Happy Mardi Gras!  We have come so far with equality so let’s celebrate, but not forget that this started as a protest more than thirty-years-ago.

I often forget the power of being “gay” as  I am not generally one to put a label on people, particularly myself.  But there is great value of dealing with other professionals who understand the joy, and also some of the challenges that come with being in our community.   I met with a client last week who has been reading my articles.  This was exciting in itself, I often wonder if my words of wisdom around money are read, so thank you for reading.

My client said a pretty powerful thing, ‘I am glad that you will understand my circumstance without my need to explain or without fear of judgement’. I thought this was guaranteed with any professional, but we still have a way to go!

Seeing a financial professional is an experience that could result in anxiety. This from my experience is mostly to do with putting your cards on the table and “outing” yourself about your current financial position and even more confronting is the experience of “outing” yourself to someone else about your dreams, goals and plans for the future.  ‘Will someone else understand me?’ ‘Do I have enough or have I done enough?’

The hard part here is that nothing changes, if nothing changes.  If you have some goals, are approaching a new stage
in your life, or just want to ensure you can achieve the outcomes you want, it is often a good time to review your position and see if you could be doing something to enhance it.  

Everyone’s situation is different so make sure any professional advisers you deal with honour this.

With honour and equality on my mind, my best friends are having a wedding soon, and I want to take this opportunity to spread the love and wish Sue and Julia all the best on their special day!    My protest this Mardi Gras, is to use “wedding” as a word to express the  ceremony and commitment of love any couple has for each other! Happy MG!

Scott Malcolm is Director of Money Mechanics (ph: 02 6257 5557) who are authorised to provide financial advice through PATRON Financial Advice AFSL 307379.

The information provided on this document is of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.  Before acting on this information you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.

This time of year often gets people thinking about New Year’s resolutions.  Wikipedia defines this as a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous.

Being a numbers person I love statistics: some research from the UK found that 52 per cent of participants in a resolution study were confident of success with their goals, however only 12 per cent actually achieved them.

My thoughts behind this are that you need accountability and structure.  Now everyone is different so it’s important to look at what has worked for you in the past and use this to your advantage. I work with people to help them focus on achieving their goals.  Some of these goals may have a financial consequence; however people generally want similar things — the difference? It’s in the detail.

Do you want to be financially comfortable? Do you want to spend life doing the things you enjoy with the people you enjoying being with?  Yes please! But these are very general. The more specific your goals are the more achievable they become.

I call this part ‘Your Plan’. The what, when, who and where of the things you want in your life.  This takes a little time but the reward is worth it in the long run.

The How? This is ‘the strategy’ and depending on your goals, outcomes and whether there is a financial consequence will depend on the complexity.  But that is where teaming up with a professional and getting quality advice can come into play. My challenge to you for 2010 is to not put it all on a resolution.  Set some clear goals and break them down into specific, measureable and achievable chunks or get your friends on board so that you are accountable.  Want to know more about goal setting or getting your money in order for 2010 check out fido.gov.au for information on getting quality financial advice.

Scott Malcolm is Director of Money Mechanics (ph: 02 6257 5557) who are authorised to provide financial advice through PATRON Financial Advice AFSL 307379.

The information provided on this document is of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.  Before acting on this information you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.

It amazes me, as a financial adviser, how many people say to me, ‘Christmas snuck up on me this year!’  Did they change the date? Did I miss the memo?  Christmas is still December 25 isn’t it?   What I think they mean is that they have not planned for the expense of Christmas this year.  The same can go for car rego or insurance or birthdays or clothing or holidays!

Having a cash flow plan is the first step to successful financial management, the second is being disciplined and staying accountable to your planned expenses.  I admit it is hard these days with all the advertising trying to get us to spend our hard earned money on ‘stuff’ and ‘things’.  We all know people who suffer from what I call ‘chronic-not-enough-ness’.  Always needing to buy the latest and greatest.  This isn’t bad if you can afford it, but often leaves people stuck on the tread-mill of debt and repayment which builds and builds to a point which sometimes gets a little overwhelming.

It reminds me of the quote from Fight Club:  ‘Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy things we don’t need.’ This Christmas I challenge you to do things which are meaningful but don’t leave you with the credit card hangover.  Then for Christmas 2010, decide on your spending amount for Christmas and set up a bank account which has no ATM access, for which you can set aside a fortnightly amount.  

When you start shopping for Christmas, do as Santa does and make a list, check it twice, set aside an amount for each present and go shopping with the ‘purpose in mind’, rather than just ‘money in hand’.  I have one client who does all their Christmas shopping in January the year before during the sales — Now that is planning!

Enjoy the silly season and remember a ‘plan’ is as good as a holiday!   I may have that a little confused but a plan will ensure you can enjoy your next holiday!

Scott Malcolm is Director of Money Mechanics (ph: 02 6257 5557) who are authorised to provide financial advice through PATRON Financial Advice AFSL 307379.

The information provided on this document is of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.  Before acting on this information you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.

I was watching Zoolander the other week and it got me thinking about the importance of having a back-up plan.

Do you want to make a difference in the world like Derek with the “Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Wanna Learn to Do Other Stuff Good Too”? Having a back-up plan is an important aspect when it comes to planning for your life, this includes:

Your Risk Management Plan
Do you have an ability to self-insure? What I mean here is do you have enough assets if the worst happened? If not, insurance can provide that for you. Do you and your family have a plan in place to cover your income if you are disabled or die?  

If you are like the majority of the Australian population the answer is probably no. Australia is one of the most  under-insured developed nations. Hoping for the best,  cost and confusion often result in this falling into the too hard pile.  

Your Estate Plan
This includes a Will, Powers of Attorney, health and financial directives, and can even include a legacy.

Your Will is the document which provides the directives to your executor and lists how you want your assets to be passed to others. How you own your assets now and the tax structures they are owned in effect this.  When it comes to legacy planning this is where Zoolander comes in to play.

It is possible to create a living legacy or a legacy as  part of your Will, which could be used to give to charities or causes you believe in. It isn’t nice to go to the place of dead, disability or loss but it is important to have the discussion with your family, partner and advisers. A tip here: make sure your professional advisers are all working together and talking to each other so  as to get the best outcome for you.

Because, “there’s more to life than just being really, really, really, ridiculously good looking.”

I bet I am not. Like you I want an awesome holiday.  You know, maybe the one with the hot Mexican bringing me drinks while sitting on the beach in Mykonos? Umm... That was twelve months ago. I should stop day dreaming as I am only half way to my savings goal for the next one. Which got me thinking, beyond my Mexican friend, what will the consequence be for your next holiday?

Several hangovers? Maybe some things you wish you hadn’t done. Or maybe some you wish you could be doing again right now! Aaahh the memories! I would always endorse a good fun packed holiday. But fun aside, the reality is this has to be paid for somehow.

Here is my challenge to you: have a great holiday with priceless moments but not sponsored by MasterCard.  You want the memory of your holiday to be the pictures, the places and the people. Not the monthly reminder that the holiday is over but MasterCard and your bank’s shareholders are still enjoying the benefits of your interest repayments.

…So back to the fun of planning that next holiday. My advice: set your goal. Work out what you need to put aside to fund it. Pay yourself first, and spend less than you earn. Sounds simple doesn’t it!  But again reality
can be different.

Above all enjoy that holiday when it happens, knowing that when you come back the memories will remain and you will avoid that unwanted holiday debt hangover.

If you don’t want to do the planning for it alone, or get stuck in the process, pick up the phone and call me, it’s what I do. I might also still have the details for the Mexican too!

Scott Malcolm ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is Director of Money Mechanics (ph: 02 6257 5557) who are authorised to provide financial advice through PATRON Financial Advice AFSL 307379.

The information provided on this document is of a general nature only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs.  Before acting on this information you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.

Global Financial Crisis... Job Losses... Economic Downturn...

If you’re feeling a little depressed by the media surrounding the financial markets and watching your investments head north you are not alone.

It’s not all doom and gloom however in the financial world with policy development and provision of equity for same sex couples.

As part of the Federal Government’s initiatives to give equality to same sex couples, legislation has recently been passed to amend the superannuation and related tax laws.  A major element of this reform
is a change to the definition of both ‘spouse’ and ‘child’ to ensure that same sex partners and their children can receive equivalent tax treatment in respect of death benefits paid from superannuation.
These changes are across the board and apply to both private superannuation and the public sector superannuation schemes.

Under the previous rules a person could only qualify as a ‘spouse’ if they were married or living together as husband and wife (that is, in an opposite sex de facto relationship).  A couple in a same sex relationship could still receive a superannuation death benefit but only if they were financially dependent on the deceased or living with them in an interdependency relationship.

The new rules give equal status to same sex partners by amending the definition of spouse to include a person who is in a relationship
with another person and lives with them in a “genuine domestic basis in a relationship as a couple.”

As a result of this change it will now be possible for people in same sex relationships to have their name reported as a ‘spouse’ on their partners binding death benefit nomination form; be an automatic beneficiary to their partners superannuation pension; split superannuation benefits with their partner each year or receive a lump sum superannuation death benefit and receive the taxation concessions.

Another benefit under these changes is that access to the spouse contributions will be avaliable with the tax offset of up to $540 per
year, however this measure will not commence until 1 July 2009.

The definition of ‘child’ has also been updated under the superannuation legislation to include a child who was born to a woman as a result of an artificial conception procedure or conceived via a surrogacy agreement but is deemed to be the child of a person under a state or territory court order.

While it is now possible for super funds to pay death benefits to a same sex partner or the children of a same sex relationship, you will need to contact your superannuation provider to check when it will be possible to complete a new binding death benefit nomination, split contributions and add your partner as a reversionary beneficiary on a superannuation pension as trust deeds and other documents will need to be updated.

These changes open up a lot of strategy options and you should seek appropriate advice from your professional advisers before taking any action, to ensure you understand the pros and cons of these changes.

For More information on this article contact Scott on: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Scott Malcolm is Director of  Money Mechanics (tel: 6257 5557) who are authorised to provide  financial advice through PATRON Financial Advice AFSL 307379. Website: money-mechanics.com.au