Across our broad client base, we are fortunate to have a number of very successful long term business owners. Over time, we’ve been able to observe some of their investment processes, both good and bad. In this article we have compiled a snapshot of those observations.

Ensuring that employee superannuation is correctly dealt with can be extremely confusing for many small businesses. One important new change to be aware of is that which has recently been put in place by the ATO. The ATO has made an adjustment with the 'choice of fund' rules which means you might need to do something extra when a new employee starts to work for you.

We are living through some challenging times on many fronts and as always, global political and social events inevitably make their presence felt in the financial markets. This is our wrap up of Q3, 2021.

The eternal investment question – “do I invest my money all at once or do I invest smaller amounts at predetermined intervals?” Otherwise known as lump sum investing vs. dollar cost averaging, or in other cases: wading vs. plunging.
What’s the best option? Before that, what’s behind the question in the first place? Fear and uncertainty. Fear of making a financial mistake because of uncertainty about the future. Both losing money and making a mistake can make us feel a little silly, but we need to acknowledge uncertainty is merely life we haven’t yet lived and there are no right or wrong decisions about things we couldn’t see.

We are hiring. The Assistant Accountant will be responsible for overseeing the preparation and lodgement of a large number of business activity statements for our clients. In addition, the team member will be responsible for initial contact with our clients around this regular touch point, answering client employment queries along with client's internal accounting questions.

In recent years, the relationship between Casual Employees and Employers has come under the microscope, in particular the right to leave entitlements and conversion to full time status. For many employees despite working regular and consistent hours over a long period of time, they are still classified as casual employees without the security or benefits of a permanent employee. In light of this, the Fair Work Act 2009 has been updated and the amendments came into effect on 27th March 2021.

Australia’s worst super funds have finally been placed in the village stocks for all to see. The YourSuper comparison tool was released earlier this year, it offered investors the ability to sort through various super fund options who have a MySuper default option and compare fees and returns over a 7 year period.

It’s difficult to consider how your family will be looked after and how your assets will be treated following your death. However, implementing a clear estate plan ensures that your wishes will be honoured and your loved ones will be cared for when you’re no longer around. You may already be familiar with the benefits of a Will, but have you considered a Testamentary Trust? If you think Testamentary Trusts are only for complex estates or the very wealthy, they’re not – so read on!

Inflation, for so long a low priority concern for investors, came storming back into the headlines recently with news that Australian consumer prices had risen at their fastest annual pace in almost 13 years. What are we to make of this?

Seven News recently featured a story on rocker Jimmy Barnes. Jimmy was selling up his family home in Sydney to move to his new base in the Southern Highlands of NSW. What was the price to take over the working-class man’s converted Botany warehouse? Jimmy was hoping to get $4 million, after paying $1.61 million 17 years ago and spending another $1.6 million on renovations. The reporter described it as a “clever investment”. Putting $3.21 million into something and getting $4 million back after 17 years is an annualised return on investment of 1.3% (not what we would describe as a “clever investment”.

A study from 2010 titled Predicting the Next Big Thing: Success as a Signal of Poor Judgement, measured biannual economic forecasts published in The Wall Street Journal. The study found that someone who successfully predicted an extreme event was perversely more likely to be a poor forecaster.

Predicting where economies and markets are headed is a popular pastime around the beginning of a new financial year. Newspapers tend to call up economists and ask them for their ‘outlooks’, which inevitably have a short shelf life. Take 2020/21 for instance.

From pooches to second-hand cars, to homes in regional areas, to ground beef in the supermarket. Everyone has a story about how their money is buying less. This is essentially what inflation is: “A supply constraint which leads to a shortage of labour and products, resulting in a higher bid for labour and products and higher prices.” The gauge we are given is the Consumer Price Index figure.