Financial Insights & Updates - October 2024
Welcome to the October issue of Financial Insights and Updates of 2024.
We have a feature booklet this month, 'Value of an Adviser', which looks at how financial advisers have added 5.7% in value over the past year to their clients by providing counsel to them on matters such as tax planning, social security and estate planning. This included avoiding them making kneejerk decisions, reweighting their portfolios and encouraging clients to remain disciplined.
Some interesting articles this month include ‘Most injuries happen at home’ which discusses how important it is to hold comprehensive life insurance including income protection instead of relying on workers' compensation, and ‘Can I set up a super fund for my kids' which looks at reasons for and against setting up a super fund for under-18s.
As always, feel free to forward any articles to friends and/or family that you feel may benefit from the information.
In signing off, please remember that we are always available to answer any questions or queries you may have and to come speak with us before making any major investment decisions.
Warm regards,
The Team at Nixon Financial Services Pty Ltd
Feature Booklet:
Value of an Adviser
Weighing up the Age Pension and the assets test
| Millions of Australians aged 67 and over have just received an Age Pension boost as a result of the Department of Social Services lifting its fortnightly payment rates. |
How to shift into pension mode
| The latest injury statistics are a stark reminder that accidents can happen anywhere, but are less likely to happen at work, making it critically important to hold comprehensive life insurance including income protection. Income protection insurance provides invaluable financial protection against disability as a result of sickness or injury by paying a regular benefit to replace lost income if a person is unable to work. |
Can I set up a super fund for my kids?
| It's possible to set up a super fund for under-18s. The bigger question is, should you? According to Australian Tax Office data, over 40,000 boys and more than 35,000 girls aged under-18 already have their own super accounts |
How massive rate hikes have made aged care less affordable |
| When people enter aged care they have a choice: they can either pay for their room up-front by way of a Refundable Accommodation Deposit (RAD, formerly known as a bond) or they can part-pay the RAD (or not pay it at all) and, instead, pay interest on the outstanding RAD via what's known as a Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP). The RAD is a government-guaranteed lump-sum payment that can range from as low as $200,000 to more than $2 million. The RAD is refunded when the resident dies or leaves the facility. DAPs are not refundable. |
6 steps to protect the future of the family business
To ensure continuity, a succession plan is absolutely essential for every family business. And this is regardless of whether the family runs a global empire, family farm or corner store.
History shows that succession is the Achilles Heel of the family business. A study on family-owned enterprises in Australia by KPMG and the University of Adelaide found that only 43% of business owners were planning to pass their business onto the next generation. 24% plan to sell or float.
How much cash is too much?
While cash is often viewed as a safe haven, it does have investment risks.
Australian households are collectively sitting on close to $1.5 trillion in cash, which for the record is substantially more than the total value of Australian bank notes in circulation.
This vast sum represents the amount of cash deposits that were being held in Australian savings and term deposit accounts by authorised deposit taking institutions at the end of March, according to monthly data published by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority.
But what is a right amount of cash to hold, if there is such a thing?