Happy Monday.
This week the team and I had the pleasure of attending the Independent Financial Advisers (IFA) excellence awards, where we were completely blown away to be recognised in a bunch of their awards categories:
Self-licensed firm of the year (finalist)
Wellness program of the year (finalist)
Digital advice strategy of the year (finalist)
Transformation of the year (finalist)
Best client servicing adviser (finalist)
Marketing program of the year
Industry thought leader of the year
Innovator of the year (finalist)
Practice principal of the year (finalist)
IFA excellence award (finalist – company)
IFA excellence award (finalist – individual)
To me, this demonstrates the willingness of our clients, community, and team to lean into our crazy ideas and try new things to push the boundaries of great financial advice, and for that, we want to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU.
Upcoming events:
Be smarter with your tax. Jump on our session next week to learn the tips and tricks around your tax position and how to make better decisions. Check out all our other upcoming events below as well.
- Be smarter with tax in 2023 – November 24, 12pm
- Plan smarter with money in 2023 – December 14, 12pm
- Buy your first home in 2023 – December 15, 12pm
- Master your money mindset in 2023 – January 11, 12pm
- Get money smart in 2023 – January 25, 2023, 12pm
- Buy property smarter in 2023 – February 22, 2023, 12pm
- Build a second income investing in 2023 – March 8, 12pm
- Invest with property equity in 2023 – March 22, 2023, 12pm
Share market wrap
The ASX this week has defied losses on Wall Street. The Australian market saw a slight increase after the news from our October unemployment figures. These figures detailed the unemployment rate dropping from 3.5 per cent to 3.4 percent which is an almost 50-year low. We also saw quarterly wage growth of 1.2 per cent in the private sector which is the strongest in 12 years. The war in Russia and Ukraine has now affected Poland as their soil was hit by a missile strike killing two people. These rising tensions resulted in the European indices falling throughout the week. The Aussie dollar is sitting around 67 US cents.
Key sharemarket numbers:
- The ASX ‘All Ords’ (top 500 shares in Australia) finished the week 0.1% higher than last Friday at 7,354.70 points.
- The US ‘S&P 500’ (Top 500 shares in America) finished the week -0.4% lower than last week at 3,946.56 points.
- The US ‘Nasdaq’ (Top 2500+ mainly tech shares in America) finished the week 0.19% higher than last week at 11,114.96 points.
- The Global FTSE ‘All World’ index (largest 3100 companies in the world) finished the week -0.41% lower than last week (Friday AEDT) at 7,346.34 points.
- The S&P Cryptocurrency ‘Mega Cap’ Index (tracking market value of Bitcoin and Ethereum) is currently at 1,822.40 for the month, down -19.75% for the month to date.
Investment story of the week: Graincorp Ltd (ASX: GNC)
Graincorp Limited has had an interesting week. Graincorp is an Australian commodity trading company. Their core business revolves around the storage of grain and related commodities as well as logistics for these commodities. Their chief executive, Robert Spurway said earnings were up more than 100 per cent on last year. The demand for Aussie grain has been strong. The amount of grain handled increased from 34.4 million tonnes last financial year to 41.1 million tonnes this year. The organisation announced a final dividend of 30 cents per share this week as Mr Spurway noted they have a strong balance sheet with $177 million in cash on the books. However, the current floods wreaking havoc through central NSW are having an immense impact on crops. An NSW Farmers Association survey shows a large reduction in the area sown this year due to flooding. This impact will definitely flow through in due time to Graincorp’s earnings. One to keep an eye on.
Smart Money upside #96
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 40’s; household income ~ $300k; total assets ~ $1.6m; savings ~ $10k annually.
Frustrations
Not having a plan which would allow them to know if they are on track for their desired lifestyle in the short and long term as well as not knowing how they will help fund their children’s education.
What they wanted from us / the advice process
Had a minimal idea about how financial advice works and was scared of paying the fees. They have been afraid to make mistakes and not sure what to do with their savings.
What success looks like for them
Getting a clear plan that provides them with confidence, having a comfortable retirement in their early 60s, clarity on the next 10 years, buying their dream home, helping their kids with education and being able to provide them with intergenerational wealth.
What money strategy they were following before we went through the planning process
Micro investing platforms and using their offset account.
What money strategy they chose to pursue from our planning work
Buying an investment property, utilising investment bonds to build wealth, superannuation rollover and rebalance, a brand new banking structure to simplify their cash flow, more appropriate debt management and implementing a solid estate plan.
Key benefits of going through the process
Education on their finances, and a better understanding of the financial tools available to them to help them achieve their short and long-term goals.
Year 20 upside after advice fees: $2m
If this story resonates and you want to chat about how to get these sorts of results, you can book an intro call here.
Giving update of the week
At Pivot we know that education is very important and it gives us knowledge of the world around us and changes it into something better so we’ve supported a one-year access to education for the orphans in Malawi. We wanted to help them through education empowerment, creating a level ground for children who could not access education because of a loss of a parent, absolute poverty, etc. This is all part of our ongoing commitment to make a difference in the lives of our clients and simultaneously make an impact on our world through our partnership with B1G1 (Buy 1 Give 1). You can check out more information about our giving here.
Money hack of the week: What resources motivate Kym’s money journey?
What keeps you moving forward with your finances? Books, people, systems? I talked to health and wellbeing mastermind Kym Power about her favourite resources for managing her money. From books to mentors and automating her finances, she educated herself on how to get the most from her earnings. Check out our chat here.
Money mistake of the week: Where would you begin to redesign your life?
Have you ever thought of redesigning your life? In this chat, psychotherapist Andrew Sloan and I talked about navigating uncertainty, complexity, and change. If you were able to redesign your life, where would you begin? Check out the full chat here.
Jargon Buster of the Week: Broker (via Canstar)
A person or company who buys and sells stocks for you in exchange for a fee/commission.
Podcast from last week: #268 Maximising your employer share plan when the market is crashing
This episode is a recording of a live event I did on How to maximise your employers’ share plan when the market is crashing. The employer’s share plan can create a massive opportunity for people to get ahead faster and accelerate their wealth building. However, you need to know how to use the rules to your advantage to avoid missing out on the opportunity and not getting frustrated by big tax bills, declining share prices, and forcing this reactive, stressful selling situation.
I also talked about the basics of employee share plans, how they work, and how they fit together. As well as some of the considerations you should be thinking about in the current market environment to set up a rock-solid employee share plan strategy.
This episode is perfect for anyone who has an employee share plan and wants to know more about how you can make the most of it.
Helping people with this stuff is our jam, so if you want to chat about how to make your money success easier, you can book an intro call with us here.
Be awesome,
Ben
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 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, regarding your 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. 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, regarding your 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.