Patricia Howard

Are you are gold bug?

In times of uncertainty, investors everywhere start turning their heads to so called safe haven investments and the most obvious choice of a safe haven investment is gold. It just kind of makes sense to a lot of people. It’s a rare metal that no one is making any

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Tax time

Free book offer!

While you might not know it, April is Financial Literacy month in Australia and to mark the occasion, I am offering to give any reader of this newsletter a free copy of my book The No-Regrets Guide to Retirement. Simply email me your name and mailing address this month and

How high will interest rates go?

There maybe some relief in sight to the Reserve Banks determination to push interest rates ever higher as a means to curtail inflation, with the latest statistics showing a slowdown in consumer buying. The most recent consumer price index figures prices increased by just 0.2 per cent during February,

Every extra dollar counts

Something that isn’t talked about much these days and should be, is the Federal Government’s Superannuation Co-Contribution Scheme for low-income earners. I think it’s one of the best Government schemes available. If you earn less than $42,016 a year, for every dollar of after-tax dollars or

Slash your tax bill!

One of the biggest issues facing most wage earners is the simple annoyance that no matter how much they earn each week, an ever-increasing chunk of their income goes straight to Canberra in the form of taxes. One of the few ways of reducing your tax bill is by making

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Is Lithium the new gold?

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Cyber attacks

So much is happening....

Once again, it seems the Federal Government can’t resist changing the rules around superannuation even though they campaigned at the last election that this is specifically what they would not do, change the rules around super. However, as I explain in my article, Limits On Super?, these modest proposed

Annuities - suddenly the newest thing

As most Australians know, we are living in a period of increasing interest rates and with this, we will see an increasing amount of talk about a particular type of financial product, so called annuities, which will be aimed at those nearing or in retirement. Just quickly, an annuity is

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Commonwealth Bank

Financial Life Coaching

Financial planning and the work I do as a financial planner is very much misunderstood. Many think it’s all about promoting get-rich schemes and selling people products they don’t really need, that usually end up with the buyer losing a lot of money. Having worked in the industry

So why super?

When I speak with a client for the first time, typically something very quickly becomes apparent. They don’t like super. They feel it was forced on them, they don’t really understand it and many, just have a gut feeling that someone is making a lot of money out

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Government Super Changes

Welcome to another great year!

So another great year is just beginning and I hope you feel relaxed and confident about your financial position and are enjoying either life in retirement or the prospect of retirement. It is easy to get distracted by all the noise that passes as news in the media, and I

The year ahead...

While it was largely overlooked in the rush to Christmas, the December record inflation rate of 7.8 per cent, the highest in 33 years, is  prompting increased speculation that the Reserve Bank will continue to push domestic interest rates higher. The risk of that is, as interest rates climb,

How much do you need to retire?

The most common question I face as a financial planner working in the retirement and pre-retirement space is, how much money do you need to live comfortably in retirement? Its the sort of question that as a qualified and licenced financial planner working almost exclusively with older Australians,  I should

Update your instructions

Its surprising how easy it is for the years to pass by and before you know it, your well thought out plans for what should happen to your assets on your passing can seem hopelessly out of date. Nowhere is  this more likely then in regards to your superannuation savings

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CBA hits $110 a share

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Sun Cable: A vision of the future or a step too far?

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The tax free cap could rise

The No-Regrets Retirement Newsletter

Welcome to this my last newsletter for the calendar year 2022 and what a year it has been! While I am sure 2023 will be a big improvement of this year it will bring its own issues. As a financial planner I am focused on helping my clients get as

Are you thinking of downsizing?

The Federal Government has now passed legislation to reduce the eligible age from which Australians can take advantage of the downsizer super contribution rules from 60 to 55 years of age – the second reduction this calendar year. In addition, the government will extend the asset test exemption period on the

Will you be impacted?

It’s been a long time since there has been so much uncertainty surrounding the domestic economy and with that, the share market and investing generally, as there is, looking to the year ahead and the potential impact of higher inflation. The sudden eruption of domestic inflation, largely caused by

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Should you sell or should you hold?