Diversification is a key investment principle used to manage some investment risk within a portfolio. It is often described as “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.

Are you carrying on a business with one or more business partners?

Have you considered who will assume control of that business in the event of your death? And how to protect your family to ensure they get fair value for your share of the business?

Are your retirement assets insufficient to cover the ever increasing cost of living? Do you have large unexpected expenses in retirement? If you answered yes and you own your own home, a reverse mortgage may provide a solution.

Superannuation is an effective way to save for retirement but the amount of contributions you can make to super in each year is limited. Any superannuation contributions made in excess of the concessional and non-concessional caps may have penalty tax applied. So take care with how much you contribute each year.

[VIDEO] Ryan Synnot provides an introduction to Early Stage Tax Concessions, an incentive introduced in 2016 to promote investment in innovative, high-growth potential startups.

In welcome news, the Federal Parliament passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Superannuation Outcomes For Australians and Helping Australian Businesses Invest) Bill 2021. Effective from 1 July 2022, this legislation will implement the following superannuation changes:

Back in June 2019, the Reserve Bank (RBA) Board meeting minutes stated that “households are net borrowers in aggregate”, which contributed to their view that on balance “a lower level of interest rates was likely to support growth in employment and incomes and promote stronger overall economic conditions.” I subsequently wrote to the RBA and sought clarification, given that households are not net borrowers in aggregate. Their response advised that the comment was in reference to interest bearing net borrowings, rather than total net borrowings. Perhaps this was the intention of the authors, however the lack of this qualification in the minutes makes the statement incorrect – households are in fact large net savers in aggregate.

Since 1 July 2018, downsizer contributions have afforded eligible older Australians the opportunity to top up their retirement savings where their existing balance leaves them concerned about the sustainability of their lifestyle through retirement. It had been observed that older Australians were potentially being discouraged from downsizing hones that no longer met their needs, the result being that many larger family homes were being occupied by singles or couples.