Smart money weekly; Employer share plans 101, how to make your property equity work for you, & marriage saving money moves
Hey team,
Happy Sunday.
Interest rate rises have been discussed for quite some time now, but we’re seeing clear indications that it’s to be expected at some point across 2022. Economists over at Westpac are tipping a gentle 0.15-percentage-point cash rate rise in August, followed by another 0.25-percentage-point increase in October.
Those two moves would add $103 a month to interest repayments on a typical $500,000 mortgage. Now is a good time to check in with your bank or your mortgage broker to prepare yourself for any changes coming up in the year ahead. When it comes to your finances, preparation is always key.
Smart Money upside #52
Because people don’t often talk about the full ins and outs of their money, it’s hard to learn lessons from hearing what good and bad choices other people make. This story is from one of our clients to help you take your money game to the next level.
Numbers/Background
Couple; early 30’s, income ~$210k, total assets ~148k, savings~ $5k annually
Frustrations
What they wanted from us / the advice process
What success looks like for them
What money strategy they were following before we went through the planning process
No clear strategy around savings or investing
What money strategy they chose to pursue from our planning work
Agree to use current cash balance for emergency and use the remaining to set up banking accounts and investment accounts
Key benefits of going through the process
Agree to use current cash balance for an emergency fund and use the remaining to set up banking accounts and investment accounts
Value of advice after all advice fees year one: $4,693
Year 20 upside after advice fees: $4,073,473
If this story resonates and you want to chat about how to get these sorts of results, you can?book an intro call here.
Giving update of the week
This week a couple of our amazing clients settled on their first investment property, and we’ve celebrated by providing 365 days of shelter to underprivileged people in India, as part of our ongoing commitment to make a difference in the lives of our clients and simultaneously make an impact on our world through our partnership with B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1).?You can check out more information about our giving here.
Upcoming events:
If you’re sitting on a bit of property equity, it might come as a surprise that it could be working harder for you. I share exactly what to do this week in our upcoming event. Check out the full list of events that are coming up and click through to register:
Event schedule and links to book here:
How to use property equity to invest when your LVR is below 50%: Tuesday, Jan 25, 2022 12pm
领英推荐
Employer share plans 101:?Tuesday, Feb 1, 2022, 11am
How employer share plans work (deep dive):?Monday, Feb 7, 2022, 2pm
Employer share plan tax hacks and mistakes to avoid?Thursday, Feb 10, 12pm
How to make more profit from your employer share plan?Tuesday, Feb 16, 2022, 10:30am
How to invest if you’re saving more than $5k monthly: Thursday, Feb 24, 12pm
Money Hack of the week: How financial advice can save your marriage.
When was the last time you and your partner fought over money? Butting heads is normal, but it can be difficult to work through when financial matters come into the mix. Jon Hollenberg and I recently talked about how financial planning was crucial in taking their money issues off the table. By engineering a system for guilt-free spending, Jon and his partner don't clash about money even 13 years later.?Check out our full chat here.
Share market wrap
Australian gold stocks rallied on Thursday but interest rate-sensitive property trusts and defensive consumer staples posted falls, holding the index to a 0.1 per cent gain. On Wall Street on Wednesday, all three major benchmarks were in positive territory in early afternoon trade and then they flipped with selling accelerating into the close.
Key sharemarket numbers:
Investment story of the week: Jcurve Solutions Limited (ASX:JCS)
Jcurve Solutions Limited (JCS) works collaboratively with organisations to drive growth through the effective use of technology. Serving as a trusted guide in an on-demand world, they help build growing and resilient organisations to withstand market disruption. The company has business management solutions, consulting services, field service management and digital marketing services. The company has positioned itself to help transform businesses. The company does not pay dividends, but rather reinvests a high proportion of profits into the business, which helps its high earnings growth. Over the last 12 months, JCS is up over 60%, with the company continuing to enjoy strong growth in 2022, up over 15% this week. With its unique services offering a holistic approach to helping develop and grow businesses, it's worth keeping an eye on throughout 2022.
Money mistake of the week: How your mindset can hold you back from better choices.
What's holding you back from making better money choices? Whether we're aware of it or not, we have the power to improve our circumstances - or make them worse. In this episode, I chatted to Kym Power to discuss how the subconscious choices we make can lead to bad habits and unhealthy patterns.?Check out our full chat here.
Jargon Buster of the Week:?Honeymoon rate?(Via Mozo)
Honeymoon rates are low introductory interest rates offered by lenders to make their home loan offers look more attractive to borrowers. Also known as an 'intro rate' a honeymoon rate typically lasts for the first six to twelve months of the loan, before reverting to a higher ongoing rate.
Wherever you see a honeymoon rate being advertised by a lender, be careful to check what rate it reverts to once the 'honeymoon' is over. Some lenders try to tempt borrowers with low intro rates only to charge high ongoing rates once the intro term is over. This can come as a shock to borrowers as loan repayments can dramatically increase once the 'honeymoon' is over. Generally speaking, most borrowers will be better off with a loan that offers a low ongoing interest rate for the life of the loan.
Podcast from last week:?#152 Money chat w. Avani - Eliminating guilty spending and setting solid financial foundations
In this session, I chat twithone of our lovely Pivot clients Avani about her recent experience with going through the process and setting up a plan for her money and investments, which had a bit about guilty spending and, and guilty saving and how it is easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you're not saving enough, how she tackled ethical investing and setting up an ethical investment portfolio that aligned with her values as well as setting a really solid financial foundation for someone that was early on in the workforce and had recently moved out of home for the first time she unpacked some of the tips and the things for people to be thinking about so that when you go through the process, you get the results you're after.
Be awesome,
Ben
Disclaimer:
The information in this note is not personal advice, a guaranteed pathway to that elusive beach bod, or the lost script of Edna St. Vincent Millay's Pulitzer Prize winning?Conversation at Midnight. This is just a bulk communication pushed out into the internet, and it doesn't even have your name on it. Your personal situation, needs & objectives, and financial situation have not been considered in putting this together - nor have we considered your dietary preferences, the way you like your hair cut, or your favourite travel destination - but we have spent a lot of time thinking about the future of urban society, whether there is other intelligent life in the solar system, and the pervasion of soy and linseed bread in Australian metropolitan hubs. You should consider the appropriateness of any general advice in relation to your own objectives, financial situation and needs and seek advice before taking any action. You should also consider using a variety of eau de toilette fragrances to keep your partner interested and colleagues on side, not using plastic straws, and minimising your screen time. Where information relates to a financial product, you should read and understand the relevant product disclosure statement. Where information relates to your own potential for awesomeness, you should consider backing yourself totally and completely. Past performance is definitely not an indicator of future performance when it comes to investments and financial products, as well as the likelihood of your children sitting still and quiet for an hour being satisfied playing with a used piece of wrapping paper.?Financial services guide.