Pumped to bring you the first edition of Smart Money Moves of the Week for 2021.
before I crack into market movements, next Wednesday I’m putting on the fourth (and third last) event in the ‘How to money’ series that we’re putting on in conjunction with General Assembly and Raiz Invest. I’ll be diving deep into How to be smart with your tax in 2021, register here.
Share market wrap
Markets this week have been strongly up, driven by Trump leaving the Whitehouse and the vaccine rollout kicking off in the UK and the US.
- The ASX ‘All Ords’ (top 500 shares in Australia) cracked 7,000 points for the first time since February 2020 finishing the week 2.4% higher than last Friday on 7,024 points
- The US ‘S&P500’ (Top 500 shares in America) finished the week 1.59% higher than last Friday, on 3,824 points
- The US ‘Nasdaq’ (Top 2500+ mainly tech shares in America) finished the week 1.87% higher than last Friday, on 13,201 points.
- The Global ‘All World’ index (measured with the iShares MSCI world index (all share markets around the world combined) finished the week 1.57% higher than last Friday, at 115.31
Investment story of the week
Bitcoin (BTC): Since some high highs and then some serious lows, Bitcoin (i.e. “internet money”) has topped a few records this week. Firstly, the price of bitcoin went over AUD$50k on Thursday, and the total value of all Cryptocurrency exceeded $1 trillion (with a “T”). The bitcoin price has more than doubled in the last 4 weeks, and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down in 2021.
Money hacks of the week
I know the new year is a time we all get a solid boost of motivation, whether it comes to money stuff, fitness and exercise, career, or any other important but not urgent area of our lives. So to help you capitalise on your money motivation, I’m putting out an ‘express’ podcast around 5-ish minutes, and a video version of the same content. I’ll be covering the areas I think are most important for getting on the front financial foot in 2021. The first six I put out are linked below, and if you want to keep up to date you can subscribe to the How to be successful with money podcast here on Spotify, Apple, Stitcher, and Podbean.
Fundamentals of investing into the sharemarket
Smart investment moves for the post COVID world
The smart investment actions that drive real results
How to reduce risk when you invest
Property vs Shares
Why are you buying property?
Weekly jargon buster: Balance transfer (via Macquarie)
The movement of the amount owing from one account to another account. A credit card balance transfer, for example, involves the movement of the amount owed on one or more credit cards to another account or institution, usually for the purposes of consolidating debt and/or taking advantage of better interest rates and/or payment terms.
Advice upside
Because people don’t often talk about the full ins and outs of their money, it’s hard to learn lessons from hearing what good and bad choices other people make. This story from one of our clients to help you take your money game to the next level.
Numbers/Background
Couple in their 30’s, one in entertainment, one design, household income $165k, saving ~$3k monthly. No property investments, share portfolio $30k, $110k cash
Frustrations when first coming to see us
Want to invest, don’t know what to do given moving to US next year then Back to Australia in 5 years
What they wanted from us / the advice process
Do we invest or save with our money? how do we set up an investment portfolio, and where does property fit?
What an awesome result looked like for them
Knowing the pathways and understanding the impact of doing A over B over C
What money strategy they were following when we started working together
Save, had a money plan separate to each other. Very ad hoc
What money strategy they chose to pursue from our planning work
Invest $95k into the sharemarket, regular investment plan, save for wedding, and have cash available to return to Australia without stress of having to find work immediately
Key benefits of going through the process
Clarity, pulling the trigger on a strategy, having super looked after, bank account structure set up in the UK which can be replicated in US and again here in Aus when they return
Advice upside
Upside received as a result of the direction taken from the planning process, $37,984 in year 1, upside of $1,749,915 in year 20.
Disclaimer:
This information is of a general nature and has been prepared without taking account of your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on the information, you should consider whether the information is appropriate for you having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. We expressly recommend that you seek advice from a financial advisor.
