want to read on. In your 20s and 30s, I’d argue you’re primarily focused on two things: your career and having fun. If you’re lucky, you’ll have had good financial habits drummed into from a young age and you’ll have been consistent squirrelling away money, making a few smart investments along the way and be on the road to living life on your terms. Your...
Everything in life’s a trade-off, regardless of which way you look at it. Take accumulating wealth. To get to a point of choosing whether you want to work – or not! – takes discipline and sacrifice. In other words, getting there’ typically a massive trade-off when growing wealth. For me, the most difficult trade-off is having stuff and living happily and not beyond your means. I guess...
This week I’m going to answer what is perhaps the number question people ask when it comes to financial advice. Drum roll, please… Should I use a financial advisor or do it myself? It’s a big one. The million-dollar question, if you will. Before I get down into the detail of the pros and cons each way, I’d like to preface it by saying that we actually cater...
Wealth is all about building up your asset base. This is something that I’d argue is vitally important for families, in particular. It’s not just about owning your own home (preferably your ‘dream home’). It’s about building your asset base to a point where you can start generating passive income to fund sending your kids to the right school and funding your family’s lifestyle well into retirement. If...
This week I want to touch on something I haven’t covered in previous blogs. Nearly half of adult Australians don’t have a will. That’s a lot. If you don’t have a will, that’s certainly no criticism, but more to say that you’re not alone. To be fair, it’s not something that’s really top of mind for your average Joe. And fair enough – no one likes to...
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...
