Hi Tash, I’m a teacher (permanently employed) and have recently been diagnosed with cancer. I’ve been put on sick leave for seven months and have enough paid sick leave to last four months. I’m using my paid sick leave to cover the initial 60 day waiting period before my income protection insurance kicks in, but I’m wondering whether I should … Read More
Emergency savings? Check. Now what?
“Hi Tash, I often hear that I should have an emergency fund which could be three months to a year of my expenses. Does that mean when I have more than this I should be spending, or investing, the money?” Well, most people tend to want to dive in head-first into investing (or spending!) their money, without really having a … Read More
The rules of saving
There are a few questions that I get asked very frequently. How are you? How’s your little boy? What’s the weather like in Canberra? And what percentage of my income should be going into savings? I get it a lot! And I put it down to the endless rules of thumb that are being exchanged at Sunday barbeques around the … Read More
Should I set up an SMSF?
“Hi Tash, what is the deal with self-managed super funds, are they the way to go? What are the pros and cons of doing it yourself?” So for those who haven’t heard of the concept, a self-managed superannuation fund (or an SMSF) is a private superannuation fund that you manage yourself, instead of it being managed for you by a … Read More
What comes first, the HECS debt or the mortgage?
Hi Tash, I’m wondering what the best thing is to do, prioritise buying a house or pay back my HECS debt first? Is being completely debt free better than having a HECS debt and a mortgage? Or is HECS not something I need to worry about paying back so quickly? Great question! First of all, HECS-HELP is essentially a government … Read More
Women are awesome, and yet…
Women. Are. Awesome. In case you need it, here’s proof. On top of it all, we work, cook, clean, shop, chauffeur, pay bills – often all simultaneously. You do it, I do it, together we kick some serious butt! Unfortunately, despite how awesome women are… we still tend to pass the buck on important money matters. Divorce, which is becoming … Read More
I’m a single parent, will I ever own a house?
Tash, I feel gypped! I built a house with an ex a few years ago, using my first home buyers grant and he ended up with the house. Now five years later I have full time job and I’m a single parent and it’s a lot harder getting a house the second time around. Do you have any tips to … Read More
New or used? Don’t miss this important step in your research!
This week we tackle another common dilemma, this time on the subject of cars! Hi Tash – I hope you can help! My car is plagued with issues and is a total money drain, not to mention it also has a loan attached to it! I’m currently working on clearing a smaller loan which has an interest free period until … Read More
I’m ready to invest… now what?!
A managed fund is a fund that invests in a variety of shares (and other investments such as cash and property). Your money is pooled together with other investors, and an investment manager buys and sells shares (also called stocks) on your behalf. When you buy into the fund, you effectively buy small portions of each of the stocks the … Read More
Drowning in debt? Here’s what you can do.
Have you heard of the Australian Debt Clock? If you haven’t its worth looking at. It tallies, live, the amount of debt that Australian’s have – and let me tell you, it goes up faster than you can imagine. And those numbers will be well and truly out of date by the time I send this blog! So if you’re … Read More