Blog

This afternoon I was talking with a client who is going to be one of over 300,000 Australian retirees that are expected to lose their Age Pension from 1 January 2017. An eligible individual must satisfy both the income and assets test to receive a full, or part pension. The amount will be based on… [Read More]

Markets have been jittery in the lead up to the US Presidential election next Tuesday 8 November, which is coming off the back of a poor October where our ASX 200 fell 2.2%. Overall the US election process is drawn out over more than a year and becomes quite a circus.  This time around it… [Read More]

If you have been trying to follow the Federal Government’s changes to superannuation over the last few months, we would forgive you for having a headache. There has been an awful lot of flip-flopping. One of the most contentious areas of change concerns non-concessional contributions into super. A non-concessional contribution is one that is not… [Read More]

So, what are you doing with all that interest you’re saving? In case you haven’t noticed, interest rates are at an historic low right now. In August, the RBA voted to drop the official target cash rate to just 1.5%. This followed a reduction in May from 2.0% to 1.75%. Home loan rates are about… [Read More]

This week the Government announced significant changes to the proposed superannuation reforms, providing clarity and certainty for clients around Superannuation. The big news is that the retrospective $500,000 lifetime non-concessional cap has been removed, which was one of the more controversial measures introduced in the budget.  It seems like the package is being put could… [Read More]

Talk in Australia is still how much lower will interest rates go, but in the US things are very different!  The talk on Wall Street is about the likelihood of another increase the US Federal Reserve funds rate as soon as September.  This makes perfect sense given the continued underlying strength in the US jobs… [Read More]