In the words of Mark Twain, everyone should take an interest in their future — since they have to live with it for the rest of their life. If someone was to ask you “are you fit for business?”, you may take it they’re interested in your qualifications or management experience. (more…)
Whether it’s 5 years or 15 years away, for you or your parents, planning now for how you and your family will approach aged care will have a lot to do with how legislation affects you, the impact on your finances and the type of care you can afford. There are several strategies you need to consider, and it’s important to understand that after someone has entered aged care, it may be too late to undo any financial decisions they — or someone on their behalf — made before they went in. (more…)
An article in the Financial Planning Association’s magazine, ‘Financial Planning’ in November lists the first graduates of the Life Risk Specialist accreditation program and outlines the benefits of the program. Summerhill’s Caroline Bell was quoted.
Couples contemplating or moving in together or marriage should consider entering into a pre-nuptial agreement, now more properly known as a ‘Binding Financial Agreement’. But how do they work? (more…)
Instead of buying into the excess of modern gift giving this year (after all, who needs “extra bric-a-brac”?!), have your celebration but put gift money towards helping children in care.
Kris Kringles, birthdays, anniversaries, (second) weddings, overcoming serious illness … whether it’s celebrating life’s milestones or team building, it gives us a sense of achievement. (more…)
With the change of just one word, the US Federal Reserve has called a quiet end to the recession, while in Australia, it seems to be all hands on “deal deck”.
Is it over? Are we there yet? Can we breathe a sigh of relief? According to economics commentator Alan Kohler of Business Spectator, “yes”. (more…)
Shares have just topped two consecutive years of big losses. Such a slide has resulted in a long “worry list” for shares and other growth-oriented assets – indebted consumers, inflation off the back of ballooning budget deficits and central banks pumping money, worrying demographic trends, and so on.
Some investors are pessimistic: the temptation being to assume just more of the same. However, as we’ll see, the “worry list” might not be so worrying after all. (more…)
At 6%, Australian house prices didn’t dip nearly as far as those in the USA and UK (32% and 19%, respectively) and already prices are rising again. So what happens now? And how does housing compare with other investments?
Despite fears of the big declines we’ve seen in the USA and UK, Australian house prices did not plunge dramatically - indeed the average drop remained well in single figures.
Yet, after “only” falling 6% from their early 2008 peak to the March quarter (a big enough drop for those trying to sell), house prices have begun to recovering, with Australian Bureau of Statistics’ data showing average gains of 4.2% in the June quarter, confirming rises already seen in private-sector surveys. (more…)
Helping people achieve their goals is what Summerhill Financial Services does. So it makes sense for us to support a community program with the same aim.
Western Chances helps talented and self-motivated young people in Melbourne’s western suburbs to realise their potential. Since 2003, it has awarded 1,430 scholarships to 599 young people, with an average value of $1,000 per grant each year. This means they’ve invested more than $1 million directly to young people. (more…)
The Australian media and much of the financial services industry has recently been eating up acres of newsprint and clogging the airwaves with endless discussion about whether or not the domestic economy is in recession. (more…)
