Hey team
Happy Monday.
This is another huge week of announcements at our end. We are so humbled to discover that we are finalists for the FIVE IFA awards. This is such a big achievement for myself and for the team that works so hard all year round. Our fingers are crossed for awards night.
This week there’s been some movement with travel stocks as NSW makes the announcement to start to lift its restrictions to those that are vaccinated. Signalling a light at the end of the tunnel, in particular around international border restrictions. Flight Centre and Qantas both had a lot of movement this week, I’ll dive into that more below.
Giving update of the week
Last week we started working with an amazing business owner kicking a heap of goals and doing some great things in the community at the same time. Our conversations have reminded me of the power of business to change the lives of not only the people that work with any given business but also the broader community and the world at large. So to celebrate, we’ve provided one year of business training and an attached microloan for 20 women in Malawi. This is 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 only have a few more events coming up, so make sure you jump on and register. These sessions will help you learn more about investing 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: How newbie investors can get started with less than $5
There’s a new generation of investors in town. So, how are businesses altering their stance to keep up with this wave of first-time investors? Tom Culver and I had a great chat about the current market and what businesses are doing to secure investors with the long-term in mind. It’s no longer about chasing every dollar but ensuring a safer future. Check out our full chat here.
Share market wrap
The ASX finished up this week and we’re still in the midst of earnings season. Bitcoin was back up and hit a $70k high this week signalling a turnaround. Meme stocks are still proving to be this strange force with Gamestop rallying another big week, hitting US$215 a stock on Tuesday.
Key sharemarket numbers:
- The ASX ‘All Ords’ (top 500 shares in Australia) finished the week 0.4% higher than last Friday, on 7,760.10 points.
- The US ‘S&P 500’ (Top 500 shares in America) finished the week 1.34% higher than last week (Friday AEDT), at 4,470 points.
- The US ‘Nasdaq’ (Top 2500+ mainly tech shares in America) finished the week 2.56% higher than last week (Friday AEDT), on 14,945.81 points.
- The Global FTSE ‘All World’ index (largest 3100 companies in the world) finished the week 0.95% higher than last week (Friday AEDT), at 7,124.98%
- The S&P Cryptocurrency ‘Mega Cap’ Index (tracking market value of Bitcoin and Ethereum) is currently at 21.75% for the month, up 5,005.81% from last week
Investment story of the week: Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT)
Flight Centre had some bleak earnings reports this week. They posted a $507mil loss, however they forecasted a complete turnaround once travel opens back up and showed that the post-COVID turnaround is already happening across the ditch with their Americas business starting to pick up. Also worth noting is that the business owns a 47% stake in 99 bikes which did very well across the various lockdowns and posted a pre-tax profit jump of $54mil up from $18mil. Their stock is up significantly this week, with the likes of Morningstar sharing that it is currently undervalued and is still yet to reach the March high of $19.73.
Money mistake of the week: Not investing now.
“Why wasn’t I doing this two years ago?” We all wish we began investing sooner, but as they say, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. I had a great chat with Pivot Wealth client Nicola on her previously stagnant savings and the biggest changes she’s experienced since coming on board. Check out our full chat here.
Jargon Buster of the Week: Annual fee (via Mozo)
An annual fee is a somewhat annoying maintenance fee that many credit card providers charge cardholders each year. The annual fee supposedly covers the cost of maintaining your credit card, but depending on the type of card you have the fee can range from $20 to almost $400 a year for some of the snazzier platinum cards out there. What’s more, some credit cards don’t have an annual fee at all, so it pays to do your homework here.
Podcast from last week: #130 w. Troy Morgan – How to maintain peak performance
In this episode, I talked to Troy Morgan from Springday. Troy is Wellbeing specialist and his business helps companies create wellbeing programs to drive employee engagement and better wellbeing for their teams. One of the pillars of that is financial education, so we talk a bit about some of the trends that he’s seeing in that space, what people should be thinking about if they want to improve their financial wellbeing. And then we change gears and talk about Troy’s money journey and some of the lessons that he learned along the way, a couple of crackers.
Troy Morgan is a Wellbeing Strategist; CEO of Willows Health Group; shareholder and Head of Wellbeing Strategy at Health and Wellbeing technology company Springday. He is a sought-after national speaker in the areas of wellbeing, leadership and culture. In his own sporting career, he has represented Australia over 50 times in Touch football and has played in 5 World Cups.
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Smart Money upside #32
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
Individual, early 40’s; household income ~ 170k; total assets ~ 750k; savings ~ $2k annually
Frustrations
- Saving but not in a smart way (not maximising savings – could save more – no kids, low rent, etc),
- Lack of understanding on investing and where to put savings,
- Superannuation – lack of understanding, doesn’t align with an investment mandate around ESG,
- Optimising tax,
- Strategies around any financial gains.
What they wanted from us / the advice process
- Get more out of my finances,
- Understand super better and whether my super is ok,
- Get clear on property strategy
What success looks like for them
- Deposit for home
- Have an understanding if she can retire at 64 to 65 years old
- Living a comfortable lifestyle after retirement (house paid off, go on holidays),
- Maximised tax opportunities.
What money strategy they were following before we went through the planning process
- No clear strategy in place.
What money strategy they chose to pursue from our planning work
- Buy a house for her and her partner to live in, need to arrange a Binding Financial Agreement so they are clear on what happens with a relationship breakdown, super moved to a low-cost index strategy (ESG not proceeded with due to cost),
Key benefits of going through the process
- Savings strategy put in place, house to be purchased, large super savings, clarity on her long term financial future, and a future plan regarding super and tax strategies.
Value of advice after all advice fees year one: $40,149
Year 20 upside after advice fees: $885,465
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.