Australians love pets. Except me. I’m the only one in my house (*or zoo) who doesn’t like pets so please don’t judge me. It makes no financial sense to a financial nerd like me to have pets. If you ever take out your spreadsheet and crunch some numbers, tears will cascade down your cheeks like a running tap. So please don’t do that because pets bring you joy, companionship, happiness, and much more. Why am I writing this article then? I am writing this article because thanks to my beloved husband, I have been promoted to the newly created role of Pets Manager in our zoo (used interchangeably ..read more

Owning your own home is the ultimate Australian dream. Whilst we all want to achieve this, it is somewhat disheartening to see how property prices skyrocketing before our eyes as we chip away huge chunks of our pay to save for THE deposit. I have been there and done that and I know how you feel. But fortunately, the tide has changed now with the rises in interest rates and other factors/issues created on the back of the pandemic (which I am secretly thankful for because my mission is to help as many Millennials realise this great Australian Dream). Mind you, this is not an economic essay so he ..read more

Owning your own home is the ultimate Australian dream. Whilst we all want to achieve this, it is somewhat disheartening to see how property prices skyrocketing before our eyes as we chip away huge chunks of our pay to save for THE deposit. I have been there and done that and I know how you feel. But fortunately, the tide has changed now with the rises in interest rates and other factors/issues created on the back of the pandemic (which I am secretly thankful for because my mission is to help as many Millennials realise this great Australian Dream). Mind you, this is not an economic essay so he ..read more

New data from the lending watchdog reveals almost one in four new mortgages are risky. How are they deemed risky? Well, it’s got something to do with your debt-to-income ratio, which we’ll explain in this week’s article. Your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio might sound complicated, but it’s really very simple to work out. Basically, your DTI is a measurement used by lenders that compares your total debt to your gross household income. The formula is: total debt / gross income = debt-to-income ratio. So if you’re seeking a $700,000 home loan (and have no other debt), and you have $160,000 in gross h ..read more

Think property prices have gone a little bonkers? You’re not the only one. Which is why a report with 16 recommendations to tackle housing affordability has just been plonked on pollies’ desks in Canberra. Today we’ll run through them for you (succinctly, we promise). You might have noticed that property prices have skyrocketed over the past 18 months, to the point where a lot of first home buyers are now having real difficulties cracking the market. So how is the government looking at addressing it? Well, a House of Representatives committee (made up of both Liberal and Labor MPs) tabled a re ..read more

It’s the hope that kills you. Just ask Carlton fans, NSW Blues supporters, Wallabies sufferers, and hopeful homebuyers who have fallen victim to underquoting. Obviously, you can’t change your footy team, but you can follow these tips to avoid the sketchy real estate practice. If it hasn’t happened to you, it’s probably happened to someone you know. You find a dream home that appears within your budget, you get your finance pre-approved, you get your hopes up, and … you get blown out of the water come auction day because the agent has underquoted the property. But hang in there – all is not los ..read more

Australian small businesses are investing in their recovery through a surge in machinery purchases, IT and office technologies, and sustainable business assets, according to Commonwealth Bank (CBA) data. The CBA research shows small business financing for equipment and machinery is up 17% so far this financial year compared to last year. The research also shows 67% of businesses have budgeted for new equipment in the next 12 months, with 55% of those businesses specifically planning to invest in IT and office technology. “As organisations welcome employees back into offices, they are ..read more

Some of Australia’s biggest banks have tightened their mortgage lending criteria, meaning you might not be able to borrow as much from them. How might this affect your next purchase? This week ANZ lowered a key lending cap, indicating it will no longer lend to borrowers with a debt-to-income (DTI) ratio above 7.5 (meaning people can borrow up to seven and a half times their gross annual income). NAB meanwhile has reduced its cap to eight times a borrower’s income. Up until this month, both banks had been willing to lend up to nine times a borrower’s income. In effect, the changes mean the maxi ..read more

Rising interest rates got you feeling a little vulnerable? It might be time to take some control back by refinancing or asking for a rate review. Here’s why we’re seeing refinancing numbers surge across the country. In just two months we’ve seen the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increase the cash rate from a record-low 0.10% to 0.85%, and it hasn’t taken long for most lenders to pass those rate increases on to customers. Unfortunately, the RBA has warned that more rate hikes are on the way, which might have left you feeling at your lender’s mercy. But there are ways you can make yourself fee ..read more

Tax time is just around the corner and the ATO has sent out a warning to businesses around the country that owe it money: the COVID-19 moratorium on debt collection has come to an end. Rest assured though, you’ve got some options. During the early days of the pandemic, the ATO says it deliberately shifted its focus away from firmer debt collection action to help businesses that were experiencing challenges. However, the ATO has been busy in recent months sending out almost 30,000 awareness letters for business tax debts and 52,319 awareness letters about the use of Director Penalty N ..read more