Ellen Schafer spends most of her waking hours talking to people about their hopes and aspirations. Ellen considers retirement planning is only one aspect of her job. She believes that whilst it is understandable that many people look forward to retiring from their working life it is the lucky few who never consider retirement that are the happiest.
Margin lending has experienced a 39% increase in Australia in the 12 months to June this year, but there are still a lot of investors that are not sure how a margin loan works.
In the same way as property investors put down a deposit and borrow to purchase a rental property, margin lending allows you to buy a share or managed fund portfolio. In fact, many investors secure a margin loan by using an existing share portfolio as the deposit, which can make the process even easier.
Australians are living longer & therefore need to think carefully about their finances before they retire. Salary sacrificing has had a lot of good press lately but is that the only alternative & indeed is it the best choice to maximise wealth before retirement?
We believe that the answer to that question is not purely a mathematical equation because each individual has a different risk tolerance. It would be nice to be able to start weighing it all up from some standpoint however and that is exactly what we will be doing in our next investment workshop.
Obligation Works (Too Afraid to Borrow for Investment?)
We all know that saving is a good thing but not too many people get very far in life by just being good savers. In fact many people who find it impossible to save money are very good at meeting their obligations. In other words, if they do have a debt they will always meet their repayments but they may find it impossible to save the amount of the repayment if they were not 'oblidged' to do it
The family business sector in Australia is significantly more extensive than most people realise. Some estimates put the capital value of family-owned businesses in Australia at $3.6 trillion and a huge number of these flourishing enterprises will change hands in the next five to ten years as their proprietors get older.
If you ask the average person what their most valuable asset is they will usually tell you it is their family home. When asked how they acquired it their sad response is generally, "with a huge mortgage". However debt doesn't need to be a dirty word - read Ellen's column from the 26 May 2006 Sunshine Coast Weekender
Contrary to popular belief, wealthy people are often amongst the happiest in our community - read Ellen's comments in the May 2006 Sunshine Coast Weekender article
