Hey team
Happy Sunday.
This week has seen the ASX hit a record high off the back of earnings season, in particular with Rio Tinto and CBA delivering huge dividends and BHP set to do the same after their announcements this coming Tuesday. In other market updates, now that the dust has settled on the Afterpay buyout with Square and this marriage of BNPL and crypto, it has come to light that Square will dualist on the ASX with a market cap exceeding $200 billion.
Speaking of crypto, we had a HUGE turnout for the Cryptocurrency event on Thursday. Thanks to all of you who attended. And don’t forget we have more events coming up in the next few weeks, details are below to register.
Giving update of the week
This week we’ve been working with a couple of new clients that are really passionate about sustainable investing, which has led me to think a lot about what’s happening on the planet and how we can have a positive impact. We’ve celebrated the time given by the amazing speakers we’ve had on the show by furthering our contribution to protecting Australia’s rainforests by protecting a further 500 square metres of rainforest to bring our total amount of conserved rainforest to 1,000 square metres. If you want to learn more about how you can have a positive impact on our planet by following the next few weeks on the podcast. You can check out more information about our giving here.
Upcoming events:
We only have a few more events coming up, so make sure you jump on and register. These sessions will help you learn more about cryptocurrency, how to invest smarter, money mistakes and a healthy dose of tips, tricks and hacks to help you take the smartest next step with your money.
Event schedule and links to book here:
Make More Money: Personal Investing 101 – Thursday 2nd September 11:30 am – 12:30 pm AEST
Finding the right investment for you – Thursday 16th September 11:30 am – 12:30 pm AEST
How to be smarter with money – Thursday 14th October 11:30 am – 12:30 pm AEST
Avoid key money mistakes – Thursday 4th November 11:30 am – 12:30 pm AEST
Money Hack of the week: Lessons from a bad property purchase
It’s a daunting feeling, knowing your goals but not being sure how to get there. 
Clare knew she wanted to own property, send the kids to good schools and feel secure in her finances. But after being burned by some bad investments, Clare told me exactly what made her decide to come onboard with Pivot Wealth. Check out our full chat here.
Share market wrap
The ASX opened down this week after a soft US market close last Friday. However, it quickly bounced back by Thursday with a record close. The biggest winners on Friday were mining stocks Evolution and Nickel mines after some takeover announcements and one of the biggest losers were Crown after The Star Entertainment Group withdrew its merger announcement.
Key sharemarket numbers:
- The ASX ‘All Ords’ (top 500 shares in Australia) finished the week 1.2% higher than last Friday, on 7,897.70 points.
- The US ‘S&P 500’ (Top 500 shares in America) finished the week 0.71% lower than last week (Friday AEDT), at 4,460.83 points.
- The US ‘Nasdaq’ (Top 2500+ mainly tech shares in America) finished the week -0.3387% lower than last week (Friday AEDT), on 14,816.26 points.
- The Global FTSE ‘All World’ index (largest 3100 companies in the world) finished the week 1.03% higher than last week (Friday AEDT), at 7,193.23%
- The S&P Cryptocurrency ‘Mega Cap’ Index (tracking market value of Bitcoin and Ethereum) is currently at 16.29% for the month, up 4,781.60% from last week
Investment story of the week: AGL Energy Ltd (ASX: AGL)
AGL Energy released its earnings this week and reported a $2.1 billion statutory full-year loss, while its revenue fell 10 per cent. Its financials were impacted by a surprise $2.7 billion write-downs of its assets, driven by unprofitable wind farm deals earlier this year. With a push towards renewable energy and in light of the findings released this week, there’s mounting pressure on the energy sector to make changes.
Money mistake of the week: Not getting help when it comes to your finances
For over a decade, Olivia and Sean knew they needed to do something more with their money. Olivia had been told by another financial advisor to come back once they have more assets, but she knew she still needed help. We sat down to chat about what prompted them to come to Pivot Wealth for help with their financial planning. Check out our full chat here.
In the news
Australia has one of the highest personal tax rates in the world, and the amount of tax we pay is increasing every year. Tax at some level is important, but you don’t want to pay more than you have to. The more tax savings you can find, the more money you have for saving, investing, or for your next holiday.
In this piece for News.com.au, I write about the things you should be thinking about to save more tax dollars (legally) and get the most from your tax refund [full article here]
Jargon Buster of the Week: BOND (via Morgan Stanley)
A loan that entails a promise by a corporate, municipal, or government entity (the borrower, or “issuer”) to repay a borrowed amount (“principal”) on a particular date (“maturity”) at an agreed-upon interest rate along with a fixed coupon payment.
Podcast from last week: #127 w. Dr Amy Silver – “How to push through the fear of f*ing up with your finances “
In this episode, I talk to Dr Amy Silver. She’s a psychologist, speaker, author, and facilitator at her business at Dr Amy Silver.
Dr Silver is an expert on managing emotions for high performance and wellbeing. We talked a lot about how fear can stop people from making the decisions that will actually lead to them living a bigger life.
We apply it back to what sort of paralyzes people when it comes to money as well, and how fear stops people from taking action. But I personally had a blast chatting to her and, learning a lot of stuff, was taking notes as we were going through. We’ve talked a bit about that and Amy’s journey with money and some of the lessons that she learned along the way. Hope you enjoy this one.
Apple
Spotify
Stitcher
Podbean
Smart Money upside #30
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 is from one of our clients to help you take your money game to the next level.
Numbers/Background
Couple, early 30’s; ; household income ~ 350k; total assets ~ 1m; CryptoCurrency; Investment Portfolio; savings ~ $7k annually
Frustrations
- Not knowing when the right time is to take stock out,
- Not knowing when money is in the bank,
- What’s a reasonable budget for them to live by, Not knowing how to plan,
- People are conscious of what money they have to work with to an extent
- Don’t have a plan to utilise to
- How to budget for what you’re planning for
- Tax burden –
- Need to pay US tax for the next 4 years
- Needs an immediate tax plan
What they wanted from us / the advice process
Rainy day savings. Lifestyles savings. Home, family planning. Setting up the next 10 years for them.
Mid to high $2.0m’s for a 10-15 year home – Probably closer to $3.0m.
What success looks like for them
Be in a family home, On track to pay off family home, Good base of an emergency fund, Formulaic approach to RSUs – clear advice in investments, Structured advice on investments, When something comes up, having security.
What money strategy they were following before we went through the planning process
No clear strategy or structure.
What money strategy they chose to pursue from our planning work
Buy an IP now, diversify their concentrated share portfolio, sell GSU’s as they vest.
Key benefits of going through the process
Having an emergency fund in place, diversifying their share portfolio, GSU’s to be sold as and when.
Value of advice after all advice fees year one: $29,837
Year 20 upside after advice fees: $1,632,501
If this story resonates and you want to chat about how to get these sorts of results, you can book an intro call here.
Be awesome,
Ben
PS: If you want a hand to get on the front foot with your money in 2021, check out our 45-minute one-on-one sessions here. We’re donating 100% of the money raised to charity, so you can up your money game and do something good on the planet at the same time.
Disclaimer:
I know you’re smarter than someone that would need me to write the words that come next, but our compliance peeps are real hard-asses so here we go… This information is not personal advice, poetry, or a map to where Jimmy Hoffa is buried. It may only be regarded as general advice, and definitely shouldn’t be considered something worthy of inclusion for Donna Hay’s next cookbook or the Archibald prize. This is actually just an email communication that has been sent to a bunch of people and doesn’t even have your name on it. Your personal objectives, needs or financial situation have not been considered when preparing this email, but I want you to know that I have spent a lot of time thinking about the Venn diagram intersection of poetry, landscaping, and essential oils – if you’re fascinated by this same phenomenon please reply so we can compare notes. You should consider the appropriateness of any general advice we have given you, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs, and if necessary, seek advice before acting on it. You should also consider other people when getting on and off public transport, smiling more, eating healthy, and listening to your mum when she tells you that you’ve been working too hard. Where the information relates to a financial product, you should obtain and consider the relevant product disclosure statement before making any decision to purchase that financial product. Where the information relates to a hilarious joke I’ve made, you should consider belly laughing deeply. Worth noting also that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance when it comes to investments, and definitely not when it comes to the Wallabies. Financial services guide. All jokes aside and just to be clear, this information may only be regarded as general advice. That is, your personal objectives, needs or financial situations were not considered when preparing it. You should consider the appropriateness of any general advice we have given you, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs, and if necessary, seek advice before acting on it. Where the information relates to a financial product, you should obtain and consider the relevant product disclosure statement before making any decision to purchase that financial product. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.