2013 Budget De-Brief

Last night the Budget delivered no real surprises after the majority of the proposed changes had been drip fed to the market in previous months.

From a Financial Planning perspective, there have been a few changes in relation to superannaution and taxation which may have an impact on your personal situation. We have provided a brief summary on some fo the key changes.

Superannuation

Cap on Tax Free Earnings - At the moment, any income in the pension phase is tax ...

Credit Cards - benefit or hindrance?

Everyone has seen those ads, rollover your credit cards and pay no fees or interest for the first 12 months. Plus we will throw in some loyalty points and discounts to a selection of service or product providers. It sounds promising, but who really wins?

Banks don't release products they make a loss on. Just like the casino would never introduce a game where the odds are not stacked in their favour. However, if you manage your cards well ...

Why Pay Interest Only?

A very common question we get is should I pay principle and interest or just interest only. The answer depends on a few key elements;

- Are you purchasing a home or investment property?

- What loan structure do you have setup?

- What the banks are willing to offer?

If you are purchasing an investment property then you should setup your loan as interest only. Even if you have excess cash flow and nothing else to commit your money to it is ...

Top Wealth Strategies - Webinar

Ark Total Wealth is very please to annouce it's first webinar for 2013. In this webinar, we will cover off 5 strategies to help kickstart your wealth in 2013.

These strategies are designed to be simple so you can implement it now. We will cover off the following topics;

- Tax Planning and Strategies

- Super Strategies

- How to set up yourself so managing your finances is easy

- Loans and the best rates and products available at the moment

To register ...

Banks respond to RBA's December rate cut

To the joy of property owners the RBA on Monday cut the variable cash rate by 0.25% following a weakening jobs market, sluggish retail sales and a slowdown in the mining sector.  The cash interest rate now matches where it was during the worst of the GFC and has not been any lower than where it currently is since the year 1990.

Banks have slowly come to market and released their own interest rate cuts in response.  The list ...

Ark CEO Ivan Kaye featured in The Sydney Morning Herald

Ark Total Wealth CEO Ivan Kaye was recently featured in the SMH in an article on the benefits of Australian based companies opening up export markets overseas.

Heritage conversion inner west property a winner for clients

We recently had a number of clients settle in a property development 'The Majestic' in Petersham, NSW.  This was a heritage conversion of an old roller skating rink, which before that was an old movie theatre.  The property developers did a wonderful job of maintaining original elements of the building and it's previous incarnations, and our clients enjoyed  strong initial capital growth and starting rental yields above 5.6% for their investment properties in the building.

The development was ...

Property owners confident despite stalled market

Despite declines in property prices in October and what has been a relatively stagnant last couple of years in the housing market, property owners are buoyant and confident in their investments according to a new research report released by BDRC.

77% are rated as being positive about their investment with a further 1 in 5 planning to buy another investment property in the next 12 to 18 months.  The report states that owners are confident their property will deliver good ...