When a loved one dies … How does Centrelink help? Even when someone we love is terminally ill, few of us can say we were prepared for the finality of their death. This week we tackle this very sensitive topic with the intention of offering a constructive...
Timing retirement: How to hit the sweet spot Is 2023 the year you will finally step back from full-time work? If so, which factors will persuade you? A veritable industry has sprung up offering advice on how best to time your retirement. But when it...
Surprise survey results Retirement Pulse question: If you had $100,000 to invest which of the following would best describe your approach to the money? I would invest aggressively to achieve a high return, even if it involved a high level of risk. 5% I...
Sharon Sheehan has more than 20 years’ experience in financial planning, including six years during which she ran her own business. For a while she worked in the more technical paraplanning area, but quickly realised it was helping people that was the...
Your home, your retirement: Making the numbers work The family home is the largest asset most people have in retirement. About 80% of retirees live in their own home and have access to the equity. Policymakers are reacting to this pool of wealth by making...
Ages and stage of retirement: What do you need to do and when? The question we posed to our team was: “How are you thinking about or planning for retirement?’ We also said, ‘There is no right or wrong response and some of you might not be thinking about it...
Five things you need to know about gifting The Bank of Mum and Dad is an emotive and not entirely accurate term when it comes to family loans. It’s not just adult kids who are the beneficiaries of the largesse of older Australians. It can be friends, nieces...
…by projecting future income It’s great to learn that you’ve got your sums wrong, if this means that you can now retire sooner than you thought. This happened a couple of weeks back with Jenny and Kumar. They’re currently aged 68 and 69 and are keen to stop...
Are you a mortgage prisoner? Facing up to (difficult) facts Like Jodie and Steve, it’s easy to feel trapped. Many of us often feel this way when facing the seemingly relentless need to service a home loan. But some borrowers are literally trapped. These...