We all know that our superannuation is there to provide for our financial needs in retirement. That means we can’t usually access our super until we reach preservation age and meet a condition of release. Preservation age is between 55 and 60, depending on date of birth. It is the age at which you can…
We all, to a greater or lesser extent, have an idea of our dream lifestyle. So how, as a nation, are we faring? To find out, the Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) commissioned a survey of more than 2,600 people from around the country. The resulting Live the Dream report provides an insight into the extent…
Running your own business can be extremely rewarding but there will always be times when it will be quite the opposite. Depending on the business, many factors will determine the success or failure of a small enterprise, however, the most common is cash flow. Outlined below are three very simple solutions to cash flow problems…
On average, only 25% of debilitating injuries occur at work or are work-related. In 2015/16 there were 101,770 compensation claims made for serious work-related injuries in Australia. The average time it took for a worker to return to work due to a serious injury rose by 33% to more than five weeks. In 2016 the…
These days Christmas appears to be more of a retail festival than a religious event, and while it can be a season of joy for many, it is a time of stress or loneliness for others. If the ‘Xcesses of Xmas’ have been getting you down, or if you just want to shake up your…
The crime of identity theft is growing at an alarming rate, with the ‘sharing’ concept of the internet allowing scammers to locate and access their victims with ease. Identity fraud comes in several forms. The most common variants are: identity theft bank card (EFTPOS) fraud credit card fraud What is identity fraud? This involves using…
There are now almost 600,000 Self-Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSFs) in Australia where the members of the fund are also the trustees. These trustees are responsible for running the fund according to the superannuation rules. If they get it wrong, the consequences can be dire. Each year, SMSFs lose their concessional tax allowance because the trustees…
Currently 1.8 million Australian homeowners receive some level of age pension, with around 700,000 on a part pension. What many of these part-age pensioners may not know is that, along with recipients of the disability support pension, carer payment and some other Centrelink payments, they are able to access some of the equity in their…
Renting out a spare room can be a great way to earn some extra cash, particularly with the help of Airbnb and similar online services. However, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the rent you charge, even on short-term stays, is taxable income. It must be declared on your annual tax return and, depending…
If you’re a freelancer or contractor or maybe even a consultant then you’re part of the “gig economy”. Gone is the job for life, or even a job in the normal, employed meaning of the word. For you, work consists of short-term contracts or a series of one-off jobs. “Gigs” as the band down at…