Comfort with money

I have been through a divorce. It was not fun. On a couple of occasions in the past I have assisted clients in the process of getting divorced to reduce the trauma but above all to attempt to produce a financial result that was “fair” (in whose mind?) and a separation that was practical. The first client I ever helped was the lady to whom I have now been married for 36 years. Because her husband at the time was a mate of mine (and, in a manner of speaking still is) the question occasionally arises that I could have got a much better deal for her. In my opinion a better deal is not just measured in dollars! When I graduated with an LLB after working as an accountant for almost 30 years, a solicitor who I approached for advice about what to do with this newly acquired qualification said that he could keep me going full-time providing financial advice to his divorcing clients - so that they could win in financial terms. I rejected that concept because I believed passiona

“Loyalty” programs at their most basic are simply a way of saying, tangibly, “Thank you for shopping with us”. Like the “bakers’ dozen”, which, if you are a cynic, probably started with a baker who couldn’t count, but was more likely a sale gimmick - buy twelve and get one “free”.* Setting aside discounts at sales time my first encounter with points accumulation, like most of us, came from a frequent flier program and after crossing the Pacific several times on business we finally managed to get a “free” flight. On another occasion when trying to get a free flight using “points” we discovered that the ONLY 2 business class seats that could be bought on that plane for that flight had been taken the day before ( the first day they were available) and there were no more “free” seats on that plane- due to take off in eleven months’ time! Since those early days so many points givers have popped up and ALL of them involve spending money before you get points, unless you tra

When I studied English at University one of the lasting imprints on my consciousness, put there by more than one of the lecturers, was the fact that our language, unlike Latin, continues to evolve. What a phrase, expression or even a word that was universally accepted as meaning something in 1948, can mean something quite different in 2018. The word “gay” springs to mind, as does the word “nice”. Nice once meant silly, foolish or simple, far from the complimentary meaning it has now. As a teenager I would have thought that the expression “hard working Australian” had a simple enough meaning. Somehow a particular band of politicians have managed to hijack these words to create an exclusive section of our country who are toiling away, being exploited, always struggling to make ends meet and deserving of more government assistance. This assistance is provided by the government from taxes collected. From whom? Surely not the hardworking Australians who are too busy working hard a

When setting up a new business one of the critical decisions that must be made relates to the structure of the business. The options are: ·         Sole Trader ·         Partnership ·         Joint Venture ·         Limited Partnership ·         Trust ·         Company Most people going into a new business or making changes to an existing activity that earns some money on the side (which is possibly just a hobby and therefore not taxable) will be frustrated by the answer from a professional to the question “Which structure is best for me?” The answer must be……”that depends”. Tax considerations are important, but depending on the type of the business, expected profitability and family circumstances, these considerations could easily be overwhelmed by other more important issues. The most recurring myth that I have had to reject repeatedly to dozens of clients over the last 30 years or so,is that establishment of a company means that you can cla

I don’t think I want to know about Bitcoin. Having said that I’m sure there are one or two real millionaires who did exceptionally well from this speculation who would tell me what a great investing opportunity I missed out on. Personally I do not speculate and my definition there is a clear distinction between speculation and investment. Investment means long term, period. The two money losing ventures that I heard about before I was even in my teens were the Tulip Bulb speculative boom of the 17th Century   and the  South Sea Bubble , an 18 th Century money making scheme run by a government  supported company riddled with insider traders and crooks. At least the last buyers of tulip bulbs had something real to look at or plant! When one of my clients asked my advice about Bitcoin my reply went something like this – “Decide how much money you would bet on a chosen horse to win the Melbourne Cup knowing that you could lose the lot. If you are that way inclined b y a

If you are a disciplined investor you will recognize that it is IMPOSSIBLE to buy nothing but bargains every time you enter the market. It is equally impossible to buy at the bottom of the market and sell at the peak of the market for a particular share unless you are especially lucky, and if you are I will guarantee that you cannot keep on repeating that experience. If Grandma has left you $10,000 in her will and you sensibly decide to invest it in the share market (remembering, I trust, that there is no such thing as a short-term investment) you will probably decide that the best thing to do is wait for the market to drop so that your investment will be made with bargains only. Good Luck! Let’s take luck out of the equation and let “the market” and simple arithmetic do the job for you.  Why do some people regard the share market as “risky” for the simple reason that every time there is a drop in the market the headlines scream at the billions of dollars that have been wiped