Smart money weekly; Share market rally, how to buy your first home, and is lenders mortgage insurance the devil?

Ben Nash

Hey Team,

Happy Monday

This week has seen a massive rally in sharemarkets driven by the data coming out of the US over the last couple of weeks.  There’s also been a surge in the crypto and NFT markets off the back of some big players like Visa getting on board the crypto revolution.

For anyone keen on investing in property, next week I’m going to be running the second event in the ‘Spill the proper-tea’ series on How to Buy Your First Property in partnership with Raiz Home Ownership and General Assembly. Check out the details and book your place here.

Share market wrap
The Aussie market was strongly up, driven by fintech and following on from the strong US and global economic data. Steady bond prices have also given investors confidence off the back of commentary from the central banks around the world.

Key sharemarket numbers:

  • The ASX ‘All Ords’ (top 500 shares in Australia) finished the week 3.26% higher than last Friday, on 7,252.30 points.
  • The US ‘S&P500’ (Top 500 shares in America) finished the week 2.33% higher than last Friday, on 4,128.80 points.
  • The US ‘Nasdaq’ (Top 2500+ mainly tech shares in America) finished the week 2.21% higher than last Friday, on 13,900.19 points.
  • The Global ‘All World’ index (measured with the iShares MSCI world index (all share markets around the world combined) finished the week 1.65% higher than last Friday, at 122.56.

Investment story of the week
Afterpay (ASX: APT): The BNPL (buy now, pay later) powerhouse gained over 15% this week and is now up over 867% since March 2020 just over a year ago. Afterpay has been battered by the introduction of finance giants like Paypal among others to the BNPL market, but clearly, the market is seeing the potential for recovery.

Jargon buster – Commodities: Raw materials, such as precious metals or grains, for which contracts are bought and sold on commodities exchanges.

Money mistake of the week: First home buyers being allergic to LMI
A common myth for property buyers is that you should avoid lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) at all costs. But in some cases that can cost you a bundle. In this clip, we answer the question on when you should avoid LMI and when it can help you hit your property goals faster check it out here.

Money hack of the week: Buying property in a post-COVID Australia
There is so much noise in the property market at the moment, and the fear of making the wrong move is crippling. Last week I downloaded my top tips for how to buy property the smart way in Australia beyond COVID. Full clip here.

Podcast from last week: #100 Property Pro series w. Cameron Airlie
Last week we celebrated the 100th episode of the How to be successful with money podcast by interviewing Cameron Airlie, real estate agent for NG Farah. We talk a lot about how to deal with real estate agents, how to negotiate, which obviously is heavily involved in selling his client’s properties as well as his take on the market, the opportunities for buyers, the opportunities for sellers and some of the mistakes that he sees people make when looking to build their wealth buying property.

Smart Money upside #16 – Next steps after building the family plan
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
This lovely couple did their initial plan with us a couple of years back, all around looking to start a family and work at a reduced pace to be there for the kidlets. That strategy is now in place, and we recently caught up for their progress and strategy review, where they wanted to focus on building assets to create financial security.

Household income ~$340k (including RSU’s), saving $80k annually with RSU and bonus income, $50k savings with minimal assets outside employer share plan.

Frustrations
Good lifestyle and family plan, but minimal assets outside employer shares. Wanting to move towards their dream home.

What they wanted from us / the advice process
Financial modelling of business launch, adequate provisioning for RSU tax, family planning, working toward a property purchase.

What money strategy they were following before we went through the planning process
Creating a buffer for starting a family, provisioning for tax on employer share plans that they hadn’t done in the past.

What money strategy they chose to pursue from our planning work
Further building cash buffer + buying an investment property and investing in shares.

Key benefits of going through the process
Taking action on property investment and kicking off regular contributions to a share portfolio and starting the next step to building money momentum now the family plan was provided for.

Year 1 upside after advice fees: $252
Year 20 upside after advice fees: $709,702

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.

 

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