Attitudes towards Superannuation
January 27, 2011
Recently the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) commissioned a report into attitudes on superannuation. Read more
Your Personal Risk Management Strategies
January 27, 2011
Much has been written recently about how to restructure investment portfolios and what to do with your money given the current turmoil surrounding investment markets.
Women Managing Money
January 27, 2011
I had a bit of a flick through the Financial Literacy Foundation’s recent report Financial Literacy Women Understanding Money and came across some positive results for women in general. Read more
Teenagers and their money
January 27, 2011
Remember the days when you knocked on the neighbours’ doors after school offering to wash the car or do the babysitting for a few bucks in the pocket. Those days are long gone with many teenagers today juggling formal part time work alongside their education. A recent survey noted that nearly half of those aged up to 19 and studying full time were also in paid work.
It’s good to see many of the younger generation are out there working and learning about responsibility. Some of today’s teenagers however are earning a sizeable income with Australian Bureau of Statistics showing year 12 students are today receiving an average of $245 a week. That’s a far cry from a few bucks earned from Dad for washing the car back in my day.
I’m not sure why the Y generation isn’t called the I generation given the amount of i-gadgets and i-gizmos in the market place, but regardless of whether you think they are the “Y” or “I” generation, a Commonwealth Bank survey[1] found many of these young Australians have no plans to save or budget, yet most of them still plan to buy a car or go on an overseas holiday.
What’s frightening is that nearly three quarters of those surveyed had some form of debt, with around half not concerned about their debts stating they do not let the amount of debt they are in affect their daily lives. While the easy availability of credit is causing some problems, it seems that mobile phones consistently seems to top the list for causing debt. It makes you wonder how important those gadgets are …. but I digress.
The good news is that young people are keen to learn about managing their money. The report Financial literacy: Australians understanding money by the Financial Literacy Foundation noted that the majority of teenagers want to learn about budgeting, saving and managing debt and see leaving school as a significant milestone in which they can start gaining control over their finances.
So if you have a significant young person in your life, or you happen to belong to the Y generation, it’s never too early to start down the path of managing money. Start surfing, web surfing that is, because there lots of great websites full of ideas and practical tips that set young people on the right path to managing their money. The Financial Planning Association for example has created Dollarsmart, a web based and CD financial toolkit for teenagers to help improve their financial skills and give them confidence when dealing with financial matters throughout their life.
It might also be of use to start looking for a financial planner who can help you on the road to accumulating enough assets so that you get to decide when work becomes optional. A good place to start is with the planner your parents use, check the websites and make a few calls, it could be an excellent investment for you to make.
If you do have any questions about this or would like to know more about us, please email me at admin@bronsonfs.com.au or give us a call on (07) 5577 8653
Please Note:
This publication has been prepared to provide you with general information only. It is not intended to take the place of professional advice and you should not take action on specific issues in reliance on this information. In preparing this information, we did not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Before making an investment decision, you need to consider (with or without the assistance of an adviser) whether this information is appropriate to your needs, objectives and circumstances. This information is provided for persons in Australia only and is not provided for the use of any person who is in any other country.
How your lifestyle effects your insurance
January 27, 2011
Did you know a third of our population is on a diet and another third of our population is trying to maintain their weight at any one time! Read more
Mortgage Stress and your life insurance
January 27, 2011
The other day while I was having a reshuffle of some paperwork on my desk, I came across an article showing a breakdown on what causes mortgage stress. With yo-yoing interest rates, mortgage stress is the flavour of the month. Read more
Australians and Heart Disease – how is your insurance?
January 27, 2011
By the time you logged on to your computer, searched for this blog site and read this article, one Australian would have died from heart disease. Do you know many Australians die every day from this disease? According to the Australian Heart Foundation, every ten minutes somebody in Australia dies from heart disease. In my calculations, that makes about 144 deaths a day. In 2006 almost 46,000 Australians died because cardiovascular problems. Read more
Income Protection for Men
January 27, 2011
Do you how much Centrelink pays for sickness benefits? In case you’re curious, it’s just over $400 a week1 for a couple, not enough to even service the weekly mortgage repayment on an average mortgage, let alone feed a family or meet the lease payment on the fancy ute sitting in the driveway. Read more
Business Succession Planning
January 27, 2011
We have seen global economies move from boom to bust in the wink of an eye – or over the past 12 months at least. This has led many business commentators to make statements about defensive investments and how to preserve your capital in times of market volatility. Read more
Fees vs Commissions – What matters most
January 27, 2011
This is an update to a article posted nearly 2 years ago and the issue is still being discussed, but in relation to finding a Financial Planner what does and should matter to you, the client? Read more