2019-08-07 02:21
Late last year I finally got around to using the State Government's "Energy Watch" website to compare my electricity supplier/plan with others that were available. After entering some facts… Read More
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Learn how to accumulate a seven-figure net worth on a five-figure salary.
2019-08-01 05:00
My net worth total was marginally higher at the end of July (+$1,873 or 0.08% compared to last month) at $2,382,540. This was due to a significant increase in the balance of my retirement sa… Read More
2019-07-05 13:08
Well, the tax package the NLP government took to the last election has now been passed by both houses, so will become legislation. My local MP sent me a link to this handy tax relief estimat… Read More
2019-07-04 03:25
Last time I invested in a company pre-listing was a US ISP start-up 'Global Entrepreneurs Network' (GEN) last century. Despite being a dot-com company prior to the dot-com boom-bust in the l… Read More
2019-07-03 13:50
I was relieved that I managed to end up getting a Credit grade for last semester's subject 'Commercial Law' with a mark of 66%. As I had only gotten marks just over 65% for the assessment ta… Read More
2019-07-01 04:53
The positive performance of the Australian and global share markets during June resulted in my geared share portfolio gaining $22,317 (10.34%) and my superannuation savings rising by $40,058… Read More
2019-06-24 04:56
I did the FASEA Financial Adviser exam on Sunday (I didn't want to take a day off work). I can't say anything detailed about the contents of the exam as that would be 'misconduct' (we were b… Read More
2019-06-21 04:16
Apparently the SMH sub-editors have no qualms about using click-bait headlines such as "How a millionaire pays no income tax".
The article has some interesting facts about typical amounts d… Read More
2019-06-19 04:40
From ATO data for 2016/17 available via a SMH article the following breakdown of 'Financial Planner' taxable income by tax bracket:
2.69% earned up to $18,200 (537 people) - average income:… Read More
2019-06-04 05:18
One of the quirks of the Australian financial advice sector was that accountants had been able to offer financial advice limited to SMSFs in isolation. This made a sort of sense, as accounti… Read More
2019-06-03 06:18
"Sell in May and go away" - one of the old stock market sayings that hadn't been reliable in recent years, but certainly would have been worth heeding towards the end of May 2019. My overall… Read More
2019-06-03 04:50
I recently posted about the criticism that had been leveled at some French billionaires when they gave generously to the Notre Dame restoration campaign. It seems that rather than being seen… Read More
2019-05-29 12:47
The new, mandatory examination for Financial Planners in Australia has finally kicked off - bookings for the June session of examinations opened earlier this month and close at 5pm on Friday… Read More
2019-05-29 01:19
One 'benchmark' that I use for evaluating how well I am doing at increasing my net worth is the cut-off amount for the annual 'rich list' of the 200 wealthiest Australians - I compare my NW… Read More
2019-05-26 04:34
According to the Wealth-X Billionaire census the number of billionaires world-wide declined by 5.4% to 2,604 during 2018, and their total wealth also declined by 7% to $8.6 trillion las… Read More
2019-05-25 02:07
One of the things I found most irritating about Labor's election campaigning was their constant assertion that raising taxes to spend on more 'redistribution' to reduce inequality was 'fair'… Read More
2019-05-23 12:33
I decided to short Tesla again yesterday (not sure if the trade was executed, as I placed it while the markets were closed, so it depends what happens with the US market overnight). Last tim… Read More
2019-05-22 00:44
Apparently the RBA governor has 'gone political' and given a post-election speech suggesting that the government ought to look at other ways to lower unemployment (such as increased infrastr… Read More
2019-05-18 12:27
Tony Abbott lost his seat of Warringah. He's a nice bloke (I've met him), but his view are very out-dated, so it's probably going to be a good thing for the Liberal party when he's gone. Zal… Read More
2019-05-18 03:11
DS1 is working for the AEC today, manning a polling station in a nearby electorate. It's a good opportunity for a uni student to earn some money (apparently it's close to a thousand dollars… Read More
2019-05-14 05:19
Having no paying clients (yet), and considerable running costs (AFSL monthly fees & mandatory CRM/SOA software subscription of around $1,400 per month), I've been trying to setup my fina… Read More
2019-05-12 03:08
Yesterday morning I had my business website running smoothly, all the pages finally done and approved, my Google Ads setup and sending traffic to the site, and even all the plugins (traffic… Read More
2019-05-11 02:28
For some strange reason many people like to invest in IPOs. For some it may be the promise of buying shares 'without brokerage' (as if a few dollar brokerage is really going to make much dif… Read More
2019-05-02 06:27
I currently have a relatively modest amount of margin loan debt used to purchase a portfolio of growth assets (some direct investments in managed funds and shares, and some ETF investments i… Read More
2019-05-01 02:34
The continued strength in the Australian and International share markets during the past month resulted in improved superannuation and geared share portfolio valuations as at the end o… Read More
2019-04-27 17:07
I got 20 hrs/units of CPD credit for the uni course I completed in Q1, which put me well over the 40 units/hrs CPD total required for all of 2019. While a total of only 30 units/hrs of forma… Read More
2019-04-27 16:49
I have a small account (currently around $300) with CityIndex so I can trade CFD's when I get bored (stops me mucking around with my asset allocation in our SMSF or other investments). I had… Read More
2019-04-24 02:34
Here in Australia we are in the midst of a Federal election campaign, and one of the biggest issues of concern to the electorate (quite rightly) is the global warming crisis. Leaving aside t… Read More
2019-04-16 06:35
Well, my financial planning business is now in 'soft launch' mode, with a website, Facebook page, yellow pages entry etc. all 'live'. I delivered an initial batch of ten brochures to a local… Read More
2019-04-01 23:37
There was a modest rise in the valuations of my retirement savings and geared shared portfolio (both up around 1.3%) which was offset by another -1.85% decline in the valuation of my half of… Read More
2019-03-04 00:19
The continued rebound in local and international share markets meant that my retirement savings balance increased $43,045 (4.47%) and my geared share portfolio increased $29,660. The continu… Read More
2019-02-01 06:08
Now that I'm a registered Financial Planner/Adviser I need to meet the annual CPD requirements (basically 40 hrs of approved training pa) and also work towards the new FASEA education requir… Read More
2019-02-01 05:42
A rebound in local and international share markets meant that my retirement savings balance increased $42,724 (4.64%) and my geared share portfolio increased $19,533. The continued deflation… Read More
2019-01-31 22:57
I received an unusual offer via email the other day - I could receive 20,000 Qantas Frequent Flyer points if I opened a superannuation account online with AustralianSuper using the provided… Read More
2019-01-19 04:49
As I had reduced my geared stock portfolio significantly in mid-2018, I decided the time might be right to invest a bit more in the stock market given the recent market weakness and slight r… Read More
2019-01-09 23:33
As I'm trying to launch my business on a low-cost, DIY basis I registered my business domain name using Dotster but then want to host the website content using my existing personal hosting a… Read More
2019-01-04 06:26
I did a couple of days of 'induction training' in December (had to fly from Sydney to Perth for the training, as the AFSL company does their training there) and managed to get 'registered' w… Read More
2019-01-04 01:39
Another negative month, with my geared share portfolio and retirement savings balances each dropping by more than $20K, while our house price estimate stabilized. Still waiting (and hoping)… Read More
2018-12-04 03:43
Another negative month, with my geared share portfolio and retirement savings balances each dropping by about $10K, and our house price estimate declining by about $10K (so my share dropped… Read More
2018-11-29 12:49
Well, I managed to get all the assessment tasks for the Diploma of Financial Planning finished off last month. I'd left the video 'role play' tasks to the very end (after I'd completed all t… Read More
2018-11-05 05:52
Things that make you go hmmmm...
Oh well, the random walk down wall street took us head-first into a lamp-post last month. My NW is back down to where it was in September 2017, having dropp… Read More
2018-10-03 23:46
Last month everything went a bit South - my geared stock portfolio was down $14,288, my retirement savings total (SMSF and employer-subsidized account with Colonial First State) was down $1… Read More
2018-09-24 03:01
I did 5BX twice last week, and walked approx. 10,000 steps on four days, and only one day was slightly under 5,000 steps. My diet went according to plan for the first three days, but then I… Read More
2018-09-17 01:34
I managed to stick to my diet plan on all but one day last week (37), and did a reasonable amount of walking (>5,000 steps) on all but two days. Still haven't started my regular 5BX sessi… Read More
2018-09-16 10:07
The major upside of having bought a third-hand S-type Jag for $7,900 rather than a new one (the S-type I've bought originally sold for $123,000) is that I don't worry too much about scratche… Read More
2018-09-11 01:17
I had a better week sticking to my diet plan last week (36). I walked more than 5,000 steps on two of the days, and my daily average for last week was almost 5,000 steps/day. I'll now try to… Read More
2018-09-09 03:06
My CityIndex CFD trading account has been inactive for nearly a year (I had open Long positions in the ASX200 share index, and in crude oil), so they sent me an email notice that a) if an ac… Read More
2018-09-03 06:31
My geared stock portfolio increased during the past month, while the estimated valuation for our home continued to decline. My retirement savings had another good month of growth, due to the… Read More
2018-09-03 00:43
I had fairly mediocre past week for my weight loss plan. I didn't do nearly enough exercise (only walked more than 5,000 steps on one day last week, and only did 5BX once), and my calorie in… Read More
2018-08-27 01:06
Well, I haven't been monitoring my daily calorie intake or sticking to my diet plan since January, and it certainly shows. Rather than losing any weight, my weight has slowly increased durin… Read More
2018-08-25 02:19
So far I've never worn a suit to work. I started out as an experimental scientist, so for ten years wore casual clothes, often covered in a grey lab coat. Then when I changed jobs, I wore a… Read More
2018-08-19 14:17
My first car was a 1960 Mk II Jaguar that I was given for my 18th birthday. My father had bought it second hand to use in England while we were there for nine months in 1976 on a posting (he… Read More
2018-08-10 07:31
Given that I'm currently doing a Diploma of Financial Planning course and have also enrolled in a Master of Financial Planning course with the goal of eventually starting up a Financial Plan… Read More
2018-08-10 06:03
There are many reason for making an investment, but probably one of the least rational is because it is 'cool' or 'fun' (imho). Doesn't stop me doing it though! So, don't take this as any so… Read More
2018-08-01 14:52
After being initially told I was offered a conditional place in the Master of Financial Planning at Western Sydney Uni, and then having to enrol in the Graduate Certificate course instead, w… Read More
2018-08-01 04:45
Networthiq seems to be off-line at the moment, so this month's snapshot of my net worth is brought to you by networthshare (in a slightly different format)...
My geared stock portfolio incr… Read More
2018-07-19 05:15
I started using RateSetter back in March, and I've been saving $100 (automatically transferred from one of my bank accounts) every month and investing it at around 9%pa using the 5-year lend… Read More
2018-07-14 06:41
Instead of working on my DFP assessment tasks, yesterday I compared various business bank accounts that might be suitable for a small start-up. I found that most banks are charging $10 per m… Read More
2018-07-12 11:07
Now that DS1 has turned 18, he could get an effective return of 1000% simply by making an undeducted contribution (after-tax) into his superannuation account this year of $2. This is because… Read More
2018-07-11 00:46
On the bright side, HR responded very quickly to my request for a 'statement of service' and provided the requested document the very next business day. On the down side WSU admin has then d… Read More
2018-07-07 02:00
The results of DS2's selective high school exam/application came out yesterday evening. We had a reasonable idea of how well he might do as he had done a few practice tests at a 'coaching' c… Read More
2018-07-06 04:20
My application to enroll in the Master of Financial Planning course at Western Sydney University has been conditionally accepted (I just have to provide a 'statement of service' to confirm t… Read More
2018-07-04 13:00
There are a couple of new personal finance courses available on Coursera that have just started, both of which can be done in 'audit' mode for free (ie. access most of the content, but not s… Read More
2018-07-03 01:46
UberEats is offering $150 for new Car or Bicycle drivers that make 40 trips (deliveries) between 3 July and 12 August. So, if you live in Sydney and were thinking about signing up with UberE… Read More
2018-07-02 00:47
Last month the stock market gained during most of the month, with a slight reversal in the final week. This left my geared share portfolio (+$16,653)and retirement savings (SMSF account +$18… Read More
2018-06-30 13:00
One of the sources of things to read about personal finance on the internet is pfblogs.org. It is (or at least was) an ad-free aggregator of 'personal finance' blogs. While a lot of the mate… Read More
2018-06-27 04:58
I've been using networthiq to record my monthly net worth summary figures each month for many years, but last month the website wasn't available when I wanted to add my latest data (and appa… Read More
2018-06-27 04:45
While browsing amazon.com to see if there were any interesting books in the area of 'personal finance' that I wasn't already aware of, I came a across "Everything you need to know about pers… Read More
2018-06-20 06:29
Like many people I like to get something for nothing, so the chance to get enough free 'frequent flyer' points to 'pay' for round trips from Australia to New Zealand for a ski trip for mysel… Read More
2018-06-08 02:12
It's been more than a year since DW was made redundant by the multinational company I work for (so far I've still got a job - finger's crossed), and in that time she has only had a couple of… Read More
2018-06-08 01:51
My geared stock market portfolio declined by almost 10% last month, and the estimated valuation of our home also declined slightly. The value of my retirement savings increased somewhat. Ove… Read More
2018-05-01 06:28
I've been quite busy at work, especially at the end of the month, so I didn't get around to doing a Net Worth post for March. So here are the snapshots for March and April:
Everything was d… Read More
2018-03-01 05:52
My NW decreased slightly during Feb, almost back to where I was at the end of 2017. Weakness in both the international share market (which affected our retirement savings) and the Sydney rea… Read More
2018-02-01 03:59
My personal net worth increased slightly during January (up 0.45% to A$2,322,494), mostly due to an increase in the value of my retirement savings (up 1.22% or $11,334). My geared stock port… Read More
2018-01-03 05:01
DS1 is mid-way through his European vacation. He got a good enough ATAR to get into his first choice of university course, and has already completed the offer acceptance online. He'll finali… Read More
2017-12-25 15:28
My perennial self-promise has always been to loose weight and exercise more, and yet again this year I didn't manage to make any progress with either. So, as we were going to have a low-key… Read More
2017-12-14 00:53
DS1 got his HSC marks via email last night, and sent them via IM to DW and myself (he is currently on a train between Vienna and Venice - halfway through his 10-week post-HSC European back-p… Read More
2017-12-01 04:25
DS1 has arrived in Europe for his 10-week post-HSC/pre-uni vacation. He had a couple of days stop-over in Singapore on the way, then spent a few days in Frankfurt before getting the ICE trai… Read More
2017-11-26 05:00
I recently completed a free, online course of 'the threat of nuclear terrorism' (provided by Stanford University) and I've always had an interest in civil defense (I used to be a volunteer m… Read More
2017-11-01 03:27
My foot is still recovering from a bad sprain (I might have fractured a toe bone, but I haven't bothered getting an x-ray). DW is still looking for work. DS1 in the middle of his HSC exams a… Read More
2017-10-09 03:06
I was too busy last month to update my net worth spreadsheet or post a blog entry. Busy at work, and also busy getting my second eye operation done. I was up at my 'hobby farm' last week (di… Read More
2017-08-10 05:07
Fortunately, although her last 'new job' lasted little more than a week, DW had another job interview later the same week, and was offered the position (which she started this week). The new… Read More
2017-08-03 02:32
At the start of last year I noticed I was tending to polish my glasses a lot, as the right hand lens often seemed to be a bit smudged. So I wasn't particularly surprised when the optometrist… Read More
2017-08-02 02:33
It turned out that the large dividend paid into our Vanguard Fund last month was offset by a corresponding reduction in the unit valuation, which hadn't been updated at the time I posted las… Read More
2017-07-19 06:40
Well, it took a while, but DW was finally offered a full-time position last Friday and started her new job on Monday. Apparently there were 100 applicants for this position, with 25 people s… Read More
2017-07-12 02:51
When we bought our house about twelve years ago, it came with a renovated kitchen and bathroom and Daikin reverse cycle split system airconditioner installed in the family room. I was flabbe… Read More
2017-07-04 02:50
My net worth improved over the past month, due mostly to a large biannual dividend received into our SMSF Vanguard High-growth Fund investment. Overall, my retirement savings balance increas… Read More
2017-06-23 03:53
Had a 'fun' day off work yesterday - got some fasting blood tests done in the morning (covered by Medicare), in preparation for my visit to the eczema/immunology specialist in two weeks time… Read More
2017-06-19 03:18
Well, 2017 has so far been a diet disaster ;(
We had a very hot and humid summer, and my eczema got quite bad due to a heat rash, so I've been feeling unwell, lethargic and irritable. I'm n… Read More
2017-06-19 02:53
Well, for one thing I'm not really 'mining' Bitcoin -- I haven't bought the hardware normally used to 'mine' new Bitcoin (apparently you have to have access to really cheap electricity to ma… Read More
2017-06-15 06:13
Electricity has been in the news quite a lot this year in Australia. South Australia had power blackouts during the Summer when an unusual weather pattern produced lots of cloud cover and no… Read More
2017-06-15 05:43
When I went shopping on Saturday I found that I'd misplaced my daily-use credit card. Aside from having to use another credit card (that I normally use only for online purchases) that I didn… Read More
2017-06-01 06:26
My net worth decreased during May, mostly due to weakness in the stock market and my share portfolio holding of bank and oil/energy stocks doing particularly badly. The estimated valuation f… Read More
2017-05-04 06:50
For a bit of fun and revision I'm doing a couple of free courses currently available from open2study.com that may be of interest to my readers.
One course teaches the basics of financi… Read More
2017-05-02 00:09
A buoyant stock market and Sydney real estate market boosted my net worth again last month - my geared stock portfolio was up 5.79% ($13K), my retirement savings up 2.54% ($21K), and the est… Read More
2017-04-03 05:24
A buoyant stock market and Sydney real estate market boosted my net worth again last month - my geared stock portfolio was up 7.67% ($15K), my retirement savings up 2.43% ($19K), and the est… Read More
2017-03-14 01:28
In case any readers are interested in joining the Velocity Frequent Flyer program, using this link will get you 1,000 bonus points when you open your new account. I joined up when I saw a pr… Read More
2017-03-03 01:11
Earlier this week I received a phone call from my bank letting me know that an old ~$800 cheque I'd written last month (and forgotten about) to pay DS1's school fees had 'bounced' due to the… Read More
2017-03-01 06:03
Bitcoin (and many other cryptocurrencies) has been around now for many years, and after initially (still) being mostly used for nefarious activities and 'dark web' purchases (or maybe just g… Read More
2017-03-01 05:28
Despite weakening during the last week on February, overall the Australian and International stock markets made gains during the past month, which gave a positive boost to the valuations of… Read More
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