All Articles
September 14, 2022
Wrong! – 3 things I got wrong
For over 6 years now I’ve released weekly podcasts and emails exploring the idea of Financial Autonomy and gaining choice. The content is informed by the wonderful clients that we get to work with, many of whom are listeners. I’m constantly learning, and sometimes what you learn contradicts what you thought you knew. This week … Continued
Investment
Self-Employment & Side Hustles
August 31, 2022
How to De-Stress Your Personal Finances
As regular listeners would know, professionally I am a financial planner and own a business called Guidance Financial Services. Our stated purpose as a financial planning business is to eliminate worry for our clients about their financial future. That begs the question, why do people worry about their financial future, and what simple ideas can … Continued
Investment
August 31, 2022
Tax
This week I thought we’d talk about tax. Strategies to minimise tax are often high priorities for those seeking financial planning advice. In this episode we’ll take a look at some of the most common taxes that we as Australians face, pick apart some of the mechanics on how they work, and consider whether it’s … Continued
Investment
Property
June 22, 2022
Australia’s Financial Advice Landscape
Australia’s financial system is complex. It also requires that we as individuals take charge. Whilst it’s likely that the Age Pension will continue to provide a baseline of support for those late in life, our system is designed around people providing for themselves. So we’re presented with an interesting challenge. A complex system, but one … Continued
Investment
May 18, 2022
Why does Inflation matter?
Most of us recognise that interest rates were unusually low for a time, to counter the economic effect of the COVID pandemic. We knew that at some point they would return to normal. But what is normal, why are they going up now, and why has this got share and property markets so rattled? One … Continued
Investment
March 30, 2022
The Balancing Act
How do we juggle the desire to save for the future, with the need to live life to the fullest today? Is 6 months backpacking around Europe in your 20’s more valuable than being able to buy a beach house in your 50’s? Is pushing hard on the mortgage today the wisest course, … Continued
Investment
Saving Strategy
March 23, 2022
How to Build your Financial IQ
We’re fortunate to live in an age where information is at our fingertips. If you’ve gotten more interested in investing and financial markets in recent years you’re not alone. It seems the combination of anaemic interest rates on bank savings, a proliferation in apps that make low cost investing easy, and reduced spending during COVID … Continued
Investment
Saving Strategy
Superannuation
February 16, 2022
Parents, Adult Children, & Money
Nearly every client I work with who has children give some thought to how they might help them out in adulthood. For those with young or teenage children, the thoughts are often around assisting them into the property market via a lump sum gift to bolster their potential deposit. For clients whose children are beyond … Continued
Investment
February 12, 2022
How to Convert Great Income into Financial Security
One of the most common reasons clients engage us through the Financial Autonomy programme is a realisation that all their hard work is not translating into financial wealth and security. It generally seems to be that people in this predicament have put all their energy and focus into developing their careers and therefore just haven’t … Continued
Investment
Superannuation
February 9, 2022
How to use the Greatest Tax Perk in Australia
Often when people think about making the transition from full time work to semi or complete retirement, there is consideration given to rejigging existing investments, whether to produce more income, reduce debt, or improve tax efficiency. But selling investments typically incurs capital gains tax and much of the planning work we do for our clients … Continued
Investment
Property
February 6, 2022
The Investment World Has Changed
In my recent New Year letter to our financial planning clients at Guidance, I proposed that investment markets are today less risky than they were in decades past. Whereas once governments and policy makers could largely leave the stock market to do what it likes, in the last decade especially there has been far more … Continued
Investment
February 2, 2022
Building Wealth Efficiently
You’re busy with your career and personal life. You don’t need your wealth creation plan to suck up hours of each week. So how can you best put your earnings capacity to work to secure choices for you down the road, without the plan adding to your already full schedule? This week I’m sharing 7 … Continued
Investment