A surplus for now but stormy seas ahead Treasurer Jim Chalmers bills his 2023 Federal Budget as an economic strategy to help ease cost-of-living pressures. To that end, he has delivered a modest but welcome package of cuts to healthcare, housing and energy costs as well as boosts to welfare payments for single parents and […]

Stay up to date with what’s happened in the Australian economy and markets over the past month. March was marked by banking failures in the US that sent ripples through global sharemarkets. However, the first quarter of 2023 ended on a note of optimism in Australia due to better-than-expected inflation figures and expectations of a […]

  Stay up to date with what’s happened in the Australian economy and markets over the past month. China’s plans to kickstart its economy after the pandemic shutdown have been dominating the news this month and will have worldwide implications, not the least for Australia. Australian shares were up nearly 8% in January while US […]

Building a bridge to recovery In what has been billed as one of the most important budgets since the Great Depression, and the first since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic dragged Australia into its first recession in almost 30 years, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the next phase of the journey is to secure Australia’s […]

In a rapidly evolving response to the spread of COVID-19, the Federal Government’s second support package announced over the weekend has flicked the switch to more income support for retirees and workers. Between the first $17.6 billion package announced on March 12, and this latest $66.1 billion package, the emphasis has shifted from stimulus aimed […]

It’s been a long time coming, but up to 630,000 retirees could soon enjoy a small but welcome increase in their Age Pension payments following a cut in deeming rates used for the pension income test.i Under the Age Pension income test, you are ‘deemed’ to earn a certain rate of interest on your savings […]

The Liberal/National Party Coalition has been returned to government, as Australians chose continuity over change and cautious economic management over Labor’s ambitious reform agenda. Although Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s election spending promises were more modest than Labor’s, they will still deliver economic stimulus in the form of personal tax cuts and other initiatives. This is […]

Most of us dream of the day we can stop working and start ticking off our bucket list. Whether you dream of cruising Alaska, watching the sun rise over Uluru, improving your golf handicap or spending time with the grandkids, superannuation is likely to be a major source of your retirement income.  The more money […]

It was a year of extremes, with shares hitting record highs and interest rates at historic lows. Yet all in all, 2019 delivered far better returns than Australian investors dared hope for at the start of the year. The total return from Australian shares (prices and dividend income) was 24 per cent in the year […]

The superannuation system is still the best medium to tax effectively save for retirement provided your choose the assets that are right for you. It’s about getting active with your superannuation choices and taking an active interest in your super. In my experience, Australians take an interest in superannuation when their valuation reaches around $80,000. […]