Hey Team,
Happy Monday.
It’s been a big week both here on planet earth and in outer space. Branson and Bezos both raced to space to mark what is the start of commercial space travel. Considering we can’t travel anywhere at the moment, I’m probably not going to put ‘space’ down as a top 10 destination. Brisbane secured the 2032 Olympics under interesting circumstances. With an Olympics, it usually comes with heavy investment in infrastructure to a city. I’ll be watching closely what this could mean for property in Brisbane.
Upcoming events
We had a solid turnout for the Employer Share Scheme live this week, thanks to all of you who attended. If you missed the talk, you can catch up on the full session here.
A friendly reminder, don’t forget to register for the next round of events we’re putting on in partnership with the General Assembly. We covered tax-saving this week and we’re yet to cover 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:
Cryptocurrency Investing 101 – Thursday 12th August 11:30 am -12:30 pm AEST
Make More Money: Personal Investing 101 – Thursday 2nd September 1111:30 am2:30pm 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
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 was Crown after The Star Entertainment Group withdrew it’s merger announcement.
Key sharemarket numbers:
- The ASX ‘All Ords’ (top 500 shares in Australia) finished the week 0.5% higher than last Friday, on 7,670.90 points.
- The US ‘S&P 500’ (Top 500 shares in America) finished the week 0.00% higher than last week (Friday AEDT), at 4,367.48 points.
- The US ‘Nasdaq’ (Top 2500+ mainly tech shares in America) finished the week 0.5953% higher than last week (Friday AEDT), on 14,684.60 points.
- The Global FTSE ‘All World’ index (largest 3100 companies in the world) finished the week 0.22% lower than last week (Friday AEDT), at 7,024.14%
- The S&P Cryptocurrency ‘Mega Cap’ Index (tracking market value of Bitcoin and Ethereum) is currently at – 7.61% for the month, up 3,395.85% from last week
Investment story of the week: Evolution Mining Limited (ASX: EVN)
Evolution Mining shares halted trading on Thursday after asking investors for a $400 million equity top-up to fund an acquisition from ASX-listed rival Northern Star. It went on to have a bumper Friday trading over 7% up since Thursday. However, pulling back and looking at the performance of EVN over the course of the year, it’s still down over 30%, so this could be interpreted a number of different ways. Mining stocks tend to be really volatile, which can make the ride really exciting or a bit stressful.
Money Hack of the week: Overcoming analysis paralysis
Between myself and our team, we speak with hundreds of people every month and one of the first questions we ask is “what’s holding you back from achieving success?”. Over 80% of you say information overload, which results in ‘analysis paralysis’. Clarity is a game changer. If you’re terrified of a mortgage or any investment, it’s obvious you haven’t had the ability to pull back, see the bigger picture and then develop a clear plan around how your finances can support your decisions. Pivot Wealth client Clare and I caught up to talk about spending money now to help you gain clarity, security and wealth down the track. Listen to our full discussion here.
Money mistake of the week: Letting the fear of “f***ing it up” hold you back
Rapid action = rapid results. The earlier you start to build your wealth, the better. I sat down with Pivot Wealth client Karim who doesn’t settle for instant coffee anymore. Like him, you want the best. You want the frothy, rich, well-blended coffee. But the fear of making a big mistake that costs you a heap of money is a barrier that holds most people back from taking action. In this video, we chatted through how Karim built the financial confidence you need to take action. Click here to listen to our full chat.
Jargon Buster of the Week: PROPRIETARY TRADER (via Morgan Stanley)
A trader that creates direct profit and risk exposure for the bank by taking positions, as opposed to trading for a client and charging commission.
Podcast from last week: #124 Crypto podcast series story w. Caroline Bowler – Trends in the cryptocurrency market
In this episode, I chat with Caroline Bowler. Caroline is the CEO of BTC markets, which is the largest cryptocurrency and digital asset exchange in Australia.
We talk all things about crypto then we dive deep into the types of trends that she’s seeing at the moment, some of the mistakes that people make, get into the mechanics of how you actually buy crypto as well as then we shifted gears and talked a bit about Caroline’s personal money story and some of the lessons that she learned, her youngest self, addiction to credit cards and how she got on top of that as well as some of the challenges around saving for property in Australia as an expat. Check it out on:
Apple
Spotify
Stitcher
Podbean
Smart Money upside #27
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, late 20’s; household income ~ 520k; total assets ~ $380k; annual savings ~ $33k annually
Frustrations
Lack of knowledge on investing (knowledge vs action, No clear & easy to follow plan, Complexity of being a US Citizen and owning assets in both countries, Plan on RSUs & Options
What they wanted from us / the advice process
Have a plan – something clear and easy to follow showing how I can get the money outcomes I want, Learn how I can leverage the tax and investment rules to get ahead faster, Understand property investing and how it can help me get ahead, Make sure my super money is working hard for me, Make sure my expenses and/or loved ones are covered if the unexpected happens
What success looks like for them
– Maintaining their current level of lifestyle while still building towards their long term wealth and passive income
– Have their own home
– Having full confidence in their financial strategy
– Making better use of their money, having them only they have working harder for them
– Would like to change careers at some point, after they get their PR
– Promoted to Partner within the company
What money strategy they were following before we went through the planning process
Earning good money, saving a bit but spending alot more. Adhoc and small scale investing. No clear plan or direction.
What money strategy they chose to pursue from our planning work
Reduce Spending and Lifestyle budgets, increase initial and regular investing, build deposit to buy investment property in 12-24 months.
Key benefits of going through the process
Clients have greater clarity over their current financial position and the trajectory of their future
Value of advice after all advice fees year one: $65,581
Year 20 upside after advice fees: $1,099,429
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.