Essential Financial Advice

05/10/2023

Essential Financial Advice October Update -

Carry forward contributions are a feature of the Australian superannuation system that allows individuals to make additional contributions to their superannuation in addition to the normal limits. Concessional contributions are contributions made to a superannuation fund with before-tax money. These...

05/10/2023

Essential Financial Advice October Update - https://www.facebook.com/EssentialFinancialAdvice

We provide financial advice including retirement planning.

05/09/2023

The Reserve Bank of Australia has again left the cash rate target on hold in today's meeting. Growth is slowing and the unemployment rate is expected to rise further. By holding rates, this will allow the Board time to assess the impact of rate rises to date and the economic outlook. For the full media release click here.

At its meeting today, the Board decided to leave the cash rate target unchanged at 4.10 per cent and the interest rate paid on Exchange Settlement balances unchanged at 4.00 per cent.

22/03/2022

Tune in right now to Channel 9 news for the superannuation changes that come into play from the 1st of July 2022. They will open up tremendous opportunities for many people.
We will be posting more about these changes in the months to come and talking to our clients at review time if these changes are of benefit.

22/03/2022

Good news!
As of 1 July 2022, the government will reduce the eligible age for making a Superannuation Downsizer Contribution from 65 to 60.
In this regard, if you are over the age of 60 and selling the family home, then feel free to call us on (08) 9721 9493 to discuss this strategy as it could be beneficial for your situation.

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Essential Financial Advice Pty Ltd ABN 13 146 518 747 is an Authorised Representative of Synchron, AFS Licence No. 243313. The information posted is intended to be general in nature and is not personal financial product advice. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider the appropriateness of the information provided and the nature of the relevant financial product having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. In particular, you should seek independent financial advice and read the relevant product disclosure statement (PDS) or other offer document prior to making a decision.

01/02/2022

We finance nuts love reading the Reserve Bank Media Release from Philip Lowe. Today's media release contains tidbits like:
* The Omicron outbreak has affected the economy, but it has not derailed the economic recovery.
* The RBA's central forecast is for GDP growth of around 4¼ per cent over 2022 and 2 per cent over 2023.
* The RBA's central forecast is for the unemployment rate to fall to below 4 per cent later in the year and to be around 3¾ per cent at the end of 2023.
* A further pick-up in wages growth is expected as the labour market tightens. This pick-up is still expected to be only gradual, although there is uncertainty about the behaviour of wages at historically low levels of unemployment.
*Inflation has picked up more quickly than the RBA had expected, but remains lower than in many other countries. The headline CPI inflation rate is 3.5 per cent and is being affected by higher petrol prices, higher prices for newly constructed homes and the disruptions to global supply chains. In underlying terms, inflation is 2.6 per cent.

If you are an investor and have a tiny bit of interest in economics, do yourself a favour and read the whole thing to get a feel for the state of the economy in Australia. It only takes 5 minutes and you'll be all the more knowledgeable for it.

At its meeting today, the Board decided to maintain the cash rate target at 10 basis points and the interest rate on Exchange Settlement balances at zero per cent. It also decided to cease further purchases under the bond purchase program, with the final purchases to take place on 10 February.

02/11/2021

We are thrilled to announce that the gang is back together! Yes there is a photo of Kirsten Smith here because she's come back to join us permanently as of yesterday. After a short stint testing the waters of the real estate industry, Kirsten has come back to a career in financial planning with us. Welcome back Kirsten. :)

21/10/2021

Our wonderful and very fit Hugh is running for a great cause.
Please share and please donate to raise awareness for mental health and su***de prevention.

Words from Hugh:
I’m not overly clever and thought it would be a good idea to run for 164km’s including 4,000 metres of elevation in an event called Feral Pig 100 Miler (just over 100miles) commencing just after midnight 12.01am Saturday 6th of November.

I’m dedicating my run to one of my best friends who lost his battle with mental health and very sadly took his own life 26th July 2020. I often think of Neil on my long training runs and can’t help but feel he keeps me company especially when I listen to his music for company. Neil was a well-respected DJ throughout Ireland.

Please see attached link for information on how even the smallest donation can help to save a life.

Thank you.
Hugh

Link

One of my old friends from Cork, Ireland Neil Corcoran took his own life o… Hugh Heffernan needs your support for Raising Mental Health Awareness

17/09/2021

Just a little team update....

As some of you already know, I (Shonel) am predominantly based in Perth these days and have now secured premises at 37 Ord St, West Perth. We do have limited availability to take on new clients in the Perth area as we look to expand operations in Perth. Enquiries are welcome on email or by calling the Bunbury office on 9721 9493. I conduct appointments from the Bunbury office two days per week and this will alter in the new year to three days per fortnight.

Our Bunbury premises continues to be the head office and main point of contact with all current administrative staff based there. Tarryn and Allyce are our client administrators and for non-advice related queries they are your point of contact.

Darcy Johnstone and Hugh Heffernan, our Bunbury based advisers, are taking on new clients in the South West so we still welcome referrals for friends, family and colleagues.

Jade McKay is heading off on maternity leave in November and we can't wait to meet her little one!

In our paraplanning & compliance department we have Greg King and also now have access to an external paraplanning team to prevent bottlenecks in the future.
Kirsten Smith sadly left us in early August to pursue a career in Real Estate & we wish her all the best!

For more details about our team please head to our website

Hugh is the Director of Fernroyd Pty Ltd (trading as Essential Financial Advice) and joined the team at Essential Financial Advice in April 2020. Hugh is committed to providing quality, ongoing financial advice and reliable service to his clientele. Hugh has gathered plenty of experience in all area...

03/08/2021

The Reserve Bank of Australia met today and the cash rate remains unchanged at 0.1%. The media statement shared below gives you a good insight to what the RBA is seeing currently and predicting over the short to medium term within the Australian economy and is an easy 3 minute read.

18/05/2021

I can't quite believe this much time has passed, but we have achieved a MAJOR business milestone this week! It has been 10 years in business. To say I have learned a lot is an understatement.
10 years ago I was a fairly fresh faced young adviser ready to challenge old industry norms with my new ideas.
Today, the world has certainly changed, many times. I like to think I was 10 years ahead of the industry in being a fee for service business back in 2011!

EFA has grown from a team of one, to a team of 8. I had a little time out to have my third child in 2014 and so whilst my business family has grown, so too has my home family, from toddlers to teenagers! My kids have witnessed all the hard work pay off and seeing them proud of me makes up for all the times I had the motherly guilts of not getting to mothers day brunches at school, assemblies and being home with them in school holidays more hours than I'd care to count.

I achieved an award at the South West Small Business awards night. But I already felt like a winner long before this. And that's because I get to work with amazing people in my team, and most importantly those amazing humans who are my allegiance of kick arse clients. They make this job so worthwhile and are the reason I look forward to doing this every single day. I live to serve others and it brings me some of the greatest happiness.

From the joyous moments where clients get to achieve their retirement date, or growing their families, to buying their dream home, and also the not so happy times of receiving bad news and needing a helping hand to get through illness, or separation, or worse yet when we lose a loved one. I have been there for all of those things. I have laughed so hard yet also cried with my clients, because we do have feelings and we do care more than you know. There is a side to this profession the media never talks about, and that is the relationships. We get to ride along side all of the highs and lows and build such strong bonds with our clients who are like our second family. And they also care about us. What a privileged profession to be in.

I couldn't have gotten this far without those who have been with me the longest, Greg King (dad) in paraplanning, Dianne King (mum) doing the bookkeeping and child care, Enzo Fantasia, Jade McKay, Kirsten Smith, Tarryn Scott and most recently Hugh Heffernan, Darcy Johnstone and Allyce Sewell. We have a superb team and I have no idea how far we will take this in the next 10 years, but can't wait to find out.

And of course last but not least, my supportive husband Jason. This business has taken over our lives and he has allowed me to do whatever was required to achieve my dreams.

I appreciate you all.

Sincerely yours,

Shonel
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