Interest rates have been low for so long it’s tempting to think low rates are the new normal. So when the Reserve Bank suggests that a cash rate of 3.5 per cent is the new ‘neutral’, people take notice. Even the Prime Minister warned Australian householders to prepare for higher interest rates ahead.i The official[…]
Property and Mortgages are always a “hot topic” of conversation. I hear people discussing what will happen to the property market all the time with such questions as: Is it overheated? Will it face a decline? What will happen with interest rates? I feel that sometimes these issues are over-analysed at the expense of impacting[…]
You’ve probably heard by now of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In the space of eight years they’ve gone from a geeky novelty to big business and investors are beginning to take note. There’s an estimated US$US100 billion worth of cryptocurrency floating around in cyberspace. In the real world, there’s a small but growing number of[…]
It’s been a decade since the market crash known as the Global Financial Crisis rocked the investment world. At the time investors could only watch in disbelief as 50 per cent was wiped off the value of their shares. Arguably, the actions those investors took are still reverberating today. Which begs the question: what are[…]
The year began with the inauguration of President Donald Trump, whose populist policies on issues such as trade and energy have impacted the global economic agenda. As the year closed the Trump administration’s corporate tax cuts were approved by Congress, which should boost US economic activity. The US Federal Reserve lifted its benchmark interest rate[…]
Investment markets are the topic for Part 4 in our Kickstart 2018 series. Our role at Aspire Planning is to look past short term market cycles and help our client’s invest for longer term outcomes. However, investment markets are always intriguing because they don’t always reflect expectations yet require us look at various influences and[…]
We see many clients and also many different ways that people successfully manage their money. Some like to manage their money very closely, watching each dollar almost daily, whilst others manage their budget at a higher level, reviewing their spending on a monthly or quarterly basis. Whatever the method, we see certain consistent behaviours from[…]
To Kickstart your 2018, we have prepared a series of themed articles that we will release to you over the next 15 days. The themes we will cover include: Goals and Intentions, Health and Wellbeing, Budgeting, Mortgages, Superannuation, Estate Planning, Investments, Education Planning and Insurances. Today is Part 1 – Goals and Intentions. I feel that[…]