True Financial

You are here: Home / Archives for Budget

by

Quick Guide to Personal Finance

In my experience, financial success is gained through two key actions that we all have the ability to leverage. The two keys to financial success is hard work and sound decision making. Over time if we consistently make unwise decisions, we will find ourselves in a situation that is difficult to recover from.

Just like other things in life, achieving financial success is more about hard work and making the right choices rather than circumstances outside of our control. Making savvy Personal Finance decisions starts with understanding why we make bad financial decisions in the first place and making a conscious effort to change the way we handle our money.

None of us are perfect as we are all human and are guided through life by a mix of ideals, morals, instincts and emotions. These factors can have a large influence on the financial decisions we make everyday. Some help us make good decisions and others not so much.

Savvy financial decision making begins with understanding that emotions and other elements of the human experience can impair your ability to make good financial decisions. The following list of savvy financial decision examples can help you improve your financial situation and avoid making poor financial decisions in the first place.

 

Making Better Financial Decisions

 

Create a Financial Plan – You know my first piece of advice will always be to  create a financial plan. A plan will automatically help you increase your financial decision making savvy by showing you the impacts of the decisions you make on a daily basis.

Difference Between Needs and Wants – Far too often we buy the things we do not need. When we spend money to buy frivolous items or overpay for things we do need, we are throwing away the opportunity to let our savings and investments grow at a faster rate. Take the time to explore the concept of needs and wants, let your conclusions guide your future financial decisions.

Don’t Max Out Your Mortgage – In the past, many of us have bought as much house as the bank would let us. We let the lenders and mortgage companies tell us what we could afford. This decision put many of us in a rough financial situation that we are still working through. So if you are exploring the opportunity to buy a house, don’t max out your mortgage.

Automate Your Budget – Taking the emotion out of budgeting and spending less is as easy as opening a bank account. When separating your discretionary and non-discretionary expenses into two bank accounts you will make it easier to save money by removing the temptation to buy the things you don’t really need.

Invest a Little Each Pay Cheque – Consistent investing is the best long-term strategy for making your money work for you. Investing 5-10% of every pay cheque is a great way to build a solid nest egg and easily increase your net-worth.

Don’t Ignore Insurance – One large bill, from a car accident for example, can wreak havoc on your financial plan and severely limit your chances of ever being financially independent. Ensure that your insurance covers you from any large unavoidable bills in the future. I know paying for insurance is not on the top of your to do list, however you will thank me if anything ever goes wrong.

by

The Silver Lining

Uncertainty in Europe, a volatile share market and falling property prices; there has to be some good news! Today I feel a little like Santa Clause for those with large debts as there is a silver lining. With inflation on the way down and predictions of a slowing economy we have now seen interest rates fall two months in a row. Interest rates have now fallen half of a percent, equating to $1500 saving a year or $125 a month, for those with a $300,000 mortgage. With a couple more interest rate falls predicted by a number of economists, do we just ride the gravy train all the way down and hope they stay down long enough to get some real benefit? Or do we take advantage of some very competitive fixed rates and lock them in for a period of time? [Read more…]

by

Try our Solar Calculator

The Government grant for solar installation will be reduced by 20% in July 2011 (an approximate reduction of $1200). This reduction in government support will mean that solar will become more expensive to install after 1 July 2011. The rebates will continue to decrease until 2015 when rebates will no longer be offered, as the Government believes solar prices will have decreased enough to be affordable.

To make your life easier in deciding what system is suitable for you and in fact whether you feel it is a worthwhile investment, we have created a solar calculator that takes into account your changing electricity consumption or production and the financing costs of installing. We have built the solar calculator so you can estimate what you think will be the increase in the cost of electricity into the future. The higher you think electricity prices will increase the more you will benefit by installing solar. [Read more…]

by

Education Tax Refund

Ensure you get the most back at tax time.

Eligible parents can claim the Education Tax Refund (ETF) in their individual tax returns. The ETF is a fully refundable tax offset that will be paid as part of your tax assessment. (For those not required to lodge an income tax return, a stand-alone claim form can be used).

The maximum you can claim is 50% of eligible expenses up to:

  • $780 for each eligible student in primary school – that is, a refund of up to $390
  • $1,558 for each eligible student in secondary school – that is, a refund of up to $779.

If the expenses exceed your refund for the financial year, you can carry forward the excess expenses from one year to the next, for one year only (as long as you are still eligible).

Eligible education expenses that you can claim include:

[Read more…]

by

2010 Federal Budget

What does it mean for you?

Treasurer Wayne Swan released the Government’s third Federal Budget on Tuesday, 11 May 2010.  It has been reported to be a budget with a “few surprises”, however there is potentially a number of proposals that may impact you.

The proposed changes still need to be legislated before becoming effective, therefore the final form of these proposals may differ significantly. It is important to seek professional financial advice in relation to the impact these measures may have on your personal financial position.

The budget aims to return us to a surplus by 2012/2013 after a budget deficit for 2009/2010, estimated at $57 billion. [Read more…]

Like us on Facebook

Recent Posts

Privacy Statement

See our Privacy Statement here

Keep up to Date

Powered by VMA-Emailer