"Bad news for cash-strapped workers hoping to eventually break into the One Per Cent: How much you make over your lifetime has less to do with grit and more to do with what you earn during your first decade in the labour market, a new report shows."
"Heard the trendy social term F.O.M.O, the Fear Of Missing Out? It's a compulsion now so rife among would-be property buyers they're giving themselves debt hangovers that will last a lifetime. And I feel compelled to warn them (and you) about the $310 monthly repayment risk."
"Australian households are the most indebted in the world, according to research by Barclays, which warns that the country would be vulnerable in the event of another global financial shock."
"AUSTRALIANS should be checking their credit report at least once a year, experts advise."
You'd think earning a top salary would put you well on the road to financial security. Not always, say financial planners, who cite highly intelligent clients making very stupid money mistakes.
There's one structure experts say has no parallel when it comes to its tax-saving abilities – the family trust.
"Two weeks ago in this column I talked about the wisdom of our children following in our footsteps and committing themselves to a debt-funded gamble on the property market."
"LONG-TERM RETURNS
$US1 put under the bed in 1802 would be worth US5c in December 2013
That $US1 invested in gold would be worth $US3.21 today
The same amount invested in the share market would now be worth $US930,550
Source: Wharton Finance Professor Jeremy Siegel"
"This baby business was meant to be blissful, yes? Sunshine pram walks and play dates and contented gurgles.
But after the birth of her son Jack, Sarah Appleford, 32, found parenting was tough. She felt much lonelier and more disorientated than she had expected."
Accounting firm KPMG has recommended family trusts pay full capital gains tax amid fresh estimates that revenue leakage associated with such trusts tops $1 billion a year.
"Many companies and their staff focus on novated leases and the benefits and savings are real – but it may also be worth looking at the other options for claiming work-related motor vehicle expenses."