21st March 2022

Smart money weekly; Netflix crackdown, Wall St winning week, taking risks for impact

Ben Nash

Hey team,

Happy Monday.

If you pay for your own Netflix account, phew, you’re in the clear. Bad news for those of you that are sharing your mother, brother, cousin or ex’s password. Netflix wants to start charging password sharers an extra fee. The fee is currently being tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru before the decision is widespread.

This news comes just weeks after Netflix raised their monthly subscriptions’ prices, so it’s clear that the crackdown is part of the bigger plan. Netflix’s director of product innovation said, “Accounts are being shared between households – impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”

Wall Street loved the extra US$2.99 a month it will cost to add up to two users outside of your home. Netflix stock rose 3.9% on Thursday. Considering the stock basically got cut in half from its high in November, investors can view the baby steps as progress. If the extra cash actually leads to more quality content on Netflix, and not just another ridiculous dating show, then I’d say it’s worth it.

Smart Money upside #60
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
Individual; mid 30’s, income ~$290k, total assets ~620k, savings~ $5k annually

Frustrations
Missing out on lots of opportunities and just slack in terms of moving forward and taking responsibility for my finances. I want to be in control and on top of my finances.

What they wanted from us / the advice process
Structured plan, tax strategies, investment options and education of financial products.

What success looks like for them
Money is working hard for me, being confident across my finances by having a clear plan. I want to be confident I can retire by having investments lined up (property and shares). I want to learn about tax strategies that can help me achieve my goals faster.

What money strategy they were following before we went through the planning process
None

What money strategy do they choose to pursue from our planning work
Investment property, shares, banking structure

Key benefits of going through the process
Education about products, a structured easy-to-follow plan, and learning about when I can achieve milestones.

Value of advice after all advice fees year one: $42,340
Year 20 upside after advice fees: $1,542,278

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 health care helps prevent diseases and improve quality of life. Without access to healthcare, people are far more at risk and susceptible to illnesses and widespread viruses. So we’ve supported 100 villagers in Kenya to have access to healthcare for a year. 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.

Upcoming events:
We have a huge new series of events coming up across the next few months. From saving, to building a second income, it’s all here for you. Even if you can’t make the times, click through to register and we’ll send over a recording:

Event schedule and links to book here:

Money Hack of the week: How to take risks so you can make an impact.
Is FEAR preventing you from making an impact on your life and the lives of others? I was lucky enough to chat with Annabelle Chauncy, who shared how her organisation manages their cash flow so they can sustain their operations in the long term. There’s no reason to fear progress if you have the right systems in place. Check out our full chat here.

Share market wrap
The S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.6 per cent higher on Friday as sentiment improved amid mixed signals on peace talks in Ukraine. Major U.S. stock indexes notched their best week since November 2020 as oil prices stayed below recent highs and investors embraced signs of confidence in the U.S. economy from the Federal Reserve.

Key sharemarket numbers:

  • The ASX ‘All Ords’ (top 500 shares in Australia) finished the week 2.9% higher than last Friday, on 7,546.70 points.
  • The US ‘S&P 500’ (Top 500 shares in America) finished the week 3.11% higher than last week, at 4,411.67 points.
  • The US ‘Nasdaq’ (Top 2500+ mainly tech shares in America) finished the week 2.96 % higher than last week, at 13,614.78 points.
  • The Global FTSE ‘All World’ index (largest 3100 companies in the world) finished the week 4% higher than last week (Friday AEDT), at 7,385.34
  • The S&P Cryptocurrency ‘Mega Cap’ Index (tracking market value of Bitcoin and Ethereum) is currently at 4,412.91 for the month, down -1.76% for the month to date

Investment story of the week: Butn Ltd (ASX: BTN)
Butn Ltd helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through their working capital constraints, providing them with business transactional funding. To date, Butn has financed more than $500 million of business transactions since 2015. It helps SMEs through their working capital constraints, providing them with business transactional funding. To date, Butn has financed more than $500 million of business transactions since 2015. The company had a big jump in their price on Friday, up around 25%, which can be attributed to their growing partnership arrangements and continued aim at growth. Definitely a company worth adding to the watchlist for the future.

Money mistake of the week: Why your beliefs could be holding you back from success.
Are you aware that self-sabotaging beliefs can affect your money decisions? Believing that we’re not good enough or not deserving of success can do some serious damage to our progress. Health and well-being expert Kym Power and I discuss how to recognise these beliefs and what you can do about them. Check out our full chat here.

Jargon Buster of the Week: Cash flow (Macquarie)
The cycle of money coming into and out of an account according to income/revenue and expenses. Negative cash flow is when expenses fall due before income/revenue is available and the account experiences a shortfall. Positive cash flow is when income/revenue outstrips expenses and there is excess cash in the cycle.

In the news: Flood disaster could spark massive insurance premium price rises
Flood disasters across NSW and Queensland could have a financial impact on households across the country. I sat down with the team at The Morning Show to explain that with most insurance companies affected, all of their customers are likely to be hit too.

Podcast from last week: #160 Smart Money Challenge 1 – Introduction
I’m really pumped to be bringing you this episode and the next handful that is coming where I’m going to bring you the Smart Money Challenge, which focuses on some practical tips, hacks, frameworks and strategies that you can use to set up a game plan to get more out of the money that you have now.
So over the next half dozen episodes, I’m going to guide you through what I found to be the building blocks of financial success. And in this episode, I run through how the challenge works, the things that you can expect, how the content was laid out, and where you can access the tools and resources to fit around it. In short, we’re going to help you save better, invest smarter and plan better with your money. Hope you enjoy it.

Apple
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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.