If you’re a business owner, you've no doubt got your hands full managing day-to-day operations. But when it comes to funding your growth, asset finance can be a real game-changer. Here's a quick checklist to make sure you've got the essentials down pat.

Over recent years, the stock markets in both Australia and the United States have rebounded to reach unprecedented heights. This journey has been marked by significant volatility, beginning with a drastic downturn in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw global markets plunge by approximately 40%.

Q4 was a very positive end to the year, and despite the gloomy outlook many had for 2023 it was a fruitful one for investors who maintained a bias towards growth in their portfolios. Inflation continued to moderate in the US, while economic growth held up, continuing to defy any recession forecasts.

When it comes to money and investing, we’re not always as rational as we think we are – which is why there’s a whole field of study that explains our sometimes-strange behaviour. Where do you, as an investor, fit in? Insight into the theory and findings of behavioural finance may help you answer this question.

Understanding which life stage you are in and how that correlates to your wealth creation, budgeting, business and family is imperative to be able to plan well for tomorrow and being able to live confidently today. In this video you will learn about each different stage of life and how to maximise your opportunities.

This week we thought we’d address that fast approaching date on the 25th of December with a tips list. If the festive season usually leaves you out of pocket and feeling like you spent more time and money battling the crowds than relaxing with friends and loved ones, why not simplify things this year? 

Over the last few years, almost every insurance cost has escalated significantly. Car insurances, house cover, public liability – you name it, and the price has gone up. So too have people’s personal insurances such as life and trauma cover. Anyone’s insurance plan should be something that can be easily afforded and therefore able to be maintained over a long period of time, if required.

A study in the Journal of Consumer Research in 2010, called ‘Believe Me I Have No Idea What I’m Talking About’, found as long as an information source is certain of themselves, they don’t need to have credibility to be considered persuasive.

In Q3, global economic data was mixed. There were positives from the world’s largest economy, depending on how you view positive economic data! In this case, the ongoing resilience shown by the US was combined with another bout of energy inflation, leading to concerns inflation may take longer to move back into the preferred range of the Federal Reserve. This has led to concerns that interest rates, while expected to be nearing their peak, may linger around their current level for longer.

Australia is on the cusp of an inheritance boom. In fact, we’re already riding the early waves of it driven in part by the Baby Boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) who have begun leaving behind large inheritances to their children.

Retirement planning will always primarily focus on money. The financial resources we have and the returns they generate will be the fuel of life when we no longer have employment. However, money is only half the battle. The other half will be what to do with ourselves.

Trusts are a popular structure used by many investors and small businesses. A self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) is actually a type of trust, as are testamentary trusts that are established as part of a person’s will. But what exactly is a trust? How do various types of trusts operate, and what role does a trust deed play?

One of the nice things about modern life is we all get to share our opinions. As much as being opinionated is now something of an economy, the validity of rampant opinion making has always had a question mark hanging over it.
Back in 167 AD Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius said “It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul; for things themselves have no natural power to form our judgements.” If we’re allowed to interpret Aurelius’ words, he’s suggesting opinions are a choice and no harm comes from not having one.

As one of Hollywood’s most successful screenwriters, William Goldman won two Academy Awards & had over 20 of his screenplays made into movies. But arguably his most famous line isn’t from one of his movies. It was from a book he wrote on the movie business called Adventures in the Screen Trade, & it’s an assessment of the business itself: “Nobody knows anything.” Goldman suggested that despite all the money spent on big name actors, screenwriters, & skilled directors, no one, including the studios doing the financing, had any idea which movies would be a hit or a miss.

Inflation and interest rates again remained the major points of interest across Q2, but with well over a year of interest rate rises behind us, many economies have proven more resilient than expected. The US economy, in particular, has proven robust despite a total of 5% in rate hikes since March 2022, however it’s suggested the effect of rate hikes has still not been fully felt. Equity markets were positive over Q2.

Since the beginning of 2023 equity & bond markets seem to be on two different paths. Equity markets have been rising despite the continuing increase in interest rates by central banks. Bond markets have been pointing to a dramatic slowdown in the economy. How should investors interpret these mixed messages & what can they do about them?

The time is nearly here once again for the lodgment of our Individual and Business Income Tax Returns. Each financial year brings with it changes, updates and new target areas for the ATO. Here, we outline some key pieces of tax time information for 2023 to help you with your taxation planning and lodgement.

Image courtesy of www.superguide.com.au

The 23/24 Federal Budget has been released and thanks to strong commodity prices it looks better than would have been expected a year ago. Some of the key areas addressed in the budget were cost-of-living, social security payments, investment in Government services and attempting to alleviate inflationary pressures, though time will judge its impact on inflation.

Bank runs aren’t new, or even rare in the US. There have been over 450 bank failures since 2008, with 2018, 2021 and 2022 the only years in recent memory not to see a bank failure in the US. If one of the big banks in Australia went down, it would require a cataclysmic event. Something that would almost guarantee life as we knew it was over. Society wouldn’t be functioning and there would be much bigger problems than money.