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Australia - The New Switzerland

Who are your beneficiaries

While I am not a lawyer and cannot provide legal advice, I do always urge clients to have an up-to-date will and to ensure they revise their will whenever there is a major life event such as an inheritance or change in life partner or when they seek

Achieving a happy retirement

One of the best things about my work is seeing the change I can bring to the lives of clients. Typically, clients contact me when they need help planning the financial aspect of their lives for when they stop working. They usually come into my office looking down caste and

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Key investment mistakes to avoid

Make the most of being a couple

When clients come to me to plan their retirements, typically if they have a partner, they will come together to speak with me as a couple to discuss their financial future and how they should structure their finances going forward. However, I also have many clients in accumulation mode, that

Spring Is Here!

There’s just something about Spring. The warmer weather, the brighter sunshine and longer days, just helps to give you a more positive outlook on life and hopefully, this will spill over to your financial situation. So, I want to start this newsletter by focusing on those who are still

Updating Your Will

Nobody really wants to think about what happens after they pass on, but it is vital that you do keep your will up to date, so that when the time comes, your estate can be handled quickly and broadly in line with your wishes. So here are some simple steps

Five Keys to a Successful Retirement

There’s something about Spring that just makes you feel really happy to be alive and so with that I thought I would put together some pointers as to what everyone should do to make the most of their retirement years. Firstly, stay as fit and as healthy as possible.

Making your Super Count

The single biggest issue I face is ensuring clients make the most of the opportunities contained within superannuation and those opportunities are significant when you retire, as all the assets held within super become tax free. So even if you have a modest amount in super, it is possible if

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Australia's Great Dividend Story

The No-Regrets Retirement Newsletter

While there is always lots to discuss in this newsletter, I would like to begin by drawing everyone's attention to the new, upgraded company website, Patriciahoward.com.au For existing clients, it now includes a new log-in portal so you can access your investment accounts, both super

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Why are so few people downsizing?

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The Intergenerational Report

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Commonwealth Bank record result

Change in minimum pension settings

During the pandemic, the Federal Government was concerned what impact the pandemic related closures would have on the financial markets and with that, how it might impact on Australians’ retirement savings. In response, the Government felt it was reasonable to expect investment returns would be lower than in previous years,

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What the reporting season tells us!

The No-Regrets Retirement Newsletter

While we are still getting use to the disappointment of cancelling the 2026 Commonwealth Games, there seems to be a bit of hope that while interest rates might still nudge a big higher, it does not look like the economy will avoid falling into recession. August of course is the

Age Pension Asset Test

If there is anything good to say about the recent spike in inflation, it is that it has prompted the Federal Government to upwardly review the figures it uses regarding the asset test, when calculating age pension entitlements. While it won’t have much impact on those already receiving an

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Simplify your finances

Boosting your super

A recent report by the leading accounting firm, Deloitte’s, found financial ignorance is the biggest single issue facing older Australian’s planning their retirement, followed closely by the fear that they don’t have enough money to retire. The two issues of course go hand in hand. Most people

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Greenwashing

Why is low unemployment a bad thing?

Later today the Reserve Bank will meet yet again to determine whether it should continue to push interest rates higher in its continued attempts to bring inflation down or sit on its hands and do nothing as it has for the past two months. Interestingly most analysts believe the key

The No-Regrets Retirement Newsletter

So with winter now well and truly upon us, the outlook for the Australian economy appears just as bleak, with interest rates still rising and little to suggest that will stop anytime soon. While you will read in my latest economic run down that the local rate of inflation has

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Read this before you do anything

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What are the pitfalls?