“My husband is 74, and I’m 68. We own our home and have around $400,000 in super. We receive the full Age Pension and live off that for our regular bills. When something comes up — car repairs, holidays — we take money out of super. This amounts to about...
We’ve all made that crazy, quick decision to buy something special. And then wondered at leisure if we could afford it. That’s what happened with Aaron and Julie. They booked their dream trip to South America – and immediately had buyers’ remorse when they...
What if you had a crystal ball? Would that help you eliminate your FORO – the fear of running out? I’ve been writing about retirement income for nearly 25 years now (yes, let’s agree that I started when I was a teenager, NOT!). But all jokes aside, there are...
I’m at least 10 years away from retirement, but I admit there are times when I’ve pondered my future in the small hours, especially when work or family circumstances change. Financial worries are surely universal and, leading up to or during retirement,...
When we last discussed the ‘classic dilemma’ of paying off debt or retaining a mortgage (but earning more in other ways) we received some great feedback from members. Many of you said that this option doesn’t have to be an ‘all-in’ decision. Which has...
The ‘bucketing’ method of money management has been around for decades. But it shot to prominence when self-proclaimed ‘barefoot millionaire’ Scott Pape wrote about how easy it was, by using buckets, to get on top of your spending. But ‘financial bucketing’...
Is this really happening? The other night I saw an ABC TV report by business reporter, Daniel Ziffer. I normally find Mr Ziffer’s work to be both informative and interesting. So when he spoke of a ‘generational divide’ in Australia’s spending habits, I was...
The current economic climate has been described by many as a ‘crisis’. Whether rising prices and interest rates do indeed constitute a crisis is arguable. But it’s fair to say that most Australians are very concerned about the rapidly escalating costs of...
Keeping Retirement Simple – Part 4 In his book Straight Talk on Investing, a friend of mine, Jack Brennan, former CEO of The Vanguard Group, gives his views on the most important piece of advice. “Live below your means….simply put, you must not spend...