Everyone is talking about SMSF’s these days. Even with the changes made by the Government (such as the $1.6M cap), SMSF’s can be the way to go.

You can get a double tax deduction when you pay for Life Insurance through Superannuation.

How does it work?

If you are a small business who uses a Trust, there are a number of people that you can distribute to with a Discretionary Trust.

These include:

Contributed by Betsy-Ann Howe, Matthew Cridland, Michaela Moloney, Nick Ruskin, Paul Hardman and James Rutley Clyne, K&L Gates

What would you do with an extra $10,000?

On average, we save more than this for our small business clients every year in tax. The reason we are able to do this is because, we help them plan ahead before the 30th June. We have saved millions in tax for our clients through good planning. So, over the coming weeks, we will be listing a number of strategies to help you reduce your tax legally.

Each Australian State and Territory Government has announced relief and other support packages as part of the broader economic stimulus measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic currently impacting the economy and businesses generally.

On 8 April 2020, the Federal Government passed a package of Bills through both Houses of Parliament to give effect to the JobKeeper Scheme.

To be eligible for the JobKeeper Payment, employers and their employees must meet a range of criteria. Below are links to instructions on how to enrol and apply for this payment scheme:-

The JobKeeper bill was recently introduced and passed both Houses of Parliament, but we are still waiting for more information on how the JobKeeper Payment Scheme will operate.

The Government is introducing a wage subsidy program to support employees and businesses. The JobKeeper Payment is designed to help businesses affected by COVID-19 to cover the costs of their employees’ wages, so that more employees can retain their job and continue to earn an income.

The Federal Government has just announced a relief package for the Child Care and Early Childhood Education Sector (‘Child Care Sector’). Here is the Child Care and Early Childhood Education Relief Package summary from NTAA (National Tax & Accountants’ Association Ltd.), which aims to provide free child care to around one million families; and ensures that as many child care and early learning services as possible are kept open for families that need to work and support vulnerable children during this COVID-19 pandemic. We will keep you in the loop for more updates.

There are now JobKeeper and JobSeeker payment schemes available. You may view and download the JobKeeper vs JobSeeker summary from NTAA (National Tax & Accountants’ Association Ltd.), which highlights important considerations for employers. We would also like to share with you the JobKeeper Stimulus Package update, which the Federal Government has announced (as part of its Coronavirus Stimulus Package) to assist eligible employers and self-employed individuals who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic to continue to pay their workers. Stay tuned for more updates.

JobKeeper Payment is a wage subsidy for $1,500 per fortnight. First payment is expected first week of May. Register your interest here: https://www.ato.gov.au/job-keeper-payment/ You only have to pay Super on regular wages. That is, if you would have otherwise reduced their hours, you can do so and pay Super on that amount. Each employee must receive a minimum of $1,500 per fortnight though. We are not yet aware of how Leaves will be calculated with this payment, but we expect to get clarification on this towards the end of the week. To be eligible, you need to have a reduction in revenue of 30% or more. We have attached the Fact Sheet from the government that has detailed information for employers.

The Victorian Government has launched the $500 million Business Support Fund (which is part of the $1.7 billion Economic Survival Package) to assist small to medium businesses survive the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and keep people in work. Funding of $10,000 per business is available, and will be allocated through a grant process. So if you are being impacted by this, please register your interest on this link. We expect the government to make further announcements that will provide more support in the coming days.

We would like to share with you a video on updates regarding the Government’s latest Coronavirus Stimulus Package. You may also view and download the Stimulus Package from NTAA (National Tax & Accountants’ Association Ltd.) for further reference. We will keep you posted on any future updates.

We would like to share with you an update regarding the Stimulus Package. On Sunday, the Government released a second, far reaching $66.1 bn Stimulus Package that boosts income support payments, introduces targeted changes to the superannuation rules, provides cash flow support of up to $100,000 for small business employers, and relaxes corporate insolvency laws. The stimulus measures are not yet legislated. Parliament has reconvened yesterday, Monday, 23 March. The Prime Minister has warned that there are no “quick solutions” and that business should prepare for 6 months of disruption. To find out more, download the 2nd Stimulus Package. We will keep you posted for more updates.

Hi Everyone, As you would be aware, COVID-19, the ‘Coronavirus’, is turning to be an extremely disruptive event to businesses and markets alike. We are not immune to this, and it is possible that we will have to close our physical office during this pandemic. We can confirm that if this is the case, there will not be a disruption to our service. Many years ago, we made the investment to set up our systems for a scenario just like this, after having a coal mine fire resulting in poor air quality near our office for a month. If the office is closed, we will still be reachable by phone and email. For our clients with investments, we did reviews for a lot of you recently, reducing your exposure to growth investments, and subsequently reducing the fall in capital that you might have otherwise had. Furthermore, having such unprecedented actions take place provides for unprecedented opportunities for the patient and wise. Should you have any direct impacts or changes that we feel need to be made to your portfolio, we will be reaching out to you directly. Like all things, COVID-19 and its impacts will pass. We thank you again for your support and look forward to hearing from you.

The Australian Government has announced increased tax benefits in response to the Coronavirus. For a more detailed explanation, we would like to share with you The Government’s Coronavirus Economic Response. We will be contacting you in the coming weeks regarding this, and if there are any further economic updates in light of this global health issue.

To claim a tax deduction for Super, it needs to be physically paid. By paying your June quarter, or month’s Super before the end of the financial year 30th June, you will get a tax deduction for the year. Paying your employees’ Super a month earlier than you need to, can create a significant one-off tax benefit. If you have $20,000 to pay in Super for your employees prior to the 30th June, this can result in a tax saving of up to $9,400. If this is something that you want to do, you will need to ensure that the payment you are making is processed before the 30th June. To ensure this is done in time, it is best to process the payment a week before the end of financial year. Something to note is that, this creates a one-off tax benefit, as you are paying Super that you would usually pay in July earlier, to get the tax deduction.

This is one of my personal favourites. Debt optimisation (sometimes referred to as “Debt Recycling”), is a financial strategy which creates wealth over time, and improves an individual’s debt structure. This is achieved in the majority of cases by: – Using all surplus income to reduce the home loan (non-tax deductible “bad debt”);
– Creating or increasing investment debt (tax deductible “good debt”), by drawing against equity in the home; and
– Using the borrowed money to build an investment portfolio.
It is a great strategy that can be adapted to suit your goals and time horizons; though it is important to note that borrowing money to invest, and budgeting on the borrowed money, are key components. Following is an example of how the assets and cash flow involved in a debt optimisation strategy can be used in a “split loan”: Where suitable, it is possible to extend on the strategy above by using the newly created investments as security for a margin loan, with the proceeds used to further invest. In this type of strategy, the interest costs are still generally met from the home loan, with investment income also used to reduce the home loan balance. Using a strategy like this allows you to decrease your bad debt over time, and replace it with debt that can be used tax effectively, whilst building an investment portfolio that can be used to help fund your goals.

We are not going to give you a traditional Budget Summary due to the Federal Election, and the uncertainty with a lot that was proposed. We will just let you know what is likely to be, and what is likely not to be. We can confirm that the instant asset write-off of $30,000 passed parliament, and is now law. This means, small and medium-sized businesses can instantly write off assets purchased under $30,000. Both sides have committed to the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset, with Labor vowing to deepen the tax rebate and cut to lower income earners even more so. Labor hasn’t really changed its stance on its policies, still wanting to remove Franking Credit refunds for this financial year, and remove negative gearing effective 1st July 2020. Whether or not Labor can do this, even if they win the next election, remains unclear. Anyone attempting to build wealth in this country will be worse off, if Labor wins the next election. The coalition did announce a reduction and flattening of tax rates over the next several years in the budget, so that, there will be only 3 rates: 19%, 30% (up to $200,000) and 45%. Labor have said that they will not support this. Of course, until it is passed into legislation, it isn’t so. On a final note, we thought you may appreciate this great chart (courtesy of Cuff Links), showing the Federal Government’s deficit and debt position since 1901. The upper section shows revenues (green line) and expenses (red). The middle section shows the resultant annual surpluses (green bars – look hard!), or deficits (red bars). The purple bars in the lower section shows the level of Federal Government debt. All are expressed relative to total national output (GDP) each year (click on chart for larger image):

We are now at the last leg of the Cashflow Series. By now, we are hoping you have found a budgeting technique that best suits you. To get a brief preview, we have summarised the key points for Cashflow Budgeting: We hope that over the last weeks, we have provided you with some insight as to the importance and value that good cashflow budgeting can provide you. Now, we are going to recap the key points that we have covered, so that you can have everything you need to get going to start your journey. Over the last several weeks, we have covered a number of aspects to Cashflow Budgeting and Management, starting with the fact that most of us are aware that we should do it, but we don’t. We discussed the power and control that you can gain for your financial future, by preparing and taking control of your budget whilst making some substantial and beneficial changes to your life; so you can have success and achieve financial freedom. The importance of goals was something that we went over, and more importantly, how you go about achieving those goals and about the substantial improvements that having accountability partners can make in achieving your goals. Remember, by having a specific accountability appointment with a person you have committed to, you go all the way from as low as 10% to 95% chance of achieving your goals. Having the goal is not enough. You need to make it happen – plan it, execute it, and have some accountability in place. Subsequently, we went on to show you why personal budgeting is brilliant, how it will help you see your financial direction, keep you on track, and even improve your attitude when you see your growing wealth! Do not let it pass you by and take control! Finally, we showed you my favourite budgeting technique: The Zero-Sum Budget. It is an absolutely great strategy for formulating a budget and making sure you allocate all your money, and do not give yourself excuses for not achieving your goals. It helps you prioritise and focus on the most important things for your money. Your next step is to call us on 03 5134 1778, or email us at admin@prestoncoering.com.au to make time to meet. If you have some business and financial goals you want to achieve, and you need help, please do not hesitate to contact us. We have some great programs for both your business and personal goals.

In our last article, we discussed the power of budgeting. In this article, we explore my favourite way to formulate your budget. It is called a Zero-Sum Budget. The Power of a Zero-Sum Budget In the midst of the many articles on budgeting systems and strategies, a less publicised (but equally important technique) is the Zero-Sum Budget. This strategy involves “spending” every dollar that you make. However, you are not ‘spending’ your money in the usual sense of the word. In this situation, it refers to allocating your entire earnings into appropriate categories. The following steps demonstrate how you can apply this kind of budgeting: Step 1: Determine your Single or Combined Total Salary For most salaried workers who are paid on a monthly or fortnightly basis, this step is simple. Others may have to put in a little more effort if pay is based on an hourly rate, or particularly irregular. Try to work out your income as a monthly amount – you can then use the strategy of paying for next month’s bills using this month’s income. By always being “one month ahead”, you will find your budget much easier to plan and keep track of. Step 2: Itemise Your Bills Once you know the total amount of money coming in, your next step is to work out how much you need to spend next month for bills, groceries, everyday expenditures, etc. Be aware that some things may be yearly or quarterly expenses. Try and include everything you can think of, as the more accurate it is, the better your budgeting will be. Please find below an example list for your reference: – Mortgage: $1,426
– Fuel/Miscellaneous: $200
– Electricity: $200 (estimate)
– Mobile Phone: $55
– Gas: $25 (estimate)
– Internet: $35
– Groceries: $500
– Life insurance: $77.31 (paid quarterly)
– Daycare: $500
– Rubbish: $56.25 (paid quarterly)
– Health Insurance: $377
Total: $3451.56 Step 3: Compare and Contrast Once you have listed your income and expenses, you will notice how much is left over. How is this money currently being used? You may realise that you are wasting it on things you do not really need, or you may be gradually saving it. Regardless of what you decide to do with this money, the point is, you now have the knowledge of how much is left and can therefore make an informed decision on what to do with it. For example: If a couple had a net income of $7000 for the month, a zero-sum budget may look like this: – Mortgage: $1426
– Mobile Phone: $55
– Electricity: $200 (estimate)
– Health Insurance: $377
– Gas: $25 (estimate)
– Life insurance: $77.31 (paid quarterly)
– Groceries: $500
– Rubbish: $56.25 (paid quarterly)
– Daycare: $500
– Short-term savings: $1500
– Internet: $35
– Long-term savings: $1500
– Fuel/Miscellaneous: $200
– Holiday Fund: $548.44
Total: $7000.00 This strategy may also bring to your attention that you are actually spending every cent you earn. In this case, you might need to start considering the things you could live without. Some possible items you could cut back on are your pay TV, eating out, or excessive entertainment spending. Remember, everyone’s lifestyles and priorities are different and it is up to you how you allocate your money. Step 4: Make a choice and stick to it Once you know your excess cash flow, you can decide what you would like to do with the extra money. You might decide to pay off some debts, save, invest or put it towards a financial goal. The only trick is – if you decide to allocate a certain amount of money somewhere, stick to your decision and put it there straight away to avoid spending it on something else. Step 5: Keep on top of your spending It is important to check in every now and then throughout the month to make sure you are not spending over your self-allocated limit. Try to stick to the motto, “when it’s gone, it’s gone”. It may be painful in the first few months, but it can be one of the best ways to create good habits. Step 6: Make Adjustments It can take a few months before your Zero-Sum Budget is working efficiently. Do not be concerned if you have to make adjustments, as it is all part of the budgeting process. As with anything, you will become more aware of where you may need to allocate more funds to, or where you can easily shave a few dollars off here and there. Don’t Forget One last (but very important) part of your Zero-Sum Budget is an emergency fund. This is crucial in circumstances such as an unplanned medical emergency or car issue, and will allow a bit of leeway so that your whole month’s plan will not have to be abandoned. Just remember that when you have tapped into these funds, try to replace them again as soon as possible. Summary The power of using Zero-Sum Budget is that it allocates all of your money, so the opportunity to spend it on things that you don’t really need is no longer there. It helps you focus and prioritise. If you need help with your budgeting, call our office to make an appointment with one of our Team on 03 5134 1778.

If a business owner said to you that they run their business without a budget, what would you think? You would think they were incompetent! Or perhaps lazy, or even both? What do most families do? When you think about it, a family is actually like a mini business. There is income, expenses, and hopefully, something left over to invest and to enjoy. So why don’t most families operate to a budget? After all, a personal budget helps you to see your financial direction, and helps you stay (or get back!) on track. It is a great comfort. One reason some people do not put together a budget is because, it makes them feel overwhelmed, or too busy, and leaves them feeling like life is too complex to keep track of all that. Well the good news is, we can hold your hand through the process, which in turn, makes it easier for you. Before we look at the ‘how’ aspects, let’s consider 3 more reasons why a personal budget is such an important tool in helping you achieve your financial goals and dreams. 1. Most of your money is already spoken for long before you get it The money you earn has already been promised to keep the electricity on, make the loan repayments, and pay for the insurance. What most people don’t realise about budgeting is that, it is really honouring the commitments you already have. Now since we are all honest people and plan to pay these bills, the first step is to track these bills, and see what is left over for your day-to-day living. 2. Your day-to-day living money is spread all over the place Some of your day-to-day living money is in the bank, and some is in your purse or wallet. Some may even be with your partner or children, if you have them. You need a simple system that allows you to track day-to-day expenses, such as fuel for your car, shopping, and discretionary spending expenses. We do not suggest you try to keep track of every cent of your day-to-day living money, as this would provide little benefit for the amount of effort that would be required to obtain that level of detail. Instead, you need to identify your main day-to-day expenses, and make allowance for all other minor day-to-day expenses. Here’s a key: You need a system that is so easy to use, that you keep using it. You can track the day-to-day expenses by entering them into a spreadsheet, or better yet, use a tool like MyProsperity. MyProsperity can automatically pull in bank feeds, which can save you a lot of data entry. 3. The Number 1 reason people give up on their budgets is that they don’t have the right attitude It is ALL in the attitude! Have you ever attempted to budget and given up in frustration? What is the reason your budgeting attempt failed? What will make you stick to it? Think about this… One of the reasons, if not the top reason so many people give up at budgeting, is attitude. If you think of it as a penny-pinching sacrifice instead of a means for achieving your financial goals and dreams, how long are you likely to stick with it? Think about the difference between going on a diet, and eating healthy. One is negative and restrictive; the other is positive, and allows you to indulge every now and then while still achieving your goals. To increase your chances of success, work on your attitude first. Many people refuse to budget because of budgeting’s negative connotation. If you are one of those people, try thinking of it as a ‘spending plan’ instead of a ‘budget’. Once you have attempted to budget and failed, the bad feelings associated with any type of failure can keep you from trying again. Don’t give up! The cold hard reality Let’s face it. Money is a tool that enables you to reach your goals in life. But the cold hard reality is that, until you know where your money goes, you cannot make conscious decisions about how to use this tool effectively. A budget (or spending plan!) shows you exactly where your money goes and provides a clear plan. It also lets you save for the things that are important to you, like a new house, a new car, a comfortable retirement, a tertiary education, high quality health care, travel, or whatever your particular goals and dreams happen to be. Now that is exciting! Whatever YOU decide you want to achieve and save for, you can. All you need is the right attitude, a goal to aim for, and a (spending!) plan. Avoid This Pitfall There are several universal budgeting concepts that every successful budget will include. But one of the most important features of a successful budget is, for it to be easy to use and suitable for your needs. Trying to use a generic, complex, one-size-fits-all budget won’t work. A simpler approach makes it easier to stay committed. If you stick to a realistic and effective budget long enough, the rewards will keep you motivated. In the meantime, do whatever it takes to keep yourself going. To summarise, the 3 steps for effective personal budgeting (spending planning!) are: Build a Budget, Track Income and Spending, and Compare Budget to Actual. Once you start budgeting with a positive attitude, you will see the difference a budget (or spending plan) can make in your life. Your next step is to call us on 03 5134 1778 and organise a time to have a chat. We would love to discuss this with you further, and help you to get on track towards achieving your financial goals.

A key to creating a budget is to have a goal that you want to achieve; but how hard is it to achieve your goals? Well according to research, without outside assistance, it is very difficult to achieve your goals. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. The people who are the best in the world at what they do ask for help – by hiring Coaches and Trainers. So, why should you be any different for needing help?
The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) conducted a study on Accountability, and have provided the following statistics: The probability of completing a goal if:• You have an idea or a goal: 10%• You consciously decide you will do it: 25%• You decide when you will do it: 40%• You plan how you will do it: 50%• You commit to someone you will do it: 65%• You have a specific accountability appointment with a person you have committed to: 95%
So, here you can see that just having a goal is not enough. If you want to achieve a goal that you need to budget for, it is important that you plan how you intend to do it, and have some accountability in place to help you achieve it. So, if you are serious about achieving your goals, what is stopping you from getting the assistance you need? As part of our Cashflow Budgeting Service, we can help you create goals and keep you accountable to them. No matter what you decide to do, make sure that you create some accountability to achieve your goals.

Everyone knows that they should be budgeting and managing their cash, but how many of us actually do it? There is a lot of power to be gained over your financial future, by preparing and taking control of your budget. Better yet, if you start comparing your budget to your actual expenditure, you will get to know yourself better, and be able to make more educated and beneficial changes for your future. A lot of us may have had some goals for 2019 that have already fallen by the way side, but all of us should have some financial goals. Did you know that just by having a goal, the probability of achieving that goal is only 10%? However, if you commit to someone that you will achieve your goal, you can increase that probability to 65%. Even better, if you have a specific Accountability appointment with a person you have committed to, you can increase it to 95%. We want to help You, our Clients, succeed and achieve financial freedom. The first step is to ensure that you fully understand your budget. That is why we are doing this series to help you take control of your budget.

We would like to share with you an update from CPA Australia regarding ATO impersonation scams reported by the community in September 2018. The ATO is reporting a variation of the ATO impersonation scam where people are contacted by someone claiming to be from the ATO and demanding payment of a ‘debt’. In the example provided by the ATO, the person pretending to be from the ATO dialed the victim’s tax agent into a three-way teleconference; however, it wasn’t the victim’s tax agent, it was someone pretending to be from the agent’s practice. The person then instructed the victim to pay the ‘debt’ on that day, and via Bitcoin. The ATO reports that during July and August, it received more than 7000 scam reports to its dedicated phone line, with close to $190,000 being paid to scammers, and more than 1600 people handing over their personal or financial information. – Fake Tax Agent Scam, CPA Tax News Issue 34 Know the status of your tax affairs. If you are aware of the details of debts owed, refunds due and lodgements outstanding, you are less likely to fall victim to a scam. You can regularly check your details via myGov or by contacting your registered tax agent. If you receive a call like the example above, you can hang up and call your tax agent independently. It’s OK to hang up and phone the Australian Taxation Office on 1800 008 540 to check if the call was legitimate, or report a scam.

Xero has recently announced its pricing adjustment starting 28 September 2018. The price adjustment will only affect those who are on Premium Plans. Good news for the smaller employers, as the Standard Plan now covers payroll for two employees instead of one, at no extra cost. For those who are on Premium Plans, here are the adjusted prices below: For more information on the Xero pricing adjustment, check out the Xero Blog. The price changes take effect for existing and new plans from 28 September 2018, and will show on invoices from this date onwards. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call our office.

To prepare for the end of this financial year, we would like to share with you the End of Financial Year Checklist – a great tool that covers five key topics: • Superannuation • Self-Managed Super Funds • Insurance • Centrelink and Aged Care • Taxation We have prepared this eBook, providing summaries of these five topics, and areas you should be thinking about regarding your own financial affairs. We encourage you to call our office to discuss any of the key topics above, and/or to discuss future opportunities for us to work with you on your financial wealth.

Every year, scams cost Australian citizens, businesses, and the economy hundreds of millions of dollars, and have the ability to cause emotional harm to victims and their families. The best way to protect yourself is through awareness and education. Therefore – the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is providing us with ‘The Little Black Book of Scams’. We are sharing this terrific little publication with you to help protect your financial well-being, and so you can spot, avoid, and protect yourself against scams.

What am I talking about? I will try and provide a very simple explanation. The “Superannuation Sweet Spot” is recent terminology referring to the amount of money a person or couple needs to have saved in superannuation to ensure they achieve a reasonable level of income while maximizing their age pension. There have been many articles written in the press concerning this matter with suggestions that an amount of approximately $300,000 in superannuation for a single person who owns their home is sufficient, and $400,000 in superannuation for a couple who own their own home is more than adequate. Viewing the situation on the following table may give you a better idea: Situation Superannuation Drawdown from Super Age Pension Total Income Single Home-owner $300,000 $15,000 $19,210 $34,212 Couple Home-owner $400,000 $20,000 $33,272 $53,272 Now the argument, rightly or wrongly, is that if you can achieve these levels of income in partnership with the age pension, what is the incentive to save and contribute any more to superannuation? For example, to ensure that you maintain a similar income without the age pension you need to have the following amounts in superannuation –  Single homeowner – $684,240
 Couple homeowner – $1,065,440 This assumes the minimum level of income (5% between the ages of 65 and 74) is being drawn from super. So, to a certain extent I can understand – what is the incentive for me to save and sacrifice more of my salary into superannuation if as a couple, I can retire now, wait a couple of years, apply for the age pension and have an income of $53,272 tax-free per annum? Let me run through a couple of very simple reasons:  My Comfortable Retirement – the blog I wrote a couple of weeks ago. If you read this blog, I am sure you will agree $400,000 and an income of $53,272 per annum will certainly not be sufficient for me to achieve all I want in my retirement  Secondly, my wonderful partner, Donna, is a couple of years younger than myself, 4 and a half years to be precise, and it means that my plans of applying for the age pension would need to be deferred until she reaches the age of 67 – 10 years from now.  Thirdly, from a health perspective, if I do wait five years after I retire for Donna to retire and become eligible for the age pension, I am sure I would become extremely bored and drink a lot more wine than my doctor says is advisable.  Finally, as we have seen on numerous occasions over the years just like superannuation, the legislation surrounding the payment of age pension is constantly changing, meaning that to some extent my cash flow would be subject to change on a regular basis as well Qualifying for an age pension is not and should not be anyone’s financial or retirement objective. And no, just because you or I have worked all our lives and paid taxes does not mean that we should have an automatic right to the age pension. So, I firmly believe that when we talk about the “Superannuation Sweet Spot”, it should not be in the context of the ideal balance of funds a person needs to have saved in order to maximise the appropriate age pension entitlement to achieve their required cash flow. It should be in reference to a person maximizing their enjoyment in retirement. Now everyone’s idea of enjoyment in retirement will be different so I can only speak from my perspective. However, I do believe that the incentive for me and for everyone who works is to have enough superannuation to not have to rely on the safety net of an age pension. Why shortchange your retirement by not achieving all you can and all you want to, because someone tells you the income and assets means test associated with the age pension is a disincentive to a person building a substantial superannuation balance. I am certainly going to grow my superannuation balance as much as I am able over the next few years to ensure I can achieve “My Comfortable Retirement”. I will not shortchange my enjoyment in retirement by giving away assets or having as my retirement objectives compromised by only achieving my “Superannuation Sweet Spot” in order to qualify for an age pension. By Mark Teale

Going into partnership in business is like a marriage. It is a collaboration of two or more people that share ownership of the business, as well as its profits & losses. It is a serious commitment of time, money and reputation; therefore, deciding to enter a business partnership should be of good judgement. If you are looking to bring other people on board in your business, there are certain things to consider before ‘taking the plunge’: Director & Public Officer Insurance This insurance is like Professional Indemnity for Directors. This is important to have, if they are going to come on board as Directors as well. Shareholders Agreements This should take into consideration how a voluntary exit (i.e. retirement or circumstantial) takes place, a forced exit (i.e. disagreement, non-performance, bankruptcy) or involuntary exit (i.e. death, significant trauma). It is important to get a Shareholders Agreement in place, if you are looking at bringing two or more people on board. Part of that would be looking at how you deal with each exit – what are the terms & conditions that surround that. Another part would be the Risk Management of it – if something happens to one of the partners, or if someone must exit for some unknown or unforeseen reason. Note that whenever you make a business proposal, you must include a clause about agreeing to a Shareholders Agreement and the terms & conditions set out in it. You will need to get a Solicitor to help you make and set in place a Shareholders Agreement. Voluntary Exit – retirement or circumstantial exit Any voluntary exit should be predetermined and managed. This could be an exit where someone retires, or it is just time for them to move on from the business. Shareholders Agreement should cover minimum terms on which a voluntary exit is dealt with. Forced Exit – disagreement, non-performance, bankruptcy Any forced exit might be somewhat more difficult to manage then a voluntary exit. This type of exit can come about due to disagreement, non-performance of a partner or even other things such as criminal conviction and/or bankruptcy. Should this arise, details of what is expected and how this is managed should be covered in your agreement as a minimum, to provide you with the security of knowing how to deal with it. Involuntary Exit (death or some significant trauma)
Buy/Sell Agreements & Risk Management Should one of the owners have an accident, there needs to be the appropriate mechanisms in place to protect the interests of the business and shareholders. A Buy/Sell Agreement covers the involuntary exit and is usually covered via some insurance policies, or vendor finance agreement agreed upon in the Shareholders Agreement. When you bring in two or more people into your partnership, there is a higher chance that something may happen, where someone must exit for some unknown or unforeseen reason. You should be prepared for that, because that could blow things out of proportion in your business. That unexpected change can have significant impact in your business organization and overall performance.

This is a repost from our past blog containing an audio recording of a phone message supposedly from the ATO. Unfortunately, this incident has happened again to one of our colleagues, so we felt the need to warn you all again about these scammers. In the last couple of days, we have heard of two people receiving a phone call from someone pretending to be calling from the ATO and claiming to be part of the fraud & tax evasion division. One of the people that received the phone call was none other than Tash from our office. Here is an audio recording of the phone message they have left: Click here to listen. Please be aware that you may receive a phone call from these scammers, and if you are ever unsure, please contact us before doing anything!! – The PCR Team

This is just a quick run-down of the Budget and the things that are most likely to impact our Clients. Please note that it is not a fully comprehensive review of everything in the Budget. Under the Budget, there is a bank levy which the opposition says they do not oppose, but do not want the banks to pass on. The opposition has also opposed the removal of the 2% debt levy on high income earners. However, as this was a temporary measure with an end date in the legislation, a new law would have to be passed (we will be watching out for this closely). If it all goes ahead as planned, the big winners are first home buyers, people downsizing their home and small businesses. Superannuation Contributions from downsizing the home
Date of effect: 1 July 2018 Individuals aged 65 or older, will be able to make non-concessional (after tax) super contributions of up to $300,000, using proceeds from the sale of the family home. This limit will: • apply on a per person basis
• be in addition to the ordinary non-concessional contribution cap, and
• be available where the home has been owned for at least 10 years. Unlike other non-concessional contributions, it will not be necessary to meet a work test or have a ‘total super balance’ under $1.6 million. The amount contributed will not be exempt from the assets test used to assess eligibility for the Age Pension. First home super saver scheme
Date of effect: From 1 July 2017 – opposition opposes this. First home buyers will be able to save for a deposit, by making voluntary concessional and non-concessional super contributions. Contributions will be limited to $15,000 per year (up to a total of $30,000), and will count towards the relevant contribution cap. Withdrawals can be made from 1 July 2018. Concessional contributions plus assumed earnings withdrawn will be taxed at the person’s marginal tax rate, less a 30% tax offset. The Government has provided an online estimator to help individuals calculate the potential benefit of the scheme. SMSF borrowings
Date of effect: When law is passed Broadly, when new limited recourse borrowing arrangements are established, the loan balance will be included in an individual’s ‘total super balance’. The total super balance is used to determine a person’s ability to: • make non-concessional contributions
• qualify for a Government co-contribution or a spouse contribution tax offset, and
• make catch-up concessional contributions above the annual caps from 1 July 2018, where certain conditions are met. Also, repayments made from the SMSFs accumulation balance will count towards the member’s transfer balance cap, if the borrowing supports a pension account. The transfer balance cap limits the total lifetime transfers a person can make to retirement phase pensions. Taxation Medicare levy increase
Date of effect: 1 July 2019 The Medicare levy will increase from 2% to 2.5% pa, to fully fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme. This increase will flow to a range of other taxes such as Fringe Benefits Tax. Small business accelerated depreciation
Date of effect: 1 July 2017 The ability for small businesses with an annual turnover of $10 million or less, to claim an immediate deduction for eligible assets costing less than $20,000 each, will be extended for 12 months. HELP thresholds and rates
Date of effect: 1 July 2018 – opposition seems to oppose this. The annual income threshold at which Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) repayments commence will be reduced to $42,000 (currently $54,869). Also, the repayment rate will start at 1% and increase progressively to 10%. Social Security Pensioner Concession Card
Date of effect: From 1 July 2017 Individuals who lost entitlement to the Pensioner Concession Card as a result of the 1 January 2017 assets test changes, will be reissued with the card. Energy Assistance Payment
Date of effect: 20 June 2017 Eligible pensioners will be entitled to a one-off Energy Assistance Payment of $75 for singles, and $125 per couple. Eligible recipients include Australian residents who qualify for the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and Service Pension. Residency requirements for pensioners
Date of effect: 1 July 2018 To be eligible for the Age Pension and Disability Support Pension (DSP), claimants will need to have 15 years of continuous Australian residence unless they have either: • 10 years continuous Australian residence, with 5 years of this being during their working life, or
• 10 years continuous Australian residence, without having received an activity tested income support payment for a cumulative period of 5 years. Existing exemptions will continue to apply for DSP applicants who acquire their disability in Australia. Family Tax Benefit – Part A
Date of effect: 1 July 2018 A single taper rate of 30 cents in the dollar, will apply to income that exceeds the Higher Income Free Area ($94,316 in 2016/17). Currently, two tests are applied and the higher payment determines the entitlement. Family Tax Benefit – Part A and B
Date of effect: 1 July 2017 The payment rates will not be indexed for two years. Indexation will resume on 1 July 2019. Liquid Assets Waiting Period
Date of effect: 20 September 2018 The maximum Liquid Assets Waiting Period (LAWP), will increase from 13 to 26 weeks. The LAWP is a period an individual will be ineligible to receive Government income support. The new maximum period will apply to: • singles without dependents with liquid assets of more than $18,000, or
• couples, or singles with dependents, with liquid assets of more than $36,000. Liquid assets are readily available assets such as bank accounts, terms deposits, shares and managed funds.

A Blood Pressure Test for your Business When was the last time you had your blood pressure tested? Taking your blood pressure is one of the first things most doctors do before treating you for just about anything. How much pressure your blood is under as it courses through your veins is a reliable indicator of your overall health; and it can be an early indicator of everything from heart disease to bad circulation. Does it tell the doctor everything they need to know about your health? Of course not, but one powerful little ratio can give the doctor a pretty good sense of your overall wellbeing. Likewise, your Value Builder Score can be a handy indicator of your business wellbeing. Like your blood pressure reading, your company’s Sellability Score is an amalgam of a number of different factors and can help a professional quickly diagnose your business’s overall health. Predicting Good Outcomes Too When a doctor takes your blood pressure, they not only rule out possible nasty ailments; they can also use the pressure reading to forecast a healthy life ahead. Similarly, your Value Builder Score can predict good things for the future. For example, based on more than 10,000 business owners who have completed their Value Builder Score questionnaire, we know the average multiple of pre-tax profit they are offered for their business when it is time to sell is 3.7. By contrast, those companies that have achieved a Value Builder of 80+ are getting offers of 6.6 times pre-tax profit. In other words, an average-performing business turning out $500,000 in pre-tax profit is likely worth around $1,850,000 ($500,000 x 3.7). If the same company improved its Sellability Score to 80+ while maintaining its profitability of $500,000, it would be worth closer to $3,300,000 ($500,000 x 6.6). Are you guaranteed to fetch 6.6 times pre-tax profit if you improve your Value Builder Score to 80? Of course not. But just like blood pressure, one little number can tell you and your advisor a whole lot about how well you are doing; and your advisor can then prescribe an action plan to start maximizing your company’s health – and its value down the road. Heart disease is called “The Silent Killer” because most people have no idea what their blood pressure is. People can walk around for years with dangerously high blood pressure because they haven’t bothered to get it tested. The first step on the road to health is to get tested. If you have a great score, you can sleep well at night knowing you have one less thing to worry about. If your score is not where it should be, then at least knowing your performance can get you started down the road to better health. If you’re interested in getting your Value Builder Score, please visit our website for more details.

Will this be the year you seriously drive up the value of your Company? If you have resolved to make your company more valuable in 2017, you may want to think hard about how your customers pay. If you have a transaction business model where customers pay once for what they buy, expect your Company’s value to be a single-digit multiple of your Earnings Before Interest Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA). If you have a recurring revenue model, by contrast, where customers subscribe and pay on an ongoing basis, you can expect your valuation to be a multiple of your revenue. Breedlove & Associates sells for 6X Revenue In 1992, Stephanie Breedlove started a Payroll Company to make it easier for parents to pay their Nannies on a recurring basis. It began small and Breedlove self-funded her growth, which averaged 20% per year. By 2012, Breedlove & Associates had hit $9 million in annual sales when Breedlove accepted an offer from Care.com of $55 million for her business—representing an astronomical multiple of more than six times Breedlove’s revenue. Buyers pay up for Companies with recurring revenue because they can clearly see how your Company will make money long after you hit the exit. Not sure how to create recurring revenue? Here are five models to consider: Products That Run Out If you have a product that people run out of, consider offering it on subscription. The retailing giant Target sells subscriptions to diapers for busy parents who don’t have the time (or interest) in running to the store to re-stock on Pampers. Dollar Shave Club, which was recently acquired by Unilever for five times revenue, sells razor blades on subscription. The Honest Company sells dish detergent and safe household cleaning products to environmentally conscious consumers and more than 80% of their sales come from subscriptions. Membership Websites If you are a Consultant and offer specialised advice, consider whether Customers might pay access to a Premium Membership website where you offer your know-how to subscribers only. Today there are membership websites for people who want to know about anything from Search Engine Marketing to running a restaurant. Services Contracts If you bill by the hour or the project, consider moving to a fixed monthly fee for your service. That’s what the marketing agency GoBrandGo! has done to steady cash flow and create a more predictable service business. Piggyback Services Ask yourself what your “one-off” Customers buy, after they buy what you sell. For example, if you make a Company a new website, chances are they are going to need somewhere to host their site. While your initial website design may be a one-off service, you could offer to host it for your customer on subscription. If you offer interior design, chances are your customers are going to want to keep their home looking like the day you presented your design, so they might be in the market for a regular cleaning service. Rentals If you offer something expensive that customers only need occasionally, consider renting access to it for those who subscribe. ZipCar subscribers can have access to a car when they need it without forking over the cash to buy a hunk of steel. WeWork subscribers can have access to the company’s co-working space without buying a building or committing to a long-term lease. You don’t have to be a Software Company to create Customers who pay you automatically each month. There is simply no faster way to improve the value of your Business this year than to add some recurring revenue.

You already know that your business turnover and profits play a big role in how much your business is worth. Do you also know the role cash flow plays in your valuation? Cash vs. Profits Cash flow is different from profits in that it measures the cash coming in and out of your business rather than an accounting “magic” of your profit and loss. For example, if you charge $10,000 upfront for a service that takes you three months to deliver, you will be recognising only $3,333 in revenue for 3 months. But since you charged upfront, you get all $10,000 of cash on the day your customer decides to buy (go you!). This positive cash flow cycle improves your business valuation because when it comes the time to sell your business, the buyer will have to write two cheques: one to you, the owner, and a second to your company to fund its working capital – the cash your company needs to fund its immediate obligations like payroll, rent, etc. The trick is that both cheques are drawn from the same bank account. So if you are receiving cash in advance, the requirement for working capital is reduced, which means more for you. Unfortunately, the inverse is also true. If your business is a cash suck, an acquirer is going to calculate that they need to inject on closing day, which depletes their resources and results in less for you. How To Improve Your Cash Flow There are many ways to improve your cash flow – and therefore, the value of your business. One often overlooked tactic is to spend less on the machines your business needs to operate. In the restaurant business, for example, there is an often repeated truism that it takes three bankruptcies at a single location before any restaurant can make money. The first owner of the restaurant walks in and – with all of the typical optimism of a new entrepreneur – pays cash for a brand new commercial kitchen complete with fancy stove, commercial grade walk-in coolers, etc., as well as all new dishware, pots and pans, thus depleting their cash reserves before opening night. Within a year, the restaurant owner runs out of cash and declares bankruptcy. Then along comes a second entrepreneur who decides to set up their restaurant at the same location and buys all of the shiny new equipment from owner number one’s creditors for 70 cents on the dollar, figuring they made a wonderful deal. But the outlay of cash is still too great and they too are out of business within a year. It’s not until the third owner comes along that the location actually survives. They save cash by buying all of the equipment off the second owner for 10 cents on the dollar. The moral of the story is: find a way to reduce the cash you spend on equipment, however you can. Can you buy your gear used on sites like eBay? Can you share a very expensive piece of machinery with another non-competitive business? Can you rent instead of buying? Profits are an important factor in your business value but so too is the cash your company generates. We call this phenomenon, The Valuation Seesaw and it is one of the eight key drivers of the value of your business.

Some owners focus on growing their profits, while others are obsessed with sales goals. Have you ever considered making it your primary goal to set up your business so that it can thrive and grow without you? A business not dependent on its owner is the ultimate asset to own. It allows you complete control over your time, so that you can choose the projects you get involved in and the vacations you take. When it comes to getting out, a business independent of its owner is worth a lot more than an owner-dependent company. Here are five ways to set up your business so that it can succeed without you: 1. Give Them A Stake In The Outcome Jack Stack, the author of The Great Game of Business and A Stake In The Outcome wrote the book on creating an ownership culture inside your company: you are transparent about your financial results and you allow employees to participate in your financial success. This results in employees who act like owners when you’re not around. 2. Get Them To Walk In Your Shoes If you’re not quite comfortable opening up the books to your employees, consider a simple management technique where you respond to every question your staff brings to you with the same answer, “If you owned the company, what would you do?” By forcing your employees to walk in your shoes, you get them thinking about their question as you would, and it builds the habit of starting to think like an owner. Pretty soon, employees are able to solve their own problems. 3. Vet Your Offerings Identify the products and services which require your personal involvement in either making, delivering or selling them. Make a list of everything you sell, and score each on a scale of 0 to 10 on how easy they are to teach an employee to handle. Assign a 10 to offerings that are easy to teach to employees and give a lower score to anything that requires your personal attention. Commit to stop selling the lowest scoring product or service on your list. Repeat this exercise every quarter. 4. Create Automatic Customers Are you the company’s best salesperson? If so, you will need to fire yourself as your company’s rainmaker in order to get it to run without you. One way to do this is to create a recurring revenue business model where customers buy from you automatically. Consider creating a service contract with your customers that offers to fulfill one of their ongoing needs on a regular basis. 5. Write An Instruction Manual For Your Business Finally, make sure your company comes with instructions included. Write an employee manual or what MBA-types called Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These are a set of rules that employees can follow for repetitive tasks in your company. This will ensure employees have a rulebook which they can refer to when you’re not around, and, when an employee leaves, you can quickly swap them out with a replacement to take on duties of the job. You proofing your business has enormous benefits. It will allow you to create a company and have a life. Your business will be free to scale up because it is no longer dependent on you, its bottleneck. Best of all, it will be worth a lot more to a buyer whenever you are ready to sell.

We are a few weeks into the new year, and old and potentially bad habits may have already come back to you. How are you going with your goals? There is nothing wrong with calling for help. In fact, this is one of the best ways to making sure you do achieve your goals. The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) did a study on accountability and have put together the following statistics: The probability of completing a goal if:
 You have an idea or a goal: 10%
 You consciously decide you will do it: 25%
 You decide when you will do it: 40%
 You plan how you will do it: 50%
 You commit to someone you will do it: 65%
 You have a specific accountability appointment with a person you’ve committed to: 95% So, here you can see that just having a goal is not enough. As we have previously stated, it is important to plan on how you will do it, and when you will be doing it; but the biggest thing that improves the chances of success is committing to someone and being accountable to them. Now that you know this, what are you going to do to achieve your goals? If you have some business and financial goals you want to achieve, and you need help, please do not hesitate to contact us. We have some great accountability programs for business and personal goals.

We are a bit over two weeks in now which means that, according to Statistic Brain, almost a third of people who made New Year resolutions have already failed. As stated in our previous blast, achieving goals require planning. So I hope that by the second week, you have finalised the plans that you will need to achieve them. If you need some help achieving your goals, make sure you find the right people to assist you. Also remember that it is important to find someone that will keep you accountable. http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/

By Renee Kiley of Property Way There are so many different types of properties that selecting one can be very confusing, and mixed messages from arm chair experts can make it all the more difficult. There are however some specific property types I suggest you avoid altogether as they are simply a very bad choice or are very high risk investments. My advice is not only based on my personal opinion, Australia’s biggest Banks also have concerns with the majority of the below property types and will restrict lending levels on them. I always say that if the Banks are wary and don’t want to lend on a particular property type you should steer clear as they have access to far more property and mortgage related data than we do! One of the key things to remember is, just because a property has good cash flow it doesn’t mean it’s a good investment, the whole point of investing is to achieve capital growth, cash flow just allows you to hold onto the property whilst it grows in value for you. Here is my list: Mining towns – Some of Australia’s most highly volatile and controversial property markets. These towns rely heavily on both investors and the mining industry and property markets can literally collapse overnight when a mine shuts or scales down. Mining towns do not have diverse economies to prop up their property markets. Examples are areas like Emerald and Roma in QLD and Port Hedland in WA. Department of Defence Housing (DHA) – Yes they seem attractive on the surface with long leases and generally no ongoing maintenance costs however they have huge management expenses, generally need to offered up for sale to defence housing to sell first instead of the open market and are only located in areas that require housing for defence personnel, which may not necessarily be the best place to invest in. Student Accommodation – Most banks have a limit on the size of a property before they will lend on it. This is about 45m2 for a one bedroom apartment. Student accommodation is often much smaller than this so bank financing is terribly difficult. Not to mention the fact that these properties only appeal to a certain (small) segment of the market, often have complex lease arrangements attached and cannot be occupied by anyone other than a student. Serviced Apartments – With these properties, an operator is engaged to look after the building and manage the property. So you are reliant on them and cannot change companies as the management rights form part of the ownership. The management fees are also very high which can dilute what often looks like great cash flow, they have an extremely limited resale market and rely on tourism and strong economic conditions to drive occupancies. Large “Off the plan” Projects – At Property Way; we generally don’t approve projects with any more than 50 apartments in the development (any more than this would require a very, very convincing reason). The majority of our projects have only up to 15 or 30 apartments. As projects get bigger, resale and capital growth prospects get worse as there are so many other similar properties in the same building that can drag values down. Not to mention that the land content (the component of the property that actually grows in value) is very low. Banks also restrict their lending in large developments for fear of over-exposing themselves in a particular building. A Property With Title Issues – This only affects a very small percentage of properties however making a mistake here can be extremely costly. Part of your solicitors role is to check the Title for the property and let you know if there are any covenants, easements, overlays or outdated title structures that could restrict you from selling or making changes to the property in the future. Some examples of this might be apartments with Company Share Title (banks will restrict their lending on these properties) or a Heritage overlay on a house which might mean you must renovate or improve the property in accordance with heritage conditions; this can add tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost of a renovation or addition to the property. You can probably see a recurring theme here, the best types of properties are those that will appeal to both an investor and an owner occupier, so don’t limit yourself to a small segment of the market by purchasing one of these property types, it’s just not worth the risk.

As you may be aware, there will be changes to the Age and/or Service Pension assets test that will take effect from the 1st of January 2017. Evidently, a person’s Age and/or Service Pension entitlement is based on an assets and an income test. The test that results in the lesser amount of pension is the test that is applied. In the 2015 budget the government announced a major change to the assets test which will take effect from the 1st of January 2017. The change will see an increase in the current lower thresholds – which will result in an increased pension entitlement for some people. Currently – once a person’s assessable assets exceed the lower threshold, their age pension reduces by $1.50 per fortnight for every $1000 of assets above the threshold. From January 2017, this ‘taper rate’ will increase from $1.50 per fortnight to $3.00 per fortnight for every $1000 of assets above the threshold. This will result in a substantial number of pensioners suffering a reduction in their Age or Service Pension. The following table provides a brief outline of the current lower and upper thresholds in comparison to the future thresholds after the 1st of January 2017. *The future upper thresholds are based on the current rates of pension. Depending on your personal circumstances if you believe your assets (excluding your home) are in excess of the current threshold as per this table – we strongly urge you to review your situation before the end of the year. There are certain things you can do that may help to preserve your pension entitlement. If you would like to discuss your current and future Age or Service Pension position, and the options that may be available to you, please contact our office to make an appointment.

Have you actually thought about how much it costs you to be unhealthy? This infographic by Medifast can give you some idea as to the cost of being unhealthy. So what are some of the financial costs of being unhealthy? – Lower productivity and energy levels affecting your performance at work or in your business.
– Medical Costs later in life or even earlier in life (as I learned)
– Insurance premiums are higher.
– All that potential unpaid leave and/or missed opportunities
– A shorter lifespan and early mortality (reducing how much you can earn in your life) All of this is easy to say but how easy is it to implement and start becoming healthy. Like getting to financial freedom, it can be hard to know where to start; that is where having a coach to guide you and get you started to becoming and being healthy can be one of the best financial decisions you will ever make. A coach will give you the steps and knowledge to achieve your health goals and change your life for the better. Brad Cunningham of The Fit Shop says that: “You need to begin looking at your health like a bank account. We all understand that if you take too many withdrawals from your account you’re going to go into the red. So you need to continually make deposits. Same with your health, overtime you choose a poor food option, drink alcohol, skip exercise you make withdrawals. And soon enough you will hit the ‘red’ and in this case red meaning: sickness, illness, injury or other health concerns, So moving forward focus on making more deposits daily for your health.” Whilst it may take some time and patience to get to the level that you ideally want, it is worth it. You will feel better, you will look better and most importantly you will have the energy to LIVE LIFE!!

Don’t pay unnecessary tax this year! Plan ahead and Save 30th June isn’t far away!!
Too often, we end up suffering because we have procrastinated and not made a positive decision to do something. Last Year we were able to help our clients save over $800,000 in tax. We want you to join them and help us get to $1 million. So, over the coming weeks, we will be listing a number of strategies to help you reduce your tax legally. Why?
If you leave your tax planning until the end of June, quite frankly there may not be enough time to do anything significant to legally reduce your tax.
So for 2016, start planning to save tax. So over the next few weeks keep an eye out for our tax planning strategies that can help you save big and save more for your families wealth creation. How our Tax Planning Process works First of all, we request from you details of your expected income and business profits for the 2016 tax year (1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016). This includes all wages / employment income, interest and dividends and rental income received, business profits / losses, and any capital gains / losses you expect to make. Based on this information, we estimate your taxable income and your tax payable BEFORE any tax planning strategies. For example, we may calculate (based on your information) that you may have a taxable income of $100,000 for 2016. Secondly, we discuss all of your tax planning options. Some of these may be things to do in your business, and some of these may be investment / wealth creation options. Thirdly, we provide you with a report that explains in plain English the tax planning strategies we recommend and exactly how much tax you will save. Finally, we provide you with an easy-to-follow Action Plan to ensure that both you and us can do everything that needs to be actioned before 30th June.

This is just a quick rundown of the budget and the things most likely to impact our clients. It isn’t a fully comprehensive review of everything in the budget. Something to remember is that none of the budget is law and now that Labour has given its response, it looks like they won’t be supporting all of the reforms that are set out the budget, especially the retrospective super reforms and generous increase to turnover size for classification of small business. We will be having a federal election soon, in which the full senate will be elected. This could see a substantial shift in the senate and the ability of the government to pass any legislation. Superannuation Effective Immediately Lifetime cap for non-concessional (after-tax) contributions. A lifetime cap has been set at $500,000 taking into account all after-tax contributions from 1 July 2007. Yes, that means in order to make sure you don’t breach the cap, you will have to go back almost 10 years and work out exactly what has been contributed since then. I am sure that everyone is looking forward to that. How has it changed? Previously, this limit was $180,000 per year and individuals under 65 could bring forward 2 years to make it $540,000 over 3 years. This is a massive shift that is designed to stop people being able to make large contributions to their fund. Super changes effective 1 July 2017 Allow catch-up concessional super contributions Balances less than $500,000 will be allowed to make additional concessional (pre-tax) contributions based on unused cap amount in previous years. The unused amounts start accruing from 1 July 2017 and can only be carried forward on rolling basis for a period of five years. I think this change is welcome and fantastic for people with lower balances and really help people get the funds that they need into super in their later years. Transition to Retirement Income Stream (TRIS) – Taxing earnings Previously, all income streams (pension) assets in a super fund were exempt from the 15% earnings tax. This will no longer be the case, with the income earned from assets supporting a TRIS to be taxed at the 15%. The TRIS scheme was supposed to be there to help people supplement their incomes, should they decide to start working part time before retirement. Due to its nature though, it was a great way to save tax and put those extra funds into Super to boost savings. If this stays, these strategies will need to be reviewed. Reducing Concessional Contributions Cap Pre-tax contributions and employer contributions cap will be reduced to $25,000 from $35,000 for those aged over 50 and $30,000 for everyone else. Changes to contribution rules for those aged 65 to 74 This is the removal of the work test, meaning that those in that age will be able to make contributions to their Super again, regardless of whether they are working or not. Tax deductions for personal super contributions This allows people to make contributions personally to Super and claim a deduction. Previously there was a 10% test in which only substantially self-employed individuals were able to claim this deduction. Change to the double contribution tax rule for high income earners As from 1 July 2017, the threshold will be reduced from $300,000 to $250,000 where high income earners have to pay an extra 15% on Super Contributions Tax. Improve Superannuation balances of low income spouses Low Income Super Tax Offset is available where spouse now earns up to $37,000 (up from $10,800). The offset is gradually reduced up until an income of $40,000. $540 tax offset is available for the contributing spouse. Low Income Super Tax Offset The point of this offset is so that people on lower incomes don’t pay more tax on their super contributions then they do outside of super. This will apply to people who have an adjusted taxable income of up to $37,000 and is up to $500. This replaces Labour’s Low Income Superannuation Contribution (which is almost identical). Business & Tax cuts Personal Income Tax Cuts The 32.5% personal income tax threshold will increase from $80,000 to $87,000. Increasing Small Business Income Tax Offset Increase in the current offset from 5% available to non-incorporated business to 8% but no increase the cap amount of a $1,000. Reduction in Company Tax Rate Reduction in Company Tax Rate effective 1 July 2016 for small business to 27.5%. The plan is to reduce it to 25% over the next 10 years. Increase in small business entity turnover threshold Starting 1 July 2016, the turnover threshold is to go from $2M to $10M. Labour have said they oppose this. We will have to wait and see it if makes it.

Have you maximised your retirement savings? There has been some media speculation in the lead up to the Federal Budget about potential changes to superannuation rules, including changes that might impact annual contribution caps and/or transition to retirement (TTR) strategies. So what does this mean for you? While these changes are only speculative, now may be the time to consider making the most of any potential benefits available under the current rules. This includes considering: – whether you can salary sacrifice the optimal level into super (being mindful of the contribution cap limits) and/or – a transition to retirement pension if you’re of preservation age which enables you to draw a pension from your super while you’re still working. What are the existing rules? Superannuation contribution caps Transition to retirement strategy To talk through these options based on your personal circumstances, book an appointment by emailing or calling our office. Sources: Australian Financial Review, 13 Feb 2016, Federal budget 2016 super grab: five ways to protect your nest egg and Australian Financial Review, 1 Feb 2016, Transition to retirement pension changes won’t just hit the wealthy

Get started now so you are ready by 30 June If you are an employer, it’s important you know about some changes in the way you pay super and that you take action now. All employers need to use SuperStream when paying super. This means paying super and sending employee information electronically in a standard format. If you are not already paying super using SuperStream, it’s important you get started soon. The next quarterly super payment cycle is due in April and that is a good opportunity for you to start using SuperStream so you can ensure everything is in place by the 30 June 2016 deadline. What you need to do: There are a number of options you can choose to implement SuperStream. Depending on what works best for your business, you can choose to use: › your super fund’s online system › a clearing house › a payroll system that is SuperStream ready › a messaging portal. Your accountant or bookkeeper may also be able to help you with a solution. The ATO also offers the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House as a free online service that you can use. If you are already using this service you can rest easy that you are SuperStream ready. Also, if you pay using Xero and your auto super function, you are SuperStream compliant.

What do you want out of life? Do you want a new car, a new house, or financial freedom? Or maybe, you want all of it and more? Well, I can tell you that anything is possible. You just have to start with the END (what you want/your goals), then create a “Game Plan” to get there. In our business, we help our clients “Live Life”. We help them get to the END – to their goals and to attain what it is they want. More often than not, people come to us with really ambitious goals and tell us where they want to go. However, they lack a game plan – which is the “what” and the “how” to get there. Having goals are great, but without figuring out the “what” and the “how”, your chances of achieving your goals are slim. That is where we can help. Not only do we show our clients what’s possible, we also help create a “Game Plan” – the “what” and “how” to get there. The first step to creating a game plan is the No Action Gap Analysis. With this tool, we look at where you are now and based on what you are doing, where you are going to be. We will then work with you to go through different scenarios, and show you where you can go by making a few changes. This allows us to build a Game Plan to help you get there. It is a great tool because it provides the both of us great insight as to where you can be in the future. With the “Game Plan”, we can therefore monitor your progress and make adjustments as necessary. Contact us today so you can start creating your “Game Plan.” Here at Preston, Coe & Ring, we will help you “Live Life” the way you want to.

If you’re thinking that meetings waste your time and effort at work (or your business), they go for too long which is stopping you from completing what you need to finish, then you are having the WRONG meetings. Meetings should be short, sharp, and concise. We have a daily meeting which consists most days of 5 people. These meetings last between 90-120 seconds (that’s right, 1 and a half minutes to 2 minutes). That is on average 18-24 seconds per person. We also have a weekly meeting that runs for 20-40mins. So for the week, both meetings (weekly and daily) add up to 26-48 minutes. Doesn’t sound that bad, right? I think everyone could agree they could do that. I know of a business that has the daily meeting for each team (marketing, sales, product development, management, etc.) as well as the whole team (everyone together) daily meeting. The individual team meetings take about the same amount of time as ours (90-120 seconds) and the full team meeting (approximately 20 people) goes for about 7 minutes. You might be thinking that the secret is to spend less time in meetings, but have more of them. First of all, it is no secret: the answer is in Mastering the Rockefella Habits by Verne Harnish. What we do is an adaptation of what he mentions in his book. For us, this is how we go about our meetings; in our daily meetings there is no sitting down – stand up only. This means people don’t get comfortable and results in a much faster meeting. These are the 3 core questions that must be asked (we have added a 4th): 1. “What’s up?” – This is what are you doing for the day to add value to your team/business. Nobody wants to hear checking emails, returning phone calls – you should be doing that anyway.
2. “What will you complete?” – This is how you will measure success for the day so it must be easily measurable. Saying “I will get some applications complete,” is not adequate. It needs to be said “I will get 5 applications complete”. Easily measurable because you will either do it or not.
3. “Are you stuck?” – This is where you indicate who you might need help from to complete your task.
4. “How did you go?” – This is the 4th question we added at the beginning (after the first question). So stop wasting your time in the WRONG meetings and start having the RIGHT meetings.

Previously, I have mentioned about “Doing the RIGHT things”. The question is, what are the “RIGHT” things? To answer that, ask yourself these questions – What do you want to achieve? Where do you want to go? And lastly, what are your goals and aspirations? Doing the RIGHT things is different for everyone because where they want to go is different. An example of this is the typical small business owner. Nowadays, people go into business for a variety of reasons, but two of them seem fairly common; lifestyle and money. These individuals want to make more money so they can fund a better lifestyle, but what happens with a lot of small business owners? They end up working harder but making less money OR they end up with more money but no time to enjoy it. So, why does this happen? The answer is simple, they aren’t “doing the RIGHT things”. Most people get caught up in the day to day tasks of running and owning a business but only end up working IN the business rather than ON the business. How do you fix it? Well, I’m sorry to say that there is no magic bullet. It requires you to take the first step of taking time for self-reflection. Here, at Preston Coe and Ring, we help small businesses achieve more than what they thought was possible. We help them “Live Life” and this starts with looking at where you are now and where you want to go. If you want to improve your business and take the first step to an improved lifestyle, complete our free business review at prestoncoering.com.au and start the journey today. Live life like you have always wanted.

In our daily lives, we are often forced to manage urgent and important tasks simultaneously that usually results to things getting out of control. Many people believe that urgent and important mean the same thing, or to put it more accurately, they don’t know the difference between the two. Knowing the difference between what is urgent versus what is important can help you become more productive, efficient, and organised. So, how do you determine what is urgent and what is important? After you decide which is which, how do you schedule it out? “What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower There is much to be learned about productivity and time management from the life of Dwight Eisenhower. He can be considered as a master organiser, with his historic roles as a five-star general during the WWII and as the 34th President of the United States. The figure below is the Eisenhower Box, a straightforward decision-making tool that you can use. Urgent tasks demand your immediate action or attention right now and have deadlines. Important tasks tend to bring you closer to your long-term goals, these can also be things that you personally find important (like family and exercise). – Urgent and Important (Quadrant 2) – tasks you will do immediately. Specific examples of activities under this quadrant are emergencies, tasks with meaningful deadlines, tax deadlines, etc. – Important, but not urgent (Quadrant 1) – tasks you will schedule to do later. Examples are saving for the future, daily exercise, planning, rewarding hobbies, car and home maintenance, etc. – Urgent, but not important (Quadrant 4) – tasks you can delegate to someone else. These can be phone calls, most emails (some emails could be urgent and important), recommendation letters, favors from colleagues, etc – the types of activities under this quadrant are more important to others, not you. – Neither urgent nor important (Quadrant 3) – tasks you can do later or eliminate. These are all the time-wasting activities such as browsing social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc), watching your favorite TV shows, surfing the web, gambling, etc. Successful people, even if they have the most demanding jobs, still schedule the “Important but not urgent” tasks into their day like spending time with their family and friends or exercising. Using the Eisenhower Box, you can look at the tasks that you’re neglecting and the tasks that you can eliminate.

They say that there are two things that are guaranteed in life; death and taxes. If you want to make sure that the right people, get the right money at the right time when you are gone or incapacitated – then estate planning is important. Estate Planning isn’t just about planning for if you die. It is also for if you become incapacitated. Nowadays, this is becoming even more important due to health improvements. It is now very common for people to become legally incapacitated before passing away. If you don’t have the right things in place, you can leave a nightmare of applications and paperwork for your family to deal with regarding your wealth. How you plan your estate, can also play a big part on the amount of tax the people you leave your wealth to, will be required to pay. Whilst there are no death taxes per se in Australia, there are a lot of other taxes. Without proper estate planning, this could potentially impact those you leave behind. As a result, you might leave behind $500,000 to someone with a $150,000 tax bill attached to it, whilst another family member gets $500,000 and no tax bill. Estate Planning is an important part of any wealth plan. If you would like to know more, please contact a Financial Adviser.

When I refer to your retirement, I like to think of it as your financial retirement. We always want people to aim for a particular goal so they are able to choose what they want to do. Part of that is having enough funds to do so. A big part of this for most people is using Superannuation. Superannuation in Australia is a great vehicle that can help anyone gain more wealth. With a low tax rate of 15% and even as low as 0%, Superannuation is important to any wealth plan. The use of the Superannuation system can save thousands, and even more for those who are getting closer to their retirement date. When you get there, using the Superannuation system to help fund your income is one of the best ways to get tax free money. Currently, you can receive money tax free from super after the age of 60. Also, when your fund is in pension mode, it doesn’t pay tax. So not only the income you receive in your hands is tax free, but the earnings are tax free also. It really is a win-win as tax is for a lot of people one of their largest expenses. So when planning for your financial retirement, it is important that you consider everything that is available to you to maximise what you have. If you would like to know more on how to save thousands heading into retirement, the best thing you can do is contact a Financial Adviser.

Why is debt important to wealth? Technically, you don’t need debt to create and have wealth. For most people, debt is part of their wealth. Whether it be for a home, car or just credit cards, most of us have it. As a result, we need to manage it to minimise its costs and maximise its benefits. Good debt management can substantially improve your wealth and cashflow. Whenever you are looking at investing for your financial future, you should always look at your debt and work out how you can use it to your advantage. I know that for many of our clients that we do financial planning for, we use debt recycling. Debt recycling just allows you to recycle non-deductible debt (like your home loan) for deductible debt. Apart from this, using appropriate amounts of leverage in an investment can help give you greater returns over the long term. However, like everything with your wealth, prudent management needs to take place to ensure you get the most out of it. If you aren’t sure about how you could manage your debt better, the best thing you can do is get professional assistance.

Investing for your freedom! When I say investing, I like to talk about investing outside of superannuation. Whilst superannuation is a great vehicle, it is subject to the whims of the government. For those of you that are still young, a big part of your wealth plan to achieving freedom will be about investing outside of your super. I am not sure about yourself but at 27 (at the time of writing), I don’t want to be waiting until I am at least 65 to access my super (as recommended by the Commission of Audit). I want to have the freedom to do what I want. As a result, for those of us who are younger (myself included), super is unable to help us meet all of our financial goals. I speak about financial freedom being the ability to have choice. If you are 25 now and want financial freedom at 50-55, you are going to need wealth outside of super because you won’t be able to access super until 60 (currently), but more likely older. One of the best ways to invest for your future is to invest a little bit a lot, starting as early as possible. By investing a little a lot, you can work an investment into your regular budget. Also, the earlier you start, the more you will have sooner thanks to compound interest (interest on interest). As you go on, you can adjust and hopefully improve your plan so that you can reach your goals earlier. Not sure where to start? Speak to one of our professionals to help you on your way.

Risk, protecting the downside! Our motto at Preston Coe & Ring is “Living for today, saving for tomorrow and protecting in between.” The protecting in between is about managing some of the unmanageables (I know it isn’t a word). An important part of any wealth plan is to minimise unnecessary risk. Usually the best and cheapest way to do this, is to look at your insurance. This ensures that you and your family can maintain its wealth and lifestyle. Everybody insures their homes and car, however it is even more important to insure your family and income. Without your income, you won’t be able to afford many of the things that you have. If something major and unexpected happens, you may have some significant medical and other costs to cover. It doesn’t matter how old you are either. One of our clients, Stephen, got Lymphoma at the age of 29. Unfortunately, he didn’t have insurance and as a result, ended up with what might have been unnecessary debt. Having appropriate insurance will help you manage and ensure that your family’s lifestyle and wealth plan are minimally impacted. It will also allow you the financial security to ensure that you can be available to support family members when they most need it. How comfortable are you that if something happened, you would be able to financially cope with it? If you aren’t sure, the best thing you can do is seek out professional help.

Over the coming weeks, we will be publishing a 6-part series called “6 keys to your wealth”. The 6 keys to wealth being:
– Your Income
– Your Risk
– Your Investment
– Your Debt
– Your Freedom (Retirement)
– Your Estate We know that you will find them insightful and look forward to hearing from you so that you can achieve your financial freedom. This week, we will be focusing on Income. Income, the money you make! When you are starting out, your income is really all you have. That, and your ability to earn more of it. Income supports our lifestyles and ensures there is food on the table. So when looking at your wealth, income is really important. What is most important about your income in relation to your wealth, is how you manage it. What does managing your money really mean? It is important to make sure that you understand what your income will support in terms of your lifestyle and what you want to achieve with your wealth. Even saving a little early on can make a big difference. Do you understand what you can afford, where you want to get to and most importantly have you created a plan to get from where you are now to where you want to be? If not, there is no time like the present to get on top of it. The earlier you start with getting everything in order and moving towards your goal, the greater the chance of success.

Starting a family of your own can be quite a challenge, with its unexpected twists and turns along the way. One of them, and probably the most challenging you will ever deal with, is money. Whether you are earning it, saving it, spending it, it all boils down to how well you can handle and manage it to sustain your entire family. It is a known fact that people tend to have that “happy go lucky” attitude on things especially those who are just starting out in life, and when it comes to handling their finances, often times they confuse their wants from their needs. Proper financial guidance is indeed essential in these situations. This is where MyProsperity kicks in. For those who are uncertain about their money management skills, the best online financial tool you can utilise today is this new and innovative approach on money management. This program lets you keep track of your funds and assets, which are conveniently all in one place, and it’s for free!!! It is definitely user-friendly, which would not be a hassle if you are always on the go. Wherever you are, you can have access to it and still be in control over everything you own. It also lets you set and track savings goals and plan your budget. A path to a better financial future for the family indeed! But there is more to this online tool which makes it sit above the rest: it has free online home appraisal and car valuation as well as auto categorisation of your spendings, making your life a whole lot easier. You can also connect online with your financial professional if you are interested in any products or services, and may also get free reports of ongoing results of your finances. If this would improve your family’s financial status, then it is worth a try. Give it a go and see how MyProsperity leads you and your loved ones to a prosperous and worry-free life! You may click on this link to join in and be a part of this revolutionary program that can change your life, and hone your future.

Nowadays, securing personal information is quite a challenge. Mostly everything now is done electronically, and with the social media present, it’s hard to keep things private. In light of this, the breed of opportunists rises, who use people’s sensitive information to manipulate them into getting what they want – your money. Best way to counter this is by gaining self-awareness. Be up to date with their latest tricks. One of them being, giving phone calls to people alleging fake arrest warrants to scam money. To read further on this, here’s the link to an article from the ScamWatch – Australian Competition & Consumer Commission: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news/telephone-calls-alleging-fake-arrest-warrants-used-to-scam-money Be on guard, be aware, and be vigilant in protecting yourself from these scammers.

Business owners have been known to refer to due diligence as ‘the entrepreneur’s proctology exam.’ It’s a crude analogy but a good representation of what it feels like when a stranger pokes, prods, and looks inside every inch of your business. Most professional acquirers will have a checklist of questions they need answered if they’re considering buying your business. They’ll want answers to questions like: • When does your lease expire and what are the terms?
• Do you have consistent, signed, up-to-date contracts with your customers and employees?
• Are your ideas, products and processes protected by patent or trademark?
• What kind of technology do you use, and are your software licenses up to date?
• What are the loan covenants on your credit agreements?
• How are your receivables? Do you have any late payers or deadbeat customers?
• Does your business require a license to operate, and if so, is your paperwork in order?
• Do you have any litigation pending? In addition to these objective questions, they’ll also try to get a subjective sense of your business. In particular, they will try to determine just how integral you are personally to the success of your business. Subjectively assessing how dependent the business is on you requires the buyer to do some investigative work. It’s more art than science and often requires a potential buyer to use a number of tricks of the trade, such as: Trick #1: Juggling calendars By asking to make a last-minute change to your meeting time, an acquirer gets clues as to how involved you are personally in serving customers. If you can’t accommodate the change request, the acquirer may probe to find out why and try to determine what part of the business is so dependent on you that you have to be there. Trick #2: Checking to see if your business is vision impaired An acquirer may ask you to explain your vision for the business, which is a question you should be well prepared to answer. However, he or she may ask the same question of your employees and key managers. If your staff members offer inconsistent answers, the acquirer may take it as a sign that the future of the business is in your head. Trick #3: Asking your customers why they do business with you A potential acquirer may ask to talk to some of your customers. He or she will expect you to select your most passionate and loyal customers and, therefore, will expect to hear good things. However, the customers may be asked a question like ‘Why do you do business with these guys?’ The acquirer is trying to figure out where your customers’ loyalties lie. If your customers answer by describing the benefits of your product, service or business in general, that’s good. If they respond by explaining how much they like you personally, that’s bad. Trick #4: Mystery shopping Acquirers often conduct their first bit of research behind your back before you even know they are interested in buying your business. They may pose as a customer, visit your website, or come into your business to understand what it feels like to be one of your customers. Make sure the experience your business offers a stranger is tight and consistent, and try to avoid personally being involved in finding or serving brand-new customers. If any potential acquirers see you personally as the key to wooing new customers, they’ll be concerned business will dry up when you leave.

I remember at a swimming carnival at the start of the year, we decided that we needed to get food but because there was a music festival on; Caspian and I should walk rather than drive to the supermarket. So walk we did, a total of 4.7km’s there and back to the supermarket to get some food. Caspian is only 3 and a half so it was a long walk for him. Coaching him and seeing him make the full distance made me realise that the journey to financial freedom isn’t so different to Caspian’s walk to the supermarket and back. I knew where Caspian and I had to go and what was required to do it. I knew Caspian would find it hard at some point and would require some guidance and coaching along the way. People want financial freedom and have an idea of where they want to be; but they need to get someone to help them with the directions to get there. During the journey they will need guidance, coaching and support as it is a long journey. I used a few methods of getting Caspian to keep up and make it to the end. The first one was, “Every step you take is a step closer to the pool”. So it is the same with reaching your financial goals. People sometimes think it is just one big win that will get you there. It isn’t, it is a journey and you need to take steps. Getting good advice is just about getting guidance on what steps to take so you don’t take bad ones and go backwards. That way every step you take is a step closer to financial freedom. The last method I got to get Caspian to make it to the end played on his desire to always win. I would say “Do you want to win?”, he would respond “Yes” and I would say “Then get in front and stay there”. We made it to our destination.

I often see and hear people working in their ‘off-time’ regularly. Personally, I think this is one of the worst things you can do. I believe it is important that people remember “you work to live, not live to work”. With technology, people nowadays are always connected and so it can be hard to switch off. But, one of the most important things you can do for yourself, your work, your partner, and your family is to switch off from work. This inability to switch off is even worse for small business owners. So, why is it important to switch off and only work at the right time? It is about having a balanced life and ensuring you focus your energy and attention to one thing at a time. What do I mean by this? It is about putting your phone/tablet/computer away and giving the people who are most important in your life (friends and family) the attention and energy they deserve from you. A perfect example of someone I saw not working at the right time was recently at the park. I was there with my boys (age 7 & 4). I was having a great time chasing them around and playing with them – just enjoying them as they are. And there I saw another father in the park with 2 boys of similar age. Instead of playing with them, he was on the phone with work not paying much attention to his sons. This is a perfect example of when you shouldn’t be working. He should have switched off and gave his full attention and energy to his sons. Here are a few ways where I make sure to switch off so that I am always giving my full attention and I’m always at my best: Create separate space and time for work and the rest of your life. I believe having some physical separation helps create the mental separation needed. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work at home. It simply means that if you want to work at home, create a space for it. That way, when you go to that space you are “at” work and when you leave that space, you are not “at” work. Turn off your notifications. You do not immediately need to check that Facebook comment, or that Twitter mention, and even that email straight away. Allocate a specific time to go through these during the day. I personally check my emails only twice a day and deal with them then. I allocate 5 minutes a day to my Twitter and my LinkedIn. TURN THEM OFF, they aren’t that important. Make time in your working day when you switch off. I personally switch off and take a break for 5 minutes, thrice a day. This helps because it allows you to refresh yourself so that you are performing at your best.

There is NEVER enough time! WRONG! Anyone who complains about not having enough time is just making excuses. Each of us has the same amount of time as everyone else. The question is, what are you doing with it? I used to be a person who always felt there was NEVER enough time, but then I realised that what I was doing was procrastinating doing “busy” work, and doing other useless things that didn’t add value to myself, my family, my business, or my clients. After some self-reflection, some study, and perseverance, I now get my work done in the time I allocate. I also spend better quality time with my family and significantly add more value to my clients, my business, and myself. So with the realisation and the belief that I had the same amount of time as everyone else, I worked on managing my time more efficiently. Below are some of the things I have done: Work is for during work hours. So often I see people on the phone with a work ‘thing’ whilst at the park with their kids or some other activity. Come on guys, is it really that urgent to be missing out experience with your kids? Most of the time, it’s not, and can wait until the next day. The same goes with working at home during your family time. It is NOT cool, generally unproductive, and leads to a worse home life. So STOP IT! Uninterrupted time. This is a big one that a lot of professionals don’t do enough of. You should be blocking out interruptions to get things done. Uninterrupted time is best to be done 60-90 minute blocks. If you have 90 minutes to really get into your work and get things done, you’ll need a short break afterwards (5-10 minutes). If you do this, you will find that you can get a lot done in that time. More than you would think. If clients and customers call you during this time you are ‘with someone’. You are with yourself and it is a very important meeting. Checking emails. This can be a huge waste of time. If you’re like me, you might receive more than a hundred, or even 200 emails a day. Not uncommon, as it is an easy way for business to communicate and it works quite effectively. This contributes to time wasted, because people are constantly checking their emails all throughout the day and getting distracted by them. Turn off your notification and close your email program. You DO NOT need to read an email the instant it comes to your inbox. E-mail is mail so treat it like mail. Check it only once or twice a day, there is no need to check it more often than that. So turn off those notifications and that email program, get some real work done, or if you’re at home, enjoy your life with your family and friends. Meetings. The WRONG meetings can be a massive waste of productive time. What is worse about this is that they tend to waste multiple peoples’ productive time simultaneously. Change your business so that you start having the RIGHT meetings and get more productive time back. Phone Calls. Just because your phone rings doesn’t mean you need to answer it then and there. Answering or taking a call when it comes in can be highly disruptive. Most of the time, the phone call can wait. A key thing that I do is to get the person who receives the phone call (receptionist) find out when is the most appropriate time to call that person back – then an appointment is made. This stops phone tag and the disruption of productive time. DO THE RIGHT THINGS. This is the most important because there is no point saving and getting all this time back if you do the wrong things with it. So what are YOU going to do to improve how you use your time?

How would you like to legally reduce your tax by $500 or $1,000 or $5,000 or more? Here’s how to do it: The Strategy behind Tax Planning The tax you pay depends on your taxable income (all assessable income less allowable tax deductions), and the tax rates that apply to that income. Therefore, your tax is reduced if you: 1. Reduce your income, or 2. Increase your tax deductions. Seeing we all want to earn more, reducing your income isn’t an option! But increasing your tax deductions definitely is. Below we have given you a link to 2 Tax Planning Flyers which both list a number of items that could be claimed as tax deductions. Use these as a guide, but please CONTACT US if you have any questions or uncertainties regarding this. To illustrate: If you need something in July that is classified as a tax deduction, it makes sense to bring this purchase forward and buy it in June. You then get the tax deduction this year, and not next year. Warning: Don’t fall into the trap of buying something simply to get the tax deduction for it. If your tax rate (including Medicare Levy) is for example 34%, you would only get 34% of the purchase price back as a tax refund (or reduced tax payable) from a tax deductible item. You DON’T get 100% of the amount that you spend back as a tax refund (or reduced tax payable). But if you do need an item for your business or your work and it is tax deductible, we recommend buying it BEFORE 30 June so that you get the tax deduction this year. Your Tax Planning Strategy Checklists Business Owners: Click Here for our Tax Planning Flyer for Business Owners. Individuals: Click Here for our Tax Planning Flyer for Individuals. If you are a business owner, please note that we will review BOTH the Business Owner’s Flyer and the Individual Flyer because both of these apply to you. Help us to help YOU! If you spend a little bit of time with us to review your financial situation and discuss your tax planning options, you could end up saving yourself thousands of dollars. Now’s the time to do it – please contact our office TODAY to get started

When COVID-19 first impacted Australia and the country went into lockdown, one of the first casualties were our jobs.

Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus, we have seen an enormous amount of change in how we go about our day to day living.

Several years ago, a good friend was visiting her mum who lived interstate. After the visit she spoke to me regarding her mum’s health. She had not seen her mum for a few months and was shocked at how quickly her health had declined in such a short period of time.