Investopoly

Given many people are worried about the unknown consequences of the Coronavirus, I thought it was timely for me to share my thoughts and advice. Like in all ‘crises’, it is important to not let emotion or fear drive your responses. ‘A steady hand on the tiller’ is the best approach when navigating any storm.I acknowledge that the Coronavirus may have caused significant emotional and heath distress to people around the world. I fully empathise and understand this situation and do not seek to downplay its impact. But it is important for me to stipulate that my comments below are only about the financial impacts and considerations, not any health concerns.We’ve heard it all before! Don’t get sucked in.Financial markets are closed.All banks are going bust.The way we conduct global business has changed forever and will never be the same again.Property markets will take decades to recover.I heard all of the above statements during 2008 and 2009 when I was glued to the TV late at night throughout the GFC. They are all alarmist predictions and have all been proven to be wrong.The human race (and economy) is incredibly resilient and innovative. We have faced many challenges and prevailed. This will be no different. In respect to the financial impact on the vast majority of people in the long run, just like with the GFC, I suspect it won’t be that significant.Once the coronavirus risk passes, I’m sure Australian’s will start spending again to get the economy back to its normal level. I anticipate that our spending decisions will be directed towards the most effected industries such as hospitality and tourism, with the same community mindedness that was evident during the recent bushfires.Our lives are filled with predictions and usually most extreme ones get the most airtime. Try not to get sucked in. The best approach is to carefully avoid the mainstream media. Worrying has never made any problem better.Short term thinking creates anxietyWhen it comes to money and investing, short term thinking has always created anxiety. This is even more true when markets are volatile. Short term thinking does not serve you well. It promotes you to either be too greedy (when markets are high) or too fearful (when markets are low).Instead, a far superior and more comfortable approach is to play the lMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Borrowing to invest, particularly in property, has been a very popular investment strategy in Australia. A mortgage is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. If you use mortgages properly, in a risk adverse way, it can be a very powerful wealth accumulation tool. However, if used poorly, it has the power to destroy more wealth than it creates. After almost 18 years since establishing this firm, I thought it was timely to share some insights and observations about borrowing to invest.Inflation will eventually eat away at the value of debt over time.Interest rates reflect inflationary expectations. That is, when inflation expectations are high, so are interest rates. As such, borrowers are paying for the inflationary cost of debt each year. This is evidenced by the fact that a loan’s amount does not change from year to year. If you borrow $200,000 today and don’t make any principal repayments, in 20 years’ time you will still owe $200,000.But we know that over time, due to the impact of inflation, our purchasing power reduces. A $200,000 loan in the mid-1980’s was a big deal. Today, it is considered a small loan. Whereas a loan for $1 million today is regarded as a big loan. However, in 20 years, a $1 million loan will be equivalent to $670,000 in today’s dollars (assuming an inflation rate of 2% p.a.). And only $550,000 in 30 years.Because interest rates include the cost of inflation, and investors pay for that each year, in real terms, the value of their debt reduces over time.It magnifies your return on equityUsing some borrowings to fund the acquisition of an investment means you can contribute less of your own cash. For example, assuming interest rates are 5% p.a., if you contribute 60% of a property’s price in cash (and borrow the remaining 40%), I estimate the investment will be break-even from a cash flow perspective. That is, the rental income should be enough to pay for the property’s expenses and interest costs.If you retain this $750,000 property for 20 years and it appreciates in value by an average of say 7% p.a., it will be worth circa $2.9 million. I estimate that the investor would crystallise approximately $2.05 million of cash after selling the property (net of costs, repaying the loan and CGT) after 20 years. So, the initial cash contribution of $450k (60% of the purchase price) has grown to $2.05 million after 20 years. That equates to a compounding annual growth rate of 7.9%. Without any gearing, the net return would have been only 5.9% p.aMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Coronavirus’ impact on share markets is a hot topic at the moment. We’ve seen global markets fall by over 10% between 21 February and 2 March 2020. It seems that the market’s sentiment shifted literally overnight from a state of being arguably ‘over-optimistic’ to being ‘very fearful’. Some of my clients have voiced their concerns about the impact that coronavirus might have on their investments. I wanted to share my thoughts on this and what actions, if any, you might take.The share market can be a wild ride, you just need close your eyes and hang onWhen the market is running hot, most investors overestimate their tolerance for risk (volatility). Often people say, “I understand that share markets can be volatile, and I’m prepared for it, let’s invest”. However, when the volatility does eventually occur, that is when you really learn about one’s appetite for risk.We must realise that volatility is often short lived. Share markets have a volatility rate of circa 20% p.a. This means, annual returns can vary from the mean (average) return by +/- 20% from year to year. However, in the long run, there’s a strong trend of mean revision – which means investment returns in the long run are more predictable. The chart below provided by global fund manager, Dimensional demonstrates this. Market returns 5 years after a major event (e.g. crashes, terrorist attack, CGF) are positive.And realise that you have to be in it to win itIn the face of uncertainty (i.e. higher volatility), some investors consider selling. The problems with selling is that you will likely miss the recovery. The chart below (again courtesy of Dimensional) demonstrates that your investment return between 2001 and 2018 (more than 4,300 trading days) would reduce from 7.66% p.a. to 1.76% p.a. if you missed the best 25 days over that period. In this case, you would have been better off investing in bonds, not equities.This proves that you need to remain invested throughout good times and bad. The first rule of investing in my bookInvestopoly, is to ‘play the long game’. If you applied this approach when you first invested in the share market (i.e. a diversified portfolio of low-cost, rules-based investments contructed to maximise long term returns), then you must have faith that it will work. And it will, if you’ve done it correctly.The practicaMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Over the last few weeks, lenders have aggressively cut fixed rates, particularly for investors that borrow on an interest only basis. Three and five year fixed rates now range between 3.18% and 3.40% p.a. This means the cost to hold an investment property is as low as it’s ever been.This doesn’t mean we all should run out and buy an investment property.The cost to hold a median propertyThe graph below charts the annual after-tax holding cost of a median value house (average of Melbourne & Sydney) expressed in today’s dollars. As you can see, a property’s after-tax holding costs have typically ranged between $10,000 and $30,000 per annum over the past 40 years.https://www.prosolution.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/holding-costs.png?189b78&189b78The red line is the estimated annual after-tax holding costs based on current fixed rates.A $800k apartment will cost $500 per month to holdLet’s look at the cost to hold an $800,000 investment property (apartment) using actual data as an example.https://www.prosolution.com.au/investment-property-holding-costs/Therefore, this property, for example will cost you circa $505 per month (after-tax) to hold.Low rates will likely inflate property valuesIt is a commonly accepted economic principal that lower interest rates typically lead to an increase in asset values (i.e. the value of equities and property rise). The reason being is that the lower cost of debt means higher profits to owners which means assets are worth more.The graph below charts three variables:§ The rolling average capital growth rate over 20 years for median houses in Melbourne and Sydney; and§ The cost to hold an investment property (as charted above). This is calculated as the annual after-tax holding cost of a median house based on prevailing interest rates at that time, expressed in today’s dollars; and§ The average rolling 20 year growth rate between 2000 and end of 2019.https://www.prosolution.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/cash-flow-and-growth.png?My new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

I wrote a blog in December last year about how difficult personal risk insurance (e.g. income protection, Life and TPD) is becoming to obtain. Also, in December, the government directed Australian insurers to make some very significant changes to their products. I have been waiting to measure the insurers response to these directives. These changes will have a significant impact on your future insurance options.What is currently offeredBefore I discuss the changes that the government has asked for, it’s important to appreciate the status quo. Most income protection policies have four main variables:1. Benefit amountThis is the amount of income you are insured for. Most insurers allow you to insure up to 75% of your current gross income (not 100%, otherwise there’s little financial incentive to return to work). Benefit amounts are typically expressed as a monthly amount. This monthly benefit is taxed at your marginal tax rates – so a $10,000 benefit will result in an income of circa $7,140 per month after tax.2. Waiting periodThis is the period of time you must be incapacitated for before you are able to claim a benefit from the insurer. Typically, the options include 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 6 months or 2 years. Often, the most economical wait period is 90 days. Benefits are paid one month in arrears. So, a 90 day wait period means you won’t receive any income for 4 months.3. Agreed or indemnityIf a policy is agreed value, it means that if you become fully incapacitated, you will receive the benefit irrespective of the level of your income prior to you becoming incapacitated. Therefore, someone could have an agreed value policy for $10,000, subsequently become unemployed and then have an accident and they will be paid the full benefit.Alternatively, an indemnity policy requires the insurer to measure your level of income in the period prior to you becoming incapacitated and pay the lesser of up to 75% of that amount or your insured benefit. This means, if your income was nil, you would not receive a benefit, despite paying the premiums for insurance cover (I elaborate on this further below).4. Benefit periodThe benefit period is how long you will receive a benefit for whilst you are still fully or partially incapacitated. Given we want protection against long term incapacity, we typically advise clients to obtaiMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

With share markets at an all-time high and sentiment in the property market recovering, it is a great opportunity to divest of any underperforming (dud) investments.Not all investments perform as expected. Therefore, it’s important you regularly review them. This review should be completed without any influence of emotion – it’s all about the numbers.Let’s first discuss why now might be a good time to do this.The US share market is high, very highOver the past 11 years, the US share market has increased by an annual compounding rate of over 14.5% and is now trading at an all-time high. To put that in context, $50,000 invested in 2009 (in the S&P 500 index) would be worth over $220,000 today!The chart below which has been produced by Advisor Perspective records four commonly used valuation metrics for the US share market since 1900. This chart doesn’t need any commentary from me – it is obvious valuations are high! Probably, too high! In fact, the last time they were this high was in the early 2000’s during the dot-com bubble. Most of us know how that turned out – the market fell by around 40% between 2001 and 2003.The Australian market is high tooThe Australian market hasn’t risen anywhere near as much as the US market. It has increased by a compounding average of 6.9% p.a. since 2009 (compared to 14.5% p.a. for the US market). Looking at the CAPE Ratio valuation measure, the Australian market looks slightly overvalued (CAPE is currently 19.3 compared to presumed fair value of 17.6), but certainly to a much less extent than the US market.In a rising tide, all ships riseThe rising domestic and international share markets tend to drag all stocks with them, good and bad ones alike. Irrationally exuberant markets tend to ignore investment fundamentals.US electronic car manufacture, Tesla is a case in point. Its share price has risen from $450 per share to over $1,150 per share in the past year. Its market capitalisation is now nearly $200 billion yet it has never recorded a profit. In fact, it burns through more than $1 billion of cash per year! But, despite that, themarket suggests Tesla is worth 1.6 times more than Ford and General Motors combined! Ford and GMMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Over the past few years I have observed a strong trend of investment-grade house prices growing stronger than apartments. It is true that all markets move in cycles and all cycles come to an end, eventually. It’s my thesis that several factors (such as the fall in the volume of new apartments, contraction of borrowing capacity and high population growth) are conspiring to create a growth cycle for older-style, investment-grade apartments.Supply of new build apartments drying up, fastDevelopment approvals for new apartments has been falling dramatically over the past few years. In Sydney, the volume of new apartments approved for construction has more than halved since its peak in 2016. In Melbourne, approvals have fallen nearly 40% in the last 18 months. The Brisbane apartment market is almost non-existing with less than a quarter of the volume compared to the peak in 2016.Major residential developments typically have a lead time of at least 18 to 24 months (i.e. planning through to construction). Therefore, if this trend continues, there will be a massive supply-shortage of apartments within the next few years. There is still some pipeline stock to come onto the market, however, once those properties are completed, supply is expected to fall.New-build apartments aren’t constructed with the secondary market in mindPurchasing a new build apartment and an establish apartment are materially different things.Typically, a brand-new apartment purchaser is influenced by things such as apartment finish and building amenities such as theatre rooms, pools and gyms. In the beginning, these buildings are all shiny and new and present very well. However, they tend to wear and tear quickly and these largely superficial attributes become far less persuasive (and costly to maintain).Conversely, established apartment buyers rarely focus on these factors – mainly because older style apartments rarely offer such amenities. Instead, these buyers tend to focus on factors such as location, privacy, soundproofing, natural light, smaller blocks (fewer tenants) and so on.Understandably, when you compare a brand-new apartment to an established apartment, the shiny new object gets all the attention. However, because a newer apartment is no longer shiny after 3 to 5 years of wear and tear, an older-style apartment starts to look comparatively more attractive.Borrowing capacity is diminishedMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

With term deposit rates currently ranging between 1% and 2% p.a., and the prospect of further rate cuts by the RBA, many investors are contemplating where to invest their cash. Most commentators and economists agree that it looks like the interest rate environment will be lower for longer. If that turns out to be true, term deposit returns won’t even keep up with inflation. Therefore, most people will need to consider alternative investments. However, there is one potentially costly mistake that people commonly make when doing this. That is the topic of this blog.By the way, even if this doesn’t apply to you, it’s important to check that your parents aren’t making this potentially costly mistake. So, perhaps share this blog with them.You cannot talk about returns without also talking about riskBenjamin Graham, the father of value investing (and Warren Buffett’s teacher) said “The essence of investment management is the management of risks, not the management of returns.” This quote highlights the biggest mistake that investors make when considering alternative investments (to term deposits). They fail to consider risk.Often, people may be tempted to invest in high-yielding Australian shares. As I highlighted in last week’s blog, Westpac (for example) currently offers a grossed up yield of nearly 10% p.a. That is hard to resist when you compare that to term deposit rates.However, term deposits are almost risk free, especially if the amount is less than $250,000 and with a bank (ADI), as its guaranteed by the government. However, shares are one of the highest risk asset classes because they have a volatility rate in the range of 18% and 25%. This means that statistically, you should expect your investment returns to vary by this amount from year to year. For example, one year you might experience a 15% loss and the next year a 35% gain. Of course, it could be worse, and the market could crash. Share market and term deposits are at opposite ends of the risk spectrum.Don’t put all your assets in a risky basketThe common mistake that people make is not considering their risk allocation. For example, Keith has been retired for 5 years and historically he had $350k invested in term deposits and $650k invested in shares. This asset allocation (35% in safe assets and 65% in risky assets) felt very comfortablMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

Investing in shares can produce tax benefits. But it can also result in tax liabilities too. Terms such as “franking credits” and “imputation credits” (same thing) were frequently used during last year’s federal election (the Labor Party proposed to ban franking credit refunds). However, many people do not understand these concepts. So, this blog seeks to provide a simple overview of the possible taxation consequences resulting from investing in shares.There are two types of taxes that could result from making an investment (including share market investments) being income tax and Capital Gains Tax (CGT).Income tax and franking creditsSome shares pay investors an income which is called a dividend. This is typically paid twice per year (interim plus final dividend). The amount of the dividend can vary significantly (this is called the dividend yield – refer to this blog for a basic overview of investing in shares).A company can declare and pay a dividend from profit after it has paid tax. The dividend imputation system was introduced in Australia in 1987 by the Hawke-Keating Labor Government. Essentially, it sought to avoid the double taxing of corporate profits. This is best explained as an example.Assume listed company XYZ Ltd recorded a profit of $100. It would pay $30 in tax because the corporate tax rate is 30% for companies with turnover of greater than $50 million. So, its after tax profit is $70. If it paid the dividend to shareholders who are individuals on the highest margin income tax rate of 47%, they would pay $32.90 of tax (being 47% of $70). The amount of the dividend left after paying all taxes is only $37.10 meaning the effective tax rate is 62.9%! In this instance, company profits have been taxed twice – once in the hands of the company and then again in the hand of the shareholder. Hawke-Keating believed this double taxation was unfair. So, how does dividend imputation work?To avoid the double-taxing of dividends, shareholders obtain a credit for the amount of tax the company has previously paid. Using the example above, the company has already paid $30 in tax so the shareholders will obtain a credit for this amount.The formula is: cash amount of dividend plus franking credit multiplied by the marginal tax rate minus the franking credits.Therefore, usingMy new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.

An independent financial advisor does a lot more than just tell you how to invest your money. In fact, a lot of the work they do is ‘behind the scenes’ so I thought it was a good idea to share this information in a blog. This will give you a better idea of what a financial advisor does, and therefore whether you might benefit from having one.Develop a long-term strategy for youOne of the predominant reasons people engage a financial advisor is to help them map out a long-term investment strategy to work out how they will achieve their financial and lifestyles goals. This includes what to invest in, how and how much, also when and similar considerations. I believe that adopting a holistic approach will reveal the most efficient and effective strategy because it considers all facets including super, property and shares, tax minimization and so on.A long-term strategy must be robust enough to accommodate expected market and situational changes. However, it may be necessary to make small changes to the strategy as time elapses.Engaging the services of a professional advisor to help you with this will yield numerous benefits including reassuring you that you are taking the right approach, ensuring you don’t waste time and money pursuing the wrong strategy, making sure that you have considered various strategies (e.g. an advisor might recommend an approach you have never thought of).Research investment options and strategiesThe financial services industry is very dynamic and always changing. Fund managers are busily working hard to find an edge, a strategy that will help them produces better returns. Also, academic and peer research is published at an increasing rate – again, trying to identify the factors and market forces that will drive future returns.All advisors must keep on top of these new advances. More importantly, an advisor must work diligently to separate fundamentally sound strategies and products from “marketing”. A fund managers job is to develop products to attract investors’ funds. Sometimes, they pursue this goal at the cost of quality i.e. develop products that sound sexy but lack fundamentals and substance. Such products must be given a wide berth.I guestimate that I probably only use 1 out of every 50 to 100 products or strategies that I investigate. There’s a lot of rubbish out there so ‘buyer beware’ is a good mantra to live by.Keep up to date with all changesIt’s not news to My new book out in mid-2026: To join the pre-order waitlist and get a bonus. More info go to: https://prosolution.com.au/book-preorder-bonus Do you have a question for the podcast? Email us at questions@investopoly.com.au. If you're interested in working with our team and me, discover how we can work together here: https://prosolution.com.au/family-office-servicesIf this episode resonated with you, please leave a rating on your favourite podcast platform. Subscribe to my weekly blog: https://prosolution.com.au/stay-connected IMPORTANT: This podcast provides general information about finance, taxes, and credit. This means that the content does not consider your specific objectives, financial situation, or needs. It is crucial for you to assess whether the information is suitable for your circumstances before taking any actions based on it. If you find yourself uncertain about the relevance or your specific needs, it is advisable to seek advice from a licensed and trustworthy professional.