Empower Blog Spending

Revealed: How Much You Need To Retire in ONE SIMPLE FORMULA

What I want to talk about today is the concept of retirement and, more specifically, how much do you need to have a passive income that will support the lifestyle you really want in retirement? Because most people, I wonder if they've thought this through. I've spoken to hundreds and hundreds of people, and they often talk to me about how they...

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RBA Rate Decision – June 2016

Today the Reserve Governor and the Board met and they kept interest rates on hold. So the cash rate remained at 1.75% leading into the federal election on July 2. So there’s a couple of things that I want to talk about. Firstly is negative gearing. We know that the Liberal Party is not making any changes to negative gearing but the Labor Party...

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Cash Flow Management | The Essential Element in Property Investment

When asked about their budgeting habits, most Australians would say that they manage their money excellently. Judging by today’s high debt rates and stress patterns, it would appear that some of those who think they are managing their money well are actually doing the opposite. Whether you’re in charge of your budget at home or are taking care...

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Key Changes you need to know about your Retirement and Pension

So with the recent budget in May this year, the Federal Government announced a few changes in relation to Centrelink. In particular, the one that got a lot of media attention was increase in the age entitlement. It was recommended or suggested to increase the age pension entitlement from age 67 to 70. This would be phased out over the next few year...

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The Four Personal Elements in Building A Property Portfolio

As a property investment advisor, I spend my days designing property investment plans from the next investment purchase to a portfolio of properties. What I wanted to share with you today is part of that process that I go through. So when I’m sitting in front of clients, I want to talk to them about the four moving elements that make up the pers...

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One more look at predicting the Future

In the previous article, we discussed one of the key factors in developing a long-term wealth building strategy  -  the need to “predict”, or at least make assumptions about, how household cashflows will change over time.  Before starting any investment with a goal of building wealth, it is critical to have a clear picture of the anticipated...

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Why budgets don’t work!

Budgets are a bit like driving your car down the road with your windscreen totally blacked out only looking through the rear vision mirror - they simply measure history but that’s not enough.  Let me illustrate. Have you ever been guilty of impulse spending?  Whether it’s the pair of jeans you bought when you were meant to be just wind...

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The Cost of Spending

One of the fundamental principles of Empower Wealth’s Money Planning philosophy is that you should get your money to work as hard as possible for you.  In our previous newsletter, we looked at one approach to get your money working for you, by using an Offset Account to reduce the amount of Interest that you have to pay on your Mortgage. This a...

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From Action to Measurement

In last month’s newsletter ( available from our website ), we outlined two key steps needed to take your Money Plan and put it into action - getting your existing money working as hard as possible for you, and taking control of your spending. These two steps can be achieved by implementing the Account Structures and cash flow strategies that form...

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How do you Get Started?

In the previous Newsletter, we looked at the first step in Money Planning  -  knowing where you are now  -  and outlined the sort of information that you would need to collect to be able to prepare a picture of your current financial position. But that’s only the beginning - your financial position will be constantly changing over time, and ...

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RBA Rates Decision – May 2011

The RBA has left the official cash rate on hold again in May, making it 6 months since the last cash rate movement.  Minutes from the previous RBA board meeting certainly indicated that the board position was that rates remained adequate for the near term, as subdued consumer spending and the impacts of major disasters still filter through the eco...

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Where to Get Started?

As we have highlighted in recent newsletters, Money Planning is a critical factor in achieving your goals and dreams, and the earlier you get started, the better the outcome is likely to be. So, where to begin? Like any other form of planning you may do in life, Money Planning involves the three basic steps of knowing where you are now, knowing w...

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RBA Rates Decision – November 2010

Unless you have been living under a rock you would by now know that the RBA lifted the official cash rate by 0.25% to 4.75% yesterday afternoon.  The first rise in over 6 months.  They saw it prudent to move the cost of money higher, in light of the relatively strong economy and a growing global outlook.  This will most likely be the last rate r...

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