The next round of stimulus
Last week, the Commonwealth Government announced the latest of its economic stimulus packages – the HomeBuilder program. Grants of up to $25,000 are available to eligible recipients and is designed to ensure that residential construction work planned for between now and the end of the calendar year goes ahead in as many cases as possible.
Winter means the end of the financial year!
Next week marks the start of winter and also the last month of what has surely been the most bizarre financial year in history. June 30 is a deadline for a whole range of things, so in this article we want to remind you of some of them. As the weather has gotten colder, why not make yourself a nice warm drink and read on.
It’s Automatic…
If 2020 was a normal year, then this week we would be writing about the 2020 Commonwealth Budget. The 2020 Budget was due to have been delivered earlier this month. However, the Commonwealth Government made the sensible decision to delay the Budget until later in the year, due to the uncertainty about Commonwealth revenues and expenses that the COVID-19 crisis has created.
Account-Based Pensions – Save the Other Half for Later?
In recent weeks we have discussed various Commonwealth responses to the Coronavirus. One response that has received relatively little ‘airtime’ is the announcement that people drawing account-based pensions from their super fund can reduce the amount they must withdraw in this and the coming financial year.
Time for some quiet thinking: how will the Coronavirus affect property values?
It has been a while since we spoke about property. For now, the state of the property market is particularly inconclusive, and this is probably not a time for immediate action. But it is a good time to think about what your medium to long-term response to changes in the property market will be.
To Access or Not to Access (Your Super Early)? That is the Question.
Amid the raft of measures announced by the Commonwealth Government last month, one of the more contentious was the decision to allow limited access to superannuation benefits to people who are ‘under-age.’ This change took effect from Monday of this week. Whether withdrawing makes sense in your case depends very much on your unique situation.
Let’s All Do Some Home Schooling!
This week we thought we would change tack a little. As we all continue in a version of lock down and with Easter now behind us, most schools have reverted to home learning. So, we thought we would provide a little lesson in basic financial management ourselves. If you or someone you know is home-schooling someone, you might like to use this as a lesson. If not, you can always enjoy the lesson for yourself.
Where did they Get the Money for That?
Over the past month, the Commonwealth Government has announced and commenced implementing economic stimulus measures that involve the Commonwealth spending (or rebating) more than $200 billion. A fair question to ask is: where do they get the money for that? The answer is a happy one that should be reassuring.
Commonwealth Stimulus, Phase Two
Last week, we discussed the stimulus package that had been announced but not yet passed through Parliament. As we forecast, the Commonwealth Government then announced a second round of stimulus measures. Both packages were passed by Federal Parliament earlier this week.