In this issue:
- Making the most of a falling Aussie dollar
- FIRED up for financial independence
- Is your money personality set in stone?
As August rolls around and the weather begins to warm up, our thoughts are with the nation’s farmers. Many are battling a prolonged drought and wishing for rain.
On the domestic front, the corporate earnings season is approaching at a time when Australian shares are trading at 10-year highs. The lower Australian dollar, down 5 per cent this year to US74c in late July, should help boost companies with offshore earnings.
Inflation remains benign with an annual growth rate of 2.1 per cent in the June quarter, up from 1.9 per cent in March. Prices of petrol, health and tobacco rose strongly while prices fell for domestic travel, cars and vegetables. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.4 per cent in June but wage rises barely kept pace with inflation. Consumers felt the pressure in their hip pocket, with the weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating dipping 2.1 per cent to 118.9 in late July.
Falling house prices may also be weighing on sentiment, with the CoreLogic national Home Value Index falling 0.8 per cent in the year to June. Home prices fell in Sydney, Darwin and Perth, dragging down the national average.
In the US, June quarter corporate earnings reported so far have exceeded expectations, up 4.1 per cent on an annual basis despite ongoing global trade tensions. The IMF left its global growth forecast unchanged at 3.9 per cent for 2018 and 2019 which, if realised, would be the fastest growth in 7 years.
One of the major themes for local investors in 2018 is the fall in the Australian dollar, and it’s not just Aussie travellers heading overseas who are affected. Currency movements can have a big impact on your investment returns, but where there’s risk there’s also opportunity. The ..read more
Fired up for financial independence
Millennials are often accused of living for the present and wasting their money on smashed avocado. So it may come as a surprise that younger Australians are at the vanguard of a growing movement committed to the old-fashioned virtues of thrift and saving, but with a modern twist …read more
Is your money personality set in stone?
Our upbringings hugely influence the attitudes we have towards money. Did you observe your parents working hard to put food on the table? Was money a cause of conflict in your household? Was it spent Complimentaryly, or were budgets obeyed? The money attitudes you were exposed to as a chi …read more
