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The superannuation gender gap has narrowed over the past decade, but more work still needs to be done. Here’s how you can help close the gap even further.

Women have narrowed the superannuation gender gap by making significantly higher voluntary contributions to their funds as they near retirement, latest Rice Warner research shows.

This is backed up by Roy Morgan research, which shows the average superannuation balance held by females in 2008 was $68,000 – just 59.1% of the male average of $115,000.

Since 2008, however, awareness campaigns have helped increase the average female superannuation balance to $127,000 – 72.2% of the average male average balance ($176,000).

Why the gap?

The recent report from Rice Warner says the superannuation gender gap is a result of many factors, including lower salaries, lengthy career breaks, and more periods of part-time work.

“Unfortunately, this trend is exacerbated, as statistics show that women retire earlier than men, and live nearly three years longer, giving them a longer period in retirement over which to spend their retirement benefit,” the report states.

Leaving it late

Women can – and do – narrow the gap by making higher super contributions later in life.

While both sexes tend to make similar voluntary contribution amounts before they hit 50-years-old, from then on females tend to make significantly higher voluntary contributions.

In fact, for the 60 to 64-year-old cohort, females tend to make $37,000 in average voluntary contributions compared to $22,000 for males – a $15,000 difference.

Still plenty to be done

In the absence of immediate social change and equality, here are six key strategies you can use to help close the gap.

1. Start making voluntary contributions earlier in life. The laws of compounding interest mean that $10,000 in voluntary contributions in your 30s grows into a much bigger nest egg when you reach your 70s than it does if you start in your 50s.

2. Leverage Low Income Superannuation Tax Offset (LISTO). Low-balance members can receive up to $500 in government contributions per year with females being favoured for these contributions as a result of their lower balances.

3. Leverage government superannuation co-contribution. The government makes available $500 per annum to match contributions for low to medium income members who make personal contributions.

4. Salary sacrifice. Check with your employer to see if they will let you salary sacrifice into superannuation. Doing so can boost your retirement nest egg in a tax effective way.

5. Reconsider your risk appetite. A 2016 NAB survey found that women across the country are “missing out on tens of thousands of dollars in savings during their lifetime because of their tendency to shy away from taking appropriate levels of risk in their portfolio”.

6. Check how your fund is performing. Don’t settle for any old super fund. Do a little digging to see how its performance stacks up against its competitors. APRA just announced that it will turn its attention towards underperforming super funds – but don’t wait for them, get on the front foot yourself!

Get in touch

If your household would like help closing the superannuation gender gap then don’t hesitate to get in touch.

We’d be more than happy to help you get the ball rolling on any of the above options – as well as a few others we have up our sleeve – to help set you up for a comfortable retirement.

If you would like assistance getting your accounts under control as we approach the end of financial year, call us today on 1300 79 80 38.

Visit our Financial Knowledge Centre where you will access educational videos and articles, plus join our monthly e-Newsletter to help improve your financial knowledge.

If this article interested you and you would like to speak to Pat Casey on the phone, select a time to speak Pat – Financial Planner Sydney.

At Assure Wealth we specialise in helping busy, successful families structure their finances to achieve greater wealth and financial peace of mind.

Author: Pat Casey – Managing Director & Financial Planner Sydney – Assure Wealth

Download the Assure Wealth Corporate Brochure

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website has been provided as general advice only. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives and you should seek the assistance of your Walker Lane Pty Ltd Adviser before you make any decision regarding any products mentioned in this communication. Whilst all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided and accordingly neither Walker Lane nor its related entities, employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.

Assure Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 31 965 466 780 Corporate Authorised Representative no. 1244817, Patrick Casey Sub-Authorised Representative no. 1244748 of Walker Lane Pty Ltd ABN 70 626 199 826, an AFSL holder No 509305.

Hindsight is 20/20, right? The Global Financial Crisis, Trump’s election and the rise and fall of Bitcoin all seem obvious enough in retrospect. But here’s the thing: very few people ever make money from random and unexpected events, despite many trying!

Black Swan events are ones that are almost completely unpredictable yet have profound and lingering effects on people – not to mention a disproportionate amount of people trying (and failing) to cash in on them.

The origin of the term

The term was recently popularised by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a finance professor, writer, and former Wall Street trader.

But it dates back much, much further than that.

In fact, the term ‘Black Swan’ dates all the way back to the 2nd century when it was coined by Roman poet Juvenal.

It was written in Latin, and when translated to English, went something along the lines of “a rare bird in the lands and very much like a black swan”.

The phrase was pretty common for something ‘impossible’ in England during the 16th century, when it was still assumed that only white swans existed.

However, in 1967 Dutch explorers became the first Europeans to see black swans: in none other than Western Australia.

As a result, the term morphed into a saying for something that was once deemed impossible but later disproven.

What is a Black Swan event nowadays?

As mentioned earlier, Taleb popularised the phrase once more around the turn of this century.

He did so with his book ‘Fooled By Randomness’, which concerned financial events, and again with his 2007 book ‘The Black Swan’, which highlights events outside the financial sphere.

Taleb says Black Swan events are made up of three key attributes.

First, they are an outlier – basically an event that’s so outside the usual that no past indicators could have pointed to it as a possibility.

Second, they have catastrophic ramifications on the world. And third, despite being completely unpredictable events, we humans try to rationalise them as something that should have been completely predictable after the fact.

Examples of Black Swan events

– The unprecedented rise and fall of Bitcoin in 2017.

– Donald Trump’s run to the White House in 2015-16.

– The Global Financial Crisis in 2008.

– The dot-com bubble burst of 2001.

So why don’t Black Swan events make for good investments?

In a nutshell: the horse has usually already bolted.

You see, by nature Black Swan events cannot be predicted.

To successfully predict one, you’d need to either get extremely lucky, or bet on a large number of speculative investments until one finally worked out – and neither are sensible investment strategies.

And by the time people usually want to put their hard earned money towards it, so has every other man and his dog and the market becomes extremely unstable (think Bitcoin 2017).

That’s why when you invest you shouldn’t waste time, money and effort trying to predict the unpredictable.

Because if you see something that walks like a Black Swan and grunts like a Black Swan, it probably is. And it’s therefore worth checking with us before you put your savings on it.

Where you should focus your attention

Your focus should always remain on the things you can control.

They include your risk profile, investment horizon, self-managed superannuation, fees and tax structures. A Financial Planner can help advise you on these topics.

By planning ahead you can stick to the things you know and leave the speculation to those who have left their run towards retirement way too late.

And if you haven’t started planning your run to a blissful retirement yet? Get in touch. We’d love to show you how you can live your ‘golden years’ without having to try and get lucky striking gold.

If this article interested you and you would like to speak to Pat Casey on the phone, select a time to speak Pat – Financial Planner Sydney.

At Assure Wealth we specialise in helping busy, successful families structure their finances to achieve greater wealth and financial peace of mind.

Author: Pat Casey – Managing Director & Financial Planner Sydney – Assure Wealth

Download the Assure Wealth Corporate Brochure

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website has been provided as general advice only. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives and you should seek the assistance of your Walker Lane Pty Ltd Adviser before you make any decision regarding any products mentioned in this communication. Whilst all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided and accordingly neither Walker Lane nor its related entities, employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.

Assure Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 31 965 466 780 Corporate Authorised Representative no. 1244817, Patrick Casey Sub-Authorised Representative no. 1244748 of Walker Lane Pty Ltd ABN 70 626 199 826, an AFSL holder No 509305.

With some of the major lenders recently lifting interest rates on variable home loans, we’ve had a number of enquiries this week as to whether now is a good time to lock in an interest rate.

As predicted, Westpac’s decision to increase variable home loan rates was soon followed by Commbank and ANZ.

With the bulk of the market moving variable rates up, many are asking: is now a good time to lock in an interest rate?

Well, like everything in life, the answer depends on your personal situation.

Fixing the rate

A fixed home loan has an interest rate that’s fixed at the time the loan was taken out and won’t change for a set period – usually one, three or five years.

Having a fixed home loan means that rate rises won’t affect you.

Selecting a fixed home loan can give you a sense of clarity and certainty, and as such, will help you budget and plan ahead.

So, while others are grumbling about rising interest rates, you can be content knowing you won’t be affected. That said, future interest rates rises are never a foregone conclusion.

You might prefer a fixed home loan rate if you:

– Believe interest rates will rise in the future

– Are comfortable with the interest rate you are committing to pay

– Prefer to be able to accurately plan your finances in the short and mid-term

– Are concerned that you would be unable to make your repayments if rates were to rise.

Variable home loan rate

A variable home loan has an interest rate that changes. Instead of staying at a certain fixed level, the rate will move according to market interest rates.

As a result, your repayments will either rise, fall, or fluctuate over the term of your loan. This means that sometimes you’ll pay more than a fixed loan, while other times you’ll pay less.

Variable loans can come with advantages linked to their flexibility.

For example, it can be cheaper and easier to switch loans if you find a better deal elsewhere than it would be if you had a fixed loan.

Often you’ll also be able to make extra repayments on your loan at no additional cost, which can help you pay off your loan more quickly.

You might prefer a variable home loan rate if you:

– Suspect interest rates will stay put or fall over time

– Are unsure about interest rate movements and would prefer to go with market rates

– Are confident you could manage a rate rise

– Don’t mind having some unpredictability in your financial planning.

Still on the fence?

With so much at stake it can be difficult to decide on the best option. The solution? Come and have a chat with us.

Discussing your individual circumstances and financial goals can help you decide whether a fixed or variable loan is right for you.

And if a fixed loan is not right for you, we can look into other refinancing options to see if there are other lenders out there offering a better home loan rate than the one you’re on.

If this article interested you and you would like to speak to Pat Casey on the phone, select a time to speak Pat – Financial Planner Sydney.

At Assure Wealth we specialise in helping busy, successful families structure their finances to achieve greater wealth and financial peace of mind.

Author: Pat Casey – Managing Director & Financial Planner Sydney – Assure Wealth

Download the Assure Wealth Corporate Brochure

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website has been provided as general advice only. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives and you should seek the assistance of your Walker Lane Pty Ltd Adviser before you make any decision regarding any products mentioned in this communication. Whilst all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided and accordingly neither Walker Lane nor its related entities, employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.

Assure Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 31 965 466 780 Corporate Authorised Representative no. 1244817, Patrick Casey Sub-Authorised Representative no. 1244748 of Walker Lane Pty Ltd ABN 70 626 199 826, an AFSL holder No 509305.

It’s no secret that Australians love to travel. The thing is, we also love to own our own home. Can you do both? It turns out most people can!

There’s this myth that once you take out a mortgage you’re locked down in Australia for good. Or at least for the foreseeable future.

It’s no doubt a major deterrent for young people embarking on home ownership.

But it turns out that’s simply not true: where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Research just out from InsureandGo shows most people (55%) go on at least one overseas holiday within three years of buying their home.

More interesting still, 21% of home owners travel overseas within their first year of buying a home, and 39% within two years.

Then there’s the 10% who are super keen to scratch that travel bug itch and go jet-setting within six months of buying a home.

How do they make it work?

Cheap airfares are a good start.

Nowadays you can get ahead of the pack and receive free email notifications when a jaw-dropping deal is going through services such as I Know the Pilot and Scott’s Cheap Flights.

They’ll send you an email alert when they’ve found a cheap airfare that matches any airports you’d like to depart from and arrive at.

Don’t forget to see Australia!

Rest assured that if the budget is tight, there’s always Australia to explore.

We take it for granted sometimes, but don’t forget that 8.8 million people travel from all across the world to visit our beautiful country each year.

The first few years of your mortgage may serve as the perfect chance to join them in exploring our vast continent.

In fact, that’s exactly what half of all new home owners do within the first year of taking out a mortgage, according to the InsureandGo report.

You don’t have to fly across the country and fork out hundreds of dollars, either. Every state has its own beautiful coastline and national parks, many of which are situated near affordable campgrounds.

The Wealth Effect

Will this behaviour change now that we have seen a decline in Sydney and Melbourne property prices? Why do i pose this question? It’s because of ‘The Wealth Effect’

The wealth effect is a theory suggesting that when the value of someone’s assets such as their home are on the rise because of accelerating property prices, individuals feel more comfortable and confident about their wealth, which will cause them to spend more.

The opposite is also true. If a person experiences a drop in the value of their property, they don’t ‘feel’ as wealthy, and therefore spend less.

Final word

Becoming a house-owner these days doesn’t mean you have to become house-bound.

Sure, meeting your mortgage repayments will always come first. But it’s also important to give yourself and your family a much needed holiday every now and then.

By combining clever budgeting, smart saving, good deals, and a dose of discipline, you don’t have to sacrifice travel for home ownership.

To find out more about budgeting with a mortgage, get in touch. We’d love to help out.

If this article interested you and you would like to speak to Pat Casey on the phone, select a time to speak Pat – Financial Planner Sydney.

At Assure Wealth we specialise in helping busy, successful families structure their finances to achieve greater wealth and financial peace of mind.

Author: Pat Casey – Managing Director & Financial Planner Sydney – Assure Wealth

Download the Assure Wealth Corporate Brochure

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website has been provided as general advice only. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives and you should seek the assistance of your Walker Lane Pty Ltd Adviser before you make any decision regarding any products mentioned in this communication. Whilst all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided and accordingly neither Walker Lane nor its related entities, employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.

Assure Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 31 965 466 780 Corporate Authorised Representative no. 1244817, Patrick Casey Sub-Authorised Representative no. 1244748 of Walker Lane Pty Ltd ABN 70 626 199 826, an AFSL holder No 509305.

There’s been a lot of noise in the home lending and financial space recently, so there’s every chance you may have missed it, but some lenders are starting to cut rates.

The RBA may have kept rates on hold for 30 consecutive months, but that hasn’t stopped lenders from making cuts (or increases) on their own accord.

Bendigo Bank is the latest bank to make a downward move, cutting its interest rates by as much as 0.20 percentage points for new borrowers across a range of its products, while rates for existing borrowers remain unchanged.

Other lenders have also made moves

Bendigo is by no means the only lender cutting rates. In fact, it’s the eighth or ninth lender to make variable cuts this year.

Other lenders that have made cuts include Heritage Bank, Bankwest and State Custodians.

The move comes after RBA governor Phil Lowe recently indicated there’s now a 50/50 chance that the next official cash rate move could be down, despite most pundits previously predicting it would be up.

That said, 14 to 15 lenders have recently increased the variable rate on loans for existing customers, including NAB, Macquarie and ING.

So, what does this all mean?

Well, with so much movement and uncertainty in the market, it might be a good time to give us a call for a home loan health check.

We’d be more than happy to look at your current home loan to make sure it’s still appropriate to your needs – or whether the market has shifted enough for you to start considering other options.

Meanwhile, Treasury warns against damaging competition

In other news, Treasury Secretary Philip Gaetjens has highlighted the important role that mortgage brokers play in promoting competition in the home lending sector.

He’s warned the government and Labor not to damage competition, which could happen if they adopt a banking royal commission recommendation to change the broker remuneration structure to a user-pays model.

“One issue, in particular, where Treasury did express a strong opinion was in relation to the role of mortgage brokers in promoting competition,” Mr Gaetjens told a Senate Estimates committee on Wednesday.

“As governments of all persuasions have recognised, it is important that care be taken to not damage – and where possible, to enhance – competition in the banking sector.”

Queensland-based lender Heritage Bank has also publicly defended broker commissions.

“We do not support increasing the costs for customers to obtain a home loan in the form of a customer-paid fee for service and worsen the current affordability crisis for those customers already struggling to afford a home,” says Heritage Bank CEO Peter Lock, whose comments echo those made by several other non-major lenders, including P&N Bank and ING.

“A major contraction of the mortgage broking industry would reduce competition and put the big banks in an even more powerful position in the home loan market.”

If this article interested you and you would like to speak to Pat Casey on the phone, select a time to speak Pat – Financial Planner Sydney.

At Assure Wealth we specialise in helping busy, successful families structure their finances to achieve greater wealth and financial peace of mind.

Author: Pat Casey – Managing Director & Financial Planner Sydney – Assure Wealth

Download the Assure Wealth Corporate Brochure

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website has been provided as general advice only. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives and you should seek the assistance of your Walker Lane Pty Ltd Adviser before you make any decision regarding any products mentioned in this communication. Whilst all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided and accordingly neither Walker Lane nor its related entities, employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.

Assure Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 31 965 466 780 Corporate Authorised Representative no. 1244817, Patrick Casey Sub-Authorised Representative no. 1244748 of Walker Lane Pty Ltd ABN 70 626 199 826, an AFSL holder No 509305.

Sharing is caring, right? However, when it comes to the sharing economy, the ATO is feeling neglected and wants its fair share. Here’s what you need to know if you rent out your property on Airbnb.

If you need any more convincing that the Australian Tax Office (ATO) will be cracking down on undeclared income from sharing economy platforms such as Airbnb this year, check out the name of the consultation paper that Treasury released this week:

‘Tackling the black economy: A sharing economy reporting regime.’

Now, the number of Australians involved with “the black economy” is quite hard to quantify, but Treasury has given it a crack.

They believe almost 11 million Australians earned extra money from sharing economy services – including Airbnb, Uber, Uber Eats, Airtasker, Parkhound and many other platforms – from July to December 2017.

And while Airbnb doesn’t release any official data, independent monitoring website Inside Airbnb says listings in Australia grew from 43,610 in 2016 to 89,863 in December 2017.

No wonder the tax man feels like he’s missing out.

Consultation paper findings

It’s no secret the ATO is well aware that a lot of people haven’t been declaring income from sharing platforms in recent years. In 2016 they released this video, and more recently built this information webpage.

However this consultation paper is the clearest indication yet that a tax crackdown is nigh.

“During its consultations, the Taskforce heard that as the sharing economy grows there is an increasing risk that sellers may not be paying the right amount of tax,” the report states.

“The ATO has already begun to work with businesses on a reporting regime, obtaining information from some ride-sourcing providers and accommodation providers under its formal information gathering powers.”

In a nutshell: the ATO will be granted access to your Airbnb and Uber income data if they require it.

What to do?

Well, if you’re not already, then it’s time to start keeping accurate records of the income you’re earning in the sharing economy space. That includes platforms such as Uber, Airtasker and many other players.

Declaring the income is straightforward and just like any other form of income you earn: basically keep statements showing income from your guests, and don’t forget to keep receipts of any expenses you want to claim deductions for. That will make it straight-forward come tax time.

It might be worth checking out this information page from the ATO for further tips.

Finally, keep in mind that if the ATO is cracking down in this space they might also look more closely into some of your past tax returns. In which case, here’s what you need to know about correcting a past income tax return if declaring income in the sharing economy space slipped your mind in the past.

It may increase the tax you owe, but the ATO generally treats it as a voluntary disclosure. You’ll still have to pay any outstanding tax, but you’re likely to receive concessional treatment for any penalties and interest charges that apply.

If this article interested you and you would like to speak to Pat Casey on the phone, select a time to speak Pat – Financial Planner Sydney.

At Assure Wealth we specialise in helping busy, successful families structure their finances to achieve greater wealth and financial peace of mind.

Author: Pat Casey – Managing Director & Financial Planner Sydney – Assure Wealth

Download the Assure Wealth Corporate Brochure

Disclaimer: The information provided on this website has been provided as general advice only. We have not considered your financial circumstances, needs or objectives and you should seek the assistance of your Walker Lane Pty Ltd Adviser before you make any decision regarding any products mentioned in this communication. Whilst all care has been taken in the preparation of this material, no warranty is given in respect of the information provided and accordingly neither Walker Lane nor its related entities, employees or agents shall be liable on any ground whatsoever with respect to decisions or actions taken as a result of you acting upon such information.

Assure Wealth Pty Ltd ABN 31 965 466 780 Corporate Authorised Representative no. 1244817, Patrick Casey Sub-Authorised Representative no. 1244748 of Walker Lane Pty Ltd ABN 70 626 199 826, an AFSL holder No 509305.