How to Achieve all of Your Health and Fitness Goals!

Most people, when they come to the gym, will generally start because they believe that they need to train to “look good,” or to be healthy…

Of course, this is untrue, as exercise and training alone is not going to be the reason that you “lose weight” or “get ripped.” No, eating the right foods, in moderation and sleeping the right amount is almost just as important as training 3-4 times per week.

Therefore, if you want to achieve all of your health and fitness goals, yes, you should work to train and be active, as it will go a long way to improving your health, however you should outsource the training and programming to a coach or gym. Therefore, you can prioritise and focus on the one thing a coach cannot help you with...

Your daily decisions to eat the right foods and sleep the right amount each night.

Your health simply comes down to the decisions you make each day, which means they come down to the habits you have created over the last 5-10, even 15 years.

Therefore, to achieve all of your health and fitness goals, to be honest, to achieve any goal you set your mind to, it comes down to simply understanding that you have control of the decisions you make each day.

Homo Sapiens, meaning you and I, are very complex, but also very simple, we are inherently lazy and look for the most convenient ways to do things, to save time and focus on the things we like doing. In fact, the brain automates the boring jobs we do, day in-day out.

Such as driving the car through traffic to and from work, one minute you are driving out of your driveway, the next you have safely arrived at work. Your brain is very adept at fast-forwarding time when it comes to completing tasks it does day in and day out, which is great for driving through traffic, however horribly bad for when you reach for those chips or chocolates out of the pantry each day.

It is this automated mode that you need to change for you to truly achieve optimal health.

Hence, to truly Take Back Control of your decision making each day, you need to understand what habits you have created that are completely autonomous. Especially the habits where you include the two Tim-Tams with a cup of coffee or cup of tea whilst watching TV.

The best way to do this is to take a mental note and write down each day what habits you have, it is simply like taking a step outside of your own body and actually viewing yourself as if a character in a TV show or movie.

What things about yourself do you notice that you want to change? What actions do you take that you know could be affecting your health?

Write down every little thing and then choose one thing per week or fortnight to improve.

Do you drink enough water? Do you get home and feel too exhausted to cook dinner, therefore ordering take out two to three times a week? Do you eat those extra two cookies from the pantry before bed?

Do you eat enough food during the day? Do you get enough vegies or enough protein?

All of these things and more may not seem like much at the time, but compounded over years and decades, these habits build up and get to the point where it is even harder to break them.

Therefore, it is a great time right now to do a quick audit of yourself and your habits that you have.

Once you have completed this audit, aim to choose two things to improve on, whether that is going for a 30 minute walk per day and then making sure you have dinner prepared 5 out of seven days per week.

Hope this helps you improve decision making process and therefore your habits over time.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Note: If you are in a point in your life where everything is too crazy, where it feels like everyone wants a piece of you, that would be the worst time to start too many new things. I can guarantee that you will need extra energy and brain capacity to make better decisions, therefore, try to start training with a coach. By doing this, it is the easiest way to start a new thing and you are held accountable. Once you have built training up as a habit, then focus on the next thing, which should be sleep and then your eating should be next.

How to Choose the Right Investing Vehicle for You!

Getting ahead of the curve is not easy, it requires will power, discipline and a plan to execute. With the last two articles, I have delved into the most essential part, which comes down to paying yourself first and minimising your tax through understanding the tax system.

Finally, it comes down to where can you put your money that you have saved on tax and paid yourself first?

What is the best assets that will serve you over the next 10-30 years? To help you make your money work for you, rather than working for money…

Let’s list out the options, starting from conservative to more risky;

1. Savings accounts and term deposits

2. Bonds and loans

3. Commodities/National Currencies (Gold, USD, oil, silver, copper, etc.)

4. Real Estate/Property

5. Shares in a company or Stocks

6. Cryptocurrencies

Every asset or investment vehicle is just that, a vehicle to help you where you want to go. Therefore, it pays to understand where you want to go first. To help with that, I would highly suggest having a read of one of my first ever blog articles here.

Now you have created a location, an end point, a dream to achieve, lets look at the advantages and disadvantages of each asset class and investment vehicle.

Starting with Savings Accounts and Term Deposits…

Advantages

• Minimal risk, you will not lose any money

• Will get paid interest, depending on the bank and features

• Can lock in an interest rate for a specific time-frame if you have a term deposit (Great for when rates are decreasing)

Disadvantages

• Potential to lose value on your cash, for an example, right now inflation is 5.2% and the max interest you can earn is 2.60% (ING current rate as of 12th of July) on a standard savings account. Meaning you will actually be losing 2.6% of purchasing power and value on your cash by just sitting it in a savings account.

• If locked into a term deposit, not having the option to pull out cash quickly without potential for paying fees etc.

• Could potentially lose access to all of your cash if there is a liquidity crunch in the markets, whereby banks lose the ability to pay deposits. (A real fear back in the Global Financial Crisis. In Australia, $250,000 is guaranteed by majority of banks thanks to the government)

Bonds and Loans…

Advantages

• Greater returns than savings accounts

• Mostly guaranteed payments with a locked in rate (Corporate bonds can be more risky, but with a greater return potential)

• Minimal risk, much like a savings account, especially in Treasury Bonds (A loan to the government)

Disadvantages

• Difficult for retail investors like you or I to invest in individual bonds, therefore you need to look into bond funds.

• Bonds can be complex and can be quite price sensitive to interest rate hikes or decreases.

• Can also be sensitive to market sentiment, as seen by the increases in bond markets recently, whereby the markets are betting on higher rates.

Commodities/National Currencies…

Advantages

• Generally seen as an inflation hedge (Although national currencies are quite often weaker as inflation increases generally)

• When inflation is high, we start to see that commodity prices increase.

• Can be lower risk than shares, due to the price stability compared to listed companies.

Disadvantages

• Offers no actual value or payments other than the price, therefore your hopes ride on the price increasing.

• Can be more risky and more volatile depending on market sentiment at the time, as well as the global environment and a big emphasis on supply and demand (Economics).

• Can be fairly illiquid and difficult to sell, depending on how you buy (For eg; if you buy solid gold bars etc.)

Real Estate and Property

Advantages

• Has been the greatest wealth builder in Australia over the last 30 years (But does not deliver the greatest returns on average per annum)

• Generally less risky compared to shares, but higher risk compared to Bonds and savings accounts.

• Can have great tax minimising benefits, especially for high income earners

• Gives you a roof over your head if buying a home to live in

Disadvantages

• Cost of maintenance and upkeep

• Interest rate risk, whereby increasing rates increases the cost of loan servicing/costs

• Very illiquid, as it can be difficult to sell and takes time to sell the house or commercial property.

• Especially right now, the cost of owning a home or investment property is quite high, with prices at all time highs.

• Taxes on buying property are quite high

Shares of a company, Listed Managed Funds, Exchange Traded Funds

Advantages

• Has the greatest average per annum rate of return over the last 100 years

• Very liquid, you can buy and sell very quickly most of the time

• You can use a dollar cost averaging technique, which has become really common over the last five years to hedge against the volatility of the markets. (A technique used over the long term, roughly 7-30 years)

• Improves the living standards of people through companies and firms being able to use capital to solve solutions

• Dividend payments can be paid out, especially amongst the blue chip (Big market cap) companies.

Disadvantages

• Prices can be highly volatile in the short term and therefore are high risk and highly susceptible to market sentiment, based especially on forecasting.

• Due to the asset being very liquid, can be vulnerable to behaviourial bias, whereby if market prices decrease, the fear of loss leads to selling at the low prices, creating a potential loss.

• Companies can go into admission and you can lose all of your money

• Brokerage fees (the fees paid for buying a share, ETF etc)

• Capital gains tax is set quite high

Cryptocurrencies

Advantages

• Over the last five years especially, there has been a major bull run on crypto assets, which has made a lot of people quite rich

• Fairly liquid, when market sentiment is high

• There are a lot of Crypto companies doing great work and offering very high interest on their coins

Disadvantages

• Very volatile, more high risk than most companies or stocks

• Has no real value, whereby payments are not made and regulation is very low

• Very susceptible to market sentiment, as shown quite recently, whereby bitcoin was seen at a high of $68k and is now below $20k at time of writing

• Can be illiquid if there is a run on the coin, much like actual cash from a bank, when people pull all of their actual cash out of the coin and the value goes to zero (losing all of your money)

All of the above is a very simple list of the advantages and disadvantages, which as you can see can be quite confronting, however if you have the risk appetite, you can see some great returns on the money you have worked so hard to save.

From here, you simply need to understand how you handle risk and the idea of losing money.

The more risk you can take on, the more likely you can attain greater benefit, however the more likely you are also to lose your money. Therefore, understanding your ability to handle risk will determine what asset class or investment vehicle is best suited to you!

To understand your ability to handle risk, I would advise that you enlist the help of a trusted Financial Advisor, who will be able to guide you through the complexities of choosing which asset class and investment vehicles will be best suited to your risk profile and goals.

Which leads to the end of our Getting Ahead of the Curve Series, hopefully you have been able to take something out of the series and I truly want to see that you can use some of what I have discussed to improve your ability to get ahead!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Happy New Financial Year Eve: Time to get Your Tax Sorted!

When it comes to tax time, it can be a dreaded moment for most people, the headache of having to pull out all your receipts and adding up all your deductibles against your income can be pain-staking.

However, it is truly worth your time if you do it correctly and can save you hundreds, if not thousands in tax bills.

If you have a great system already, it is pretty easy at the end of financial year, much like my own system whereby I track deductions and investments monthly, therefore I know what income is coming in and what expenses I am able to use for tax deductions.

Don’t worry if you don’t though, because by reading this blog, you will be well and truly ready to take on the accountant and get the most of that tax refund or save on that tax bill.

The number one thing you need to remember for when doing you tax is…

Anything you pay for, whether employed or self-employed, that contributes to your job or business is tax deductible!!

Which means your phone bill if you use it for work 20% of the time, you can use 20% of your phone bill as a tax deduction. Personal development, whereby you paid for that webinar, or course, you got it, that is tax deductible. Using an investing app to track your investments? Any cost related is tax deductible! (Only if you earn money from said investments.)

Therefore, it pays to track all expenses relating to work or income streams, whether that is car/fuel (needs to be used for work, not just travelling to work) or simply the coffee you bought at that work meeting.

Every little dollar can count towards reducing your income, and hence, reducing your tax bill at the end of the year.

I will go through a simple example a little later.

But what has changed since last Financial Year?

The main changes have been;

• The increase to the HELP-HECs threshold, which you will be able to see the rates for the threshold a little bit later on.

• RAT and PCR Covid tests are tax deductible if needed for work purposes.

• Income Statements have replaced payment summaries, everything will be updated to MyGov by late July (Which means don’t be too early when it comes to your tax, you have up until October to get your tax done, so use that time to get it right.)

• Superannuation tax deductions for personal super contributions (Not new for this financial year, but worth noting.)

As you can see, getting your tax right can be really hard, as rates change and what you can use as a deduction can change as well, therefore it truly pays to be informed on what is going on. Hence having a good accountant or a Tax planner by your side if you have a fairly complex situation is always a great idea.

Next, let’s look at the tax rates for the 21-22FY:

source: www.ato.gov.au/rates/individual-income-tax-rates/

As you can see from the above, the rates are all very different and hard to determine your exact tax bill by the end of year. I find the simplest way to actually see how much your tax will be at the end of financial year is using the tax calculator from the ATO, which have some great tools if you are interested in delving into their site.

Check out the tax calculator here

The only thing you must remember, is that the calculator does not include the 2% Medicare levy, which every Australian resident must pay if lodging their tax returns.

Let’s go through a quick example;

Barry earns $75,000 PAYG

Barry has tax deductions of;

• Personal Development - $2,700

• Petrol/KM - $2,500

• Mobile- $120

• Uniform- $100

• Charity- $500

• Personal Super contributions- $4,000 (Taxed at 15% rather than 32.5% based on the above example)

Barry’s taxable income has now dropped to $68,380, which means rather than his tax bill being $14,842…

It is now $12,690.5 !!

Saving Barry $2,151.50, not bad Barry.

Now, what happens if Barry had formal tertiary education?

Barry’s HEC’s/HELP fees, with his new taxable income, would be a whole bracket less, which means rather paying 4.5% of his fees, he only needs to pay 4%.

Barry has $50,000 of HELP fees, therefore rather than paying $2,250, Barry pays $2,000 instead. Saving him an extra $250.

Can check out the HEC’s/HELP fee rates below based on income:

source: www.ato.gov.au/Rates/HELP-TSL-and-SFSS-repayment-thresholds-and-rates/

There is a lot more that you need to know when it comes to tax, and the example above is only a very basic example, therefore if you have something which is much more complex or you own your own business.

I highly recommend talking to an accountant to get the best saving on your tax bill at the end of financial year.

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out and if you would like an excel tax calculator that adds up private health rebates, medicare levy surcharge, deductions and your final tax bill at the end, so there are no surprises…

Make sure to fill out the form below:

Hope this has helped you with navigating a subject that most people get a headache just by thinking about it from,

Until Next Time,

Take Back Control!

The Number One Secret to Becoming Financially Secure…

Getting Ahead of the Curve: Part 1

Pay Yourself FIRST!

To actually pay yourself first, it requires a few things, the first being a mental shift, a shift in consciousness or a shift in perspective. If this blog can help you to have a light bulb moment, a flick of the switch whereby you take action and start paying yourself first, my job would be part way complete.

A mentor once told me, “the reason you are still broke is because you are paying everyone else first, you are paying your bills, you are paying the local cafe, you are paying the supermarkets all first. You need to shift your mindset from paying everyone else first, to paying yourself first!”

When it comes to finances, you have to think of yourself, you and your partner, your family, as a corporation or business.

That is the another bit of advise I was given by my mentor a long time ago, which has helped me to truly get ahead and I hope will be able to help you to follow in my footsteps by truly taking the first step to becoming financially secure and potentially even wealthy!

That one bit of advise was what gave me my light bulb moment, because in business the number one rule to being an owner is to pay yourself first. However, it takes a lot of strong will and discipline to keep paying yourself first week in, week out.

I use the athlete analogy quite often, as I am a personal trainer, CrossFit Coach and love sport, but it is probably the best analogy to use as well, because athletes have such great discipline. Much more than the general population, like you or I.

Athletes need to be disciplined in their training schedules, their eating habits, the lifestyles they live, especially seeing as they are in the spotlight and looked up to as role models. The sacrifices they make, for the love of their sport, it is truly inspirational. That discipline is but an iota of what you and I need, because all you have to think about is sitting down every week, fortnight or month, depending on how you get paid, and transferring a small percentage of what you get paid into a savings account you do not touch. Which probably takes 15 minutes, whereas athletes commit to 40-100 hours a week, cooking, eating, training, sleeping and doing everything right.

But, just like an athlete, you can have speed bumps in the plan and process, where an athlete may get injured, you may have things happen that you were not expecting…

What happens when you get those unexpected speeding fines? Or you are seeing fuel prices soar?

Food is getting more expensive, inflation is going up and will only go higher, so how do you keep to paying yourself first, when you need more money to live and get the necessities?

You will need this discipline to stop yourself from reaching into the account you should be leaving alone, and the best thing to do here is to have a strong reason WHY you should not touch that account.

Having a goal for saving is just another tool in your arsenal to help you remain strong willed and disciplined.

Having a goal or reason to pay yourself first will be the only thing that will keep you going when times get tough. It could be as simple as saving for that holiday to Fiji or it could be more complex, such as achieving financial freedom and retiring when you are 45 years old.

Having that goal is great, but it needs to be anchored to strong emotions, that are linked to pain and pleasure. For an example, you may want to retire by 45 years old, but you need to have a really strong reason as to why you want to retire by that age. Is it because you truly dislike your job? Do you want to be able to spend more time with family? Do you want to give back to your community and you believe retiring early will give you the time and money to do so?

Your goal is of your own making, if you need help with regards to creating your own vision of your life, check out my first ever blog!

Other than strong will and discipline, you also need a sound plan, a process that you follow, week in, week out. Only a strong process will keep you from falling back into old habits.

Going back to treating yourself, your family, as a business, what do all good businesses have, all successful businesses anyhow? They have a strong process and systems to keep the business running.

Which is what you will need, and I am going to share with you the process I use every fortnight and month to be able to keep paying ourselves first (My wife and I, plus our dog too, he is apart of the family).

1. The hardest part is starting, and you need to figure out how much you would like to save/pay yourself first, as well as how much you need to live. That is why creating a budget to start is a great way to understand where you are at, to take the next step forward in your finances. You can follow my budget process right here, just click that link and follow it step by step.

2. Once you have complete your budget, you need to agree upon a number that you will save each week, fortnight or month that you can commit to for the whole year. (This number will vary on your circumstances, hence why it is necessary to complete a budget.)

3. You need to carve out 5-20 minutes each week or fortnight to commit to paying yourself first. Simply, once you get paid, take out the amount that you have agreed upon, with yourself, your partner or family, and transfer it to an account that you will not take from. Or you can invest it, but I will go through this later on.

4. It is best to also have another savings account, whereby you can commit a small proportion to big expenses that may come up out of nowhere. I call it an emergency savings account, where any fines or big expenses that pop up out of the blue get paid from this account.

5. Repeat the process and review your budget every year, as life gets more expensive, or your wage increases, the number you can pay yourself first will change!

If you can continue to complete these 5 steps, paying yourself first will be full proof, now of course, some of these steps may not suit your situation, or you may not like numbers. That is where having someone else look over your circumstances and budget might be a good idea.

The last step comes down to figuring out how to achieve your goal, which comes down to understanding the investment vehicles, and the complexities of risk.

Understanding the markets and understanding where your money should go to get the best outcome for you is truly a minefield, that is when having a great Financial Advisor by your side would help significantly. They know the ins and outs of the markets, they have been taught the complexities of financial products and have the processes to help you achieve your goals.

I will delve into how to look out for a great financial advisor in a new blog after this series, so look out for that.

However, I will also be going through the investments vehicles you can use to help you achieve your goals and dreams in part III of Getting Ahead of the Curve.

But next week, I will be taking you through what to expect of your tax this year and some truly simple ways in which you are entitled to minimise that tax bill or receive more of a refund from the tax you have paid in Part II.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

How To Get Ahead With Your Money by doing these 3 things!

One of the main reasons I started Take Back Control was to help people navigate the intricate and complex money system that we use in Australia. Through studying Financial Planning, I am in a very privileged position to have knowledge on all things money, including how to navigate the laws and systems, the history of money and how you can use the system as well as history to set yourself apart from the rest.

Hence, I wanted to bring you a series of blogs where I will delve deeper into the three things that will get you ahead of the pack.

Of course, there are many more things that you need to do, but these three things I believe are the most important to helping you feel secure with your finances. Not only feeling secure, but feeling confident that no matter what happens, you will feel like you are almost invincible, even if there was a recession, or you lost your job, or the markets are all crashing, like they are currently.

Therefore, lets get into a quick introduction on what the three things you should be mindful of to set yourself apart from everyone else when it comes to money and being financially comfortable or financially killing it, depending on your goals!

1. Pay Yourself First!

The first one is actually the easiest one, however requires a strong will, discipline and a different mindset to most people. Generally when it comes to coaching people for fitness, this would be the difference between your everyday general population person training in a gym and say an athlete who has trained all their life to be in the top 1-3% of people. Therefore, for you to to enter into even the top 5-10% of Australians who are well and truly wealthy, or if that is not your goal and you just want to feel financially secure and enter into the top 30% of Australians, you need to work on this one principle…

PAY YOURSELF FIRST!

I am going to delve into this a lot more in my next blog, but the principle is very simple, when you get paid, rather that waiting until the end of the pay cycle whether that is weekly, fortnightly or monthly, you take out a set amount from your pay that you will save or invest.

Watch out for my next blog on how I do this for my own finances right now.

2. Sort Out Your Tax

Our tax system can be very complex, but it can also be very simple, if you can understand the ins and outs of it. If you can understand the ins and outs, you can make the system work for you, where you can save a lot of money on tax by doing a few simple things to minimise your tax bill at the end of the year.

In two weeks I will be creating a blog that will run you through the ins and outs, so make sure you look out for that!

Because it could save you thousands of dollars that you are entitled to through the Australian tax system. You head me right, you are ENTITLED to these tax minimising strategies!

3. Choose the Investment Vehicle that is Right For YOU.

And finally, to truly set yourself apart from majority of Australians, from the majority of people in the world…

To truly set yourself up for Financial Freedom and to make your life a lot easier for when you look to retire or semi-retire…

You need to make sure that you choose the right investment vehicle for you.

There are quite a few ways that you can invest, which is buying up assets in the hope of future monetary return.

1. Bonds, which is simply you giving a government or company a loan, in which they need to pay you back with interest.

2. Equities or shares, in which you buy a small portion (or large, depending on the company) of the business/company.

3. Exchange Traded Funds, which is you buying into a bucket of companies/stocks.

4. Real Estate (one of the favourites for Australians the last thirty years), in which you buy housing, land, industrial/factories, retail outlets, storage or Real-estate Investment trusts etc.

5. Commodities, whereby you buy up a portion of necessities, such as timber, steel, iron ore, oil, gold, silver etc.

6. And finally the latest trend, Cryptocurrencies, where you can buy digital coins, digital land etc.

As you can see, there is just too much to go through in one blog, therefore this is just a short intro into my “Getting Ahead Series.”

I hope you can look out for the first blog, which will be complete next week.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Sometimes Letting Go is What Will Help You Take Back Control!

Have you ever been stuck before? In a rut? Feel like you are not going anywhere?

Generally speaking, if this is how you feel, it means that you are holding on to something that has taught you everything there is and now you are just going through the motions. Whether that be a relationship, a job, potentially the area you live in, a sport or training style, or it could simply be the very career/industry you are in right now.

One thing I have learnt, being a business owner for the last ten years, training for the last 16 years and accomplishing a lot of things through both…

Sometimes you need to let go of things that you hold dear, that make you comfortable and feel secure, to truly grow and give you back control of your future growth.

Coming to terms with letting go of it is scary, not knowing what potentially may come in the future and the unknown has always been the single most feared thing in human existence, alongside the fear of failure. However, it is embracing these fears, taking hold of your future, by letting go of something in the past that is holding you back from growth, that is how you will truly be free to Take Back Control.

There is a lot of connotations to letting go of something as well, things like being afraid of the judgement from others, from disappointing people you hold dear or even yourself, to being seen as a quitter…

You need to be able to let go of that as well, to truly become someone else, to be the person you need to be for you to achieve your goals.

How do you know when to let go though?

When you have exhausted what you think is every avenue, when you have nothing left to learn, when you have been feeling down for some time. When you have been disappointed for the last time, when you know that there can be no change, because you yourself cannot change others or the situation.

That is when you know it is time to let go, and embrace the unknown, embrace your new self that you need to pursue to grow and Take Back Control of your future.

Taking on a new journey can brighten the spirits, motivate you and necessitate growth, because if you do not change and grow, then you will fail.

And sometimes a fear of failure, when you have no other alternative, will help you to spring out of the cosy cocoon and become something else completely.

I hope some of this may help you in your journey of Taking Back Control of your Life-Health-Wealth, I would love to know what else you would like to learn when it comes to Taking Back Control!

If you have any personal finance questions, questions on career/business, health (training and nutrition), investment questions, retirement etc.

I would love to know, just subscribe to our e-mail newsletter here.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

How To Be Wealthy and Change Your Life Right Now!

We all wish we could wake up one morning and all our problems would be gone, (I don’t, how boring would life be then…) however unless winning the lotto, a 1 in 8 billion chance, there is nothing that can significantly change fortunes over night.

Therefore, rather leaving life to chance, I have drawn on learnings from some of the wealthiest people in the world, from Jim Rohn, Anthony Robbins, Elon Musk, Warren Buffet and Jeff Bezos, to share with you how you can take action on changing your wealth right now!

The only difference between the women and men who are significantly better off than you right now is simply their mindset and how they look at the world differently.

Let me tell you a quick story on how someone was able to change their fortunes over a year and going from being in $11,400 in debt to paying down that debt and owning a house within the next four years.

The catalyst for that person came down to two things, one of which was the shame of seeing -$0.07 in their bank account and two, being unable to help a friend start a venture and supporting that friend.

So what changed? What changed from that person spending $12,000 per year on eating out, partying and getting themselves into $11,400 into debt, to owning their own home and successfully taking a step on the path to greater wealth?

Simply, it was a mindset shift, a shift from being the victim to being a person who took responsibility for their lives, their income and spending.

(If you have not guessed it, that person from above was myself, I got into a few car accidents that accrued nearly $5,400 in debt from the insurance companies and then also borrowed $6,000 from a family member to start a business.)

The difference between the wealthy and the poor is simply their mindset, yes other factors do come into play, such as where you grew up and the family environment. However, if you are stuck in a scarcity mindset, you will never be able to move into a mindset that can handle one of abundance.

Therefore, here are the top 3 mindset shifts and belief systems that you need to work on, to start changing your life, improve your wealth and your lifestyle;

Pay Yourself First!

That seems like a pretty simple one, but you would be astonished at how many people tend to pay the big fashion companies, or shoes stores, or car companies first…

As soon as you get paid, you should be paying yourself first, meaning taking a percentage of your wage and transferring it into a savings account or investing it for the future.

You just need to do a little bit of math, work out how much you roughly need to pay out in debts, food, bills, etc. And what you have leftover, pay into a savings account that you cannot touch. Becoming wealthy is just a mindset shift from being a consumer, to being a creator, a creator of your own wealth through self-discipline and giving back to your community.

Take Back Your Time!

Every day, you should be prioritising your time towards tasks and activities that will take you closer to your goals and ambitions. Not only that, but also delegating tasks and activities that is below your hourly rate. The rich get richer because they delegate roles and responsibilities that need to be done, to free up their time for the tasks and activities that are more important.

For example, you could be working full-time, however, you do not earn enough from your full-time job and therefore want to start a side-hustle or sole trader business. But, you have a family, two kids, a partner that also works full-time and house chores that need to be done.

If you could earn $100 per hour from your side-hustle, why would you not just pay a cleaner $35 per hour to clean your house?

You are still up $65 per hour!!

Therefore, take back your time, by delegating roles and responsibilities, if you are worth $300 per hour, don’t waste your time on tasks that you hate doing that are worth much less!

Finally, the most important mindset shift: You MUST Become Obsessed with Improving Your Income Streams

The really wealthy do not become wealthy just by doing one job well, they diversify the risks of losing said job or failing said business by putting earning their money from different streams.

Starting with your job or business!!

First, if you need to earn more money, look to asking for a pay rise or if in business, look to set some targets to grow the business more efficiently. Once you have developed this income stream, to the point where it has no more growth apart from inflation, you should look elsewhere for a second income stream.

The key is knowing when to do this, if you have a business, it may take a bit longer to grow your income, or it could grow really quickly, depending on the type of business, consumer sentiment and many other factors. If you have a job, it is as simple as asking for that pay rise and either getting it or not.

Once you develop a second, third, fourth and maybe even fifth income stream, you go back to the first mindset shift of paying yourself first.

Hopefully that has given you a few things to think about, as it sure changed my life and helped me to Take Back Control!

So until next time,

Take Back Control

Election Special: A Labor Government and What it Means to You!

Here at Take Back Control, we do not believe in letting the government dictate terms, we believe that the sole person responsible for your future, for your finances, health and life comes down to numero uno. YOU!

However, it pays to be educated and knowledgeable in what the newly elected government is promising to do to “re-shape” Australia and how it could effect you.

Hence the election special, where the most important policies will be listed below that would affect you on a personal level and my analysis of the policies as well.

Furthermore, let’s take a look at the policies of the Labour government, which have been promising to tackle some of the main issues we are seeing right now in the Australian economy, environment and healthcare. Issues such as; cost of living, without seeing wages rising on the same level as inflation, climate change devastating nations around the world and the disorganisation of our public healthcare system, which has been decimated since Covid-19.

Let’s take a look at the key policies Labor plans to roll out;

Home Ownership:

• “Help to Buy” is a government policy to help first home owners get into their home sooner with 10,000 availabilities per year.

• If you are a single income earner, earning less that $90,000 per annum, or a couple earning less than $120,000 per annum, you would be eligible.

• You need a minimum of a 2% deposit of the purchase price to be eligible for the policy

• The government policy means they would “buy-in” to your home with you, where the government will buy up to 40% equity in your home. (Means that you buy and own 60% and the government buys and owns the other 40%) [1]

Equality for women:

• Cheaper child care to support working mum’s

• Closing the gender pay gap and also creating equal pay for those working the same jobs and hours across sectors.

• Policies to give women the opportunity of choice who suffer from domestic violence.

Childcare:

• Lifting the Maximum childcare subsidy rate to 90% for the first child with families earning up to $530,000 [2]

Taxes:

• Taxes for individuals earning between $45,000-$200,000 will be cut to 30% by 2024

• Multi-national companies will be cracked down on with regards to “tax avoidance.”

Education:

• 20,000 additional University places added around Australia per year

• 465,000 fee free Tafe courses

• 10,000 new energy apprenticeships (to improve energy efficiencies and renewable energy)

Climate Change and Powering Australia:

• See a reduction in power bills to average Australian homes of $275 per year by 2025

• Creating 600,000 jobs in regions to improve renewable energy efficiencies. ($76 Billion invested for this)

• Electric car discount to be applied

• Reduce carbon emissions by 40-45% of 2005 levels by 2030

• Protections to be put in place for key environmental ecosystems (great barrier reef etc.)

NDIS- Disability Care:

• Stopping cuts to individual plans

• Pricing structures to be re-visited

• Completing a full evidence based overhaul, looking at the operations and design of the scheme

Australian Public Sector Boost:

• Improve job security, through opening up more full-time roles in leu of contracted/temporary roles.

• Improved working environments and pays

How to Take Back Control by understanding the policies from Labor?

The most important policies that will effect every Australian come down to climate change policies, the energy policies and taxes policies.

Climate change is not just an old folks tale anymore, it is real and the IPCC just released some damning evidence, that if we do not do something more about it now, it is going to get a whole lot worse. The climate policies from Labor are definitely better than the Coalition, however, according to the IPCC, more still needs to be done. [3]

Linked with the climate change policies comes the energy policies, whereby we will see a much faster transition to renewable energy, further improvements to the grid as a whole, which according to Labor, will improve power bills on average by $275 per year. Decreasing cost of living, which is a main goal of the Labor government.

Illustrated in their acceptance of the tax cuts that will see more money in your back pocket at the end of financial year by 2024, if you earn between $45,000 and $200,000. Subset by cracking down on multi-national companies who may be “avoiding” tax, which is set to add $1.89 billion to the bottom line of the budget by 2024.

Two policies in particular are going to have major effects for our future, one for the better, one potentially for the worse:

Housing affordability is a huge problem, however, that affordability is about to get worse…

The “Help to Buy” policy, again was better than the coalitions “take from your super” policy, however it is still just a short-term fix that will more than likely compound on the issues. Not to mention, will also decrease the equity people have in their own homes, which will affect house prices significantly 10-15 years from now.

Just think of this, if you had a stake in the housing market, would you want to see it go down or up?

You would want to get your money’s worth wouldn’t you? At the very least, if not want to see some gains as well. The government will now have a stake in the Australian housing market, therefore, it will be betting on the housing sector going up and up and up…

Making affordability worse, until there is potential for the government to own even more of a stake in your grandchildren’s home than your grandkids themselves. Of course, you can buy back that equity, which would be super important, however most first home buyers generally will also sell that home within the first ten years. Which is not enough time to buy back the equity and you will find they may not be able to upgrade to a second home as quickly, due to the government owning 30-40% of their home. I have no answer for the short term pain that is felt by aspiring home owners, but I don’t see any good coming from this policy, only further wealth inequality.

Education is a pillar of every country, and to see that it is getting the funds and attention that is needed for a more innovative and improved Australia is reassuring. More still needs to be done in the education sector to improve the job’s crisis that is only growing, however, it is a step in the right direction.

Overall, these policies are going to be good for the “average Australian,” however, there is definitely more that could be done, and it starts with you!

As stated above, you are the only one who has true control of your future, the government will not be the one to carry you the whole way, therefore, you need to look at changing your philosophy/values surrounding particular areas of your life.

There are still holes in every government policy, there will always be, because not everyone can be kept happy, there are too many clashing ideals and belief’s for that to ever happen. Therefore, you are the only one who can bring about that happiness and improve your life for the better.

Until Next Time,

Take Back Control

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References:

[1] - https://www.alp.org.au/policies/helping-more-australians-into-home-ownership

[2] - https://www.alp.org.au/policies/cheaper-child-care

[3] - https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-3/

Market Update: Global Recession Fears and Why You Should Not Worry!

Over the last five months, all markets (apart from some real-estate/rental markets) have been super volatile, with hopes riding on strong wage growth and unemployment, for the most part, around the world. However, investor sentiment has been down considerably, with most investors becoming more bear like (meaning they are starting to enter a hibernation phase, with less money invested, dragging markets down with them) and markets truly struggling due to high inflation around the world, food shortages, war and lockdowns in China.

Not to mention the likelihood of a de-coupling of economic trade around the world, meaning that countries are starting to wonder whether they are too dependent on other countries for necessities, such as energy, natural resources etc.

We have seen this in regards to China, who have been trying to find other alternatives to Australian iron ore, which has been vastly holding up our economy since 2008. And most of western Europe, who have relied on Russian gas for the last 10-20 years, now needing to find other alternatives due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Countries are starting to think about worst case scenarios and national security a lot more since the invasion, which will lead to a complete change in some countries policies regarding the economy and trade.

Which could have huge reverberating effects on the global economy as a whole. (Globalisation could have hit a peak potentially)

How does this affect you specifically though?

To be honest, it will only affect you truly if you let it. If you let the drama of the news and the headlines get into your head, if you let the negativity through, it will affect you mentally and emotionally.

Human nature is a funny thing, we are drawn to more negative headlines than we are to positive ones, we have a necessity to know about the bad, and seem to neglect the good.

However, one thing I know for certain is that even if there is a global recession, even if it is worse than the global financial crisis…

Everything will be okay in the end, because no matter how bad it gets, the funny thing that is human nature prevails. As homo sapiens, we hold on to dreams and optimism of the future, for something better for our children and grand children. There are people out there right now, working hard to find better ways for transport, for more environmentally better ways to source and provide power.

We are problem solvers and we are action takers, working towards solving real problems everyday.

Therefore, it doesn’t matter if we do have a global recession, because we will work towards solving that problem, as we do with climate change and working to preserve the environment.

Throughout history, so long as there are humans around, we have seen that humans will work together and hope together to provide a better future, that is why I remain optimistic in every situation. The proof is in the state of the world today, no matter all the issues, such as poverty, famine, disease, war, we have increased the standard of living of every person on this planet so that even the poorest person is living better than their counter-parts were living 20, 30, 50 years ago. (I am not saying that we have fixed the problems around the world, such as poverty or world hunger, just that people are slightly better off across the board, we still have much to do before we can truly say world hunger has been eradicated.)

The darkest night always brings with it a bright dawn, everything moves in cycles, forever repeating history.

So until the day the last human draws their last breath, I shall have persevering optimism, which is why I continue to invest and working towards bettering myself so that I can deal with whatever nights that may plague us in the future, however long or short they are.

Which is what I suggest you do to, do not let the tabloids and the media control your emotions, rather look to what you have control over within your own life. A global recession is far outside of your control, so why worry about it, instead, protect yourself against it.

By developing yourself and making yourself more valuable to the jobs market/community you live in, which will give you the best possible chance if it is a prolonged recession. And the other thing is to make sure you have an emergency fund, where you have up to three to six months of your current wage in cash held in a bank account, just in case the worst does happen.

Just remember though, the worst may never come to fruition, and no one knows whether it will happen or whether everything will rebound again.

Hence why it is a good idea to have optimism and hope for the future, that will get you through each day, but you must also be realistic as well, having that emergency fund will help you sleep when the worst does eventually happen. As it will happen, as it has repeatedly happened through history, and after reading this, I hope you will be prepared for it.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

You Could Be Paying $697 More Per Month On Your Mortgage!! Budget Series [Special]

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have finally increased the cash rate after 12 years of decreases, going from 0.1 and lifting 0.25 bps to 0.35.

Not only that, but Governor Phillip Lowe has flagged that there will be more than one rate rise this year, stating in the press conference on Tuesday, 03 May, “Given the outlook for the economy and inflation, further normalisation of interest rates will be required.” [1]

The reasoning behind the uplift in the cash rate? Inflation of course, which hit 5.1% year on year. Which is the highest it has been since September 2008. [2]

The positives that came out of the report is that it looks like wages are also steadily increasing, although the wage report has not been released as of yet, Governor Phillip Lowe has released that based on liaising with business associates and gathering data from local companies, the wage growth is definitely there.

What does this mean for everyday people like you and I?

It means we will need to adjust our budget, as mortgage costs will increase along with other cost of living, with inflation continuing to increase.

And it means as inflation has increased, adding on to the fact the employment rate is down to 4.0%, [3] it might also be time to start looking to ask your employer for a wage increase.

Today, I won’t be going through how you can attain a wage increase, however, I will be giving you a few figures to think about for when you do want to add the extra cost on to your bottom line for your budget.

Here are the things you need to ask yourself;

• You need to ask, how much more interest will I need to pay? Thanks to the rate rise.

• How much can rates increase over the next 12 months? How do I plan for further rate rises (some banks are estimating to see the cash rate at a normalised 2.0% in 12 months time.)

Let’s start with, How much more interest you will need to pay?

Based on the average variable rate of 2.71% [4], as of May 17-22nd, you will see a interest rate increase of 0.25% to 2.96%.

As well as the average home loan in Australia being $599,922 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in March of 2022. [5]

The average monthly repayments on a $599,992 loan over 30 years will be $2,437 per month, now what happens when interest rates increase by 0.25%?

The interest rate repayments would increase by $80 per month to $2,517 per month, which probably doesn’t seem to bad.

Does your loan work out to be bigger than the average, or smaller? That is ok, lets work out some quick numbers for you;

Home loan size: $300,000

Avg. Var. rate and repayments: 2.71%, $1,219 p.m

New Rate and Repayments: 2.96%, $1,259 p.m ($40 increase)

Home loan size: $400,000

Avg. Var. rate and repayments: 2.71%, $1,625 p.m

New Rate and Repayments: 2.96%, $1,678 p.m ($54 increase)

Home loan size: $500,000

Avg. Var. rate and repayments: 2.71%, $2,031 p.m

New Rate and Repayments: 2.96%, $2,098 p.m ($67 increase)

Home loan size: $700,000

Avg. Var. rate and repayments: 2.71%, $2,843 p.m

New Rate and Repayments: 2.96%, $2,937 p.m ($94 increase)

Want to know what your mortgage repayments will be exactly and how the interest rate will affect it, check out the CommBank repayment calculator.

What about the further rate rises that have been flagged by the Governor himself?

Let’s just assume that the cash rate will increase to 2.0% as the big four banks are assuming over the next 12 months, how much does that add to your costs?

Home loan size: $300,000

New Rate and Repayments: 4.71%, $1,558 p.m ($340 increase)

Home loan size: $400,000

New Rate and Repayments: 4.71%, $2,077 p.m ($453 increase)

Home loan size: $500,000

New Rate and Repayments: 4.71%, $2.597 p.m ($566 increase)

Home loan size: $600,000 (Average Aus home loan)

New Rate and Repayments: 4.71%, $3,116 p.m ($679 increase)

Home loan size: $700,000

New Rate and Repayments: 4.71%, $3,653 p.m ($792 increase)

Let me just let all those numbers sink in…

For the average home owner, you are looking at an increase in mortgage repayments of $679 per month over the next year.

Based on the RBA “normalising” the cash rate, and what the big four banks and the markets are assuming will need to be done to reign inflation in.

What can you do from here?

Now you know the facts, it is time to plan ahead and truly make a difference to your lives now by doubling down on mortgage repayments, maybe you want to reduce the shock of rate increases by simply paying down what you expect to within a years time.

The other thing you could be doing right now is start looking at what you are paying with regards to your variable rate and shop around. See what else is on offer out there, you will be surprised at home many low interest banks there are at the moment, quoting 2.19% and lower.

Just be careful though, as these low interest banks may also increase their interest rates a lot faster than the other banks. It would pay to see whether they follow in line with the cash rate or increase it by more. (Most banks will be increasing their variable rate by the end of May.)

Hopefully the above can give you some idea of where you could be at with regards to mortgage repayments in the future, of course, the above may not come about or it could be worse. So don’t take my word for it, but it pays to be aware of what the changes mean though and to help you re-adjust your budget.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

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1. https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2022/sp-gov-2022-05-03.html

2. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/research/70-years-inflation-australia

3. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-release

4. https://www.canstar.com.au/home-loans/average-interest-rates-home-loans/

5. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/finance/lending-indicators/latest-release

How to Stick To Your Budget: Budget Series-part Two

Have you created your budget? If not, and you need help, make sure to check out part one of the series by clicking HERE!

Make your budget and then come back to this article to read how to stick to your budget!!

Made budgets before, but been unable to stick to them?

If you have struggled to keep to a budget, fear not, you are not alone, my wife and I sometimes go well over our budget every three to four months as well. Firstly, I want to make this clear, there is no shame in going over your budget, do not feel guilty about it, it has happened and you can do nothing about it. The past is the past, the only thing we can take from it, is to learn from it!

Feelings of shame and guilt is going to help no one, in fact, the more shame and guilt you feel, the more you may sabotage yourself moving forward. I have seen it all the time when clients put themselves on “diets” when trying to lose weight, over the last ten years as a coach and personal trainer.

A budget is much like putting yourself on a diet for most people, but it does not have to be that way, because most studies on diets, and budgeting in fact, deem that it does not work when you try restrict yourself excessively.

In fact, I don’t believe that you should be restricting yourself when you go on a budget, which is where most people make the first mistake!

As soon as you look to making restrictions on yourself and your lifestyle, it is just human nature for you to follow along for a short period of time, but life will happen and it is bound to blow out disproportionally soon enough. Therefore, to make sure your budget is set up for success you need to follow along on these basic guidelines when setting up your budget;

Once you have completed a full audit of your bank statements spending over the last 3-6 months, ask yourself, are you happy with where you are at financially? Happy with the amount of savings you are making (surplus cash)? And happy with your ability to pay down debt?

If you are happy, that is great, continue along with what you are doing and just review your spending every month to two months to make sure you are still on track.

If you are not, however, the first thing you would need to do is set yourself a goal. Make it a goal that is going to improve your life significantly, something that will truly make you sacrifice a little in the short term, for long term gain.

It could be saving for a house deposit (that is why my wife and I started budgeting), it could be saving for a round the world trip for a year, it could be saving to get a ticket to Elon Musk’s first inter-planetary trip and colonisation to Mars!! (Apparently will be roughly $100,000-120,000US.)

Whatever it is, make it something that is going to be worthwhile for you, your partner if you have one, or your dog, whatever your situation is.

Got your goal? Great, now it is time to do what I like to call, reverse engineer the goal, by breaking it down into small and manageable steps!!

Want a $100,000 home deposit? Want to be able to get into your first home in two years time?

Firstly, you need to work out whether you can do that or not with the current budget you have just created…

Simple math makes out that you need to be saving $50,000 per year, or $962 per week. Does your budget say that it is possible?

If not, don’t get disheartened, there is three things that you can do, make a few sacrifices if you are not far off saving that amount each week and just make it work. Or, if you are too far off, say you are $500 per week off, you will need to make the timeline a bit more achievable.

By making it more achievable, you will set yourself up for success, rather than set yourself up for failure. The worst thing you can do is drastically change your life and go to the extreme where you are spending absolutely nothing at all, remember how I said a lot of studies say that most “diets” and budgets fail. That is why!!

So, lets say that you are saving roughly $400 per week at the moment, which is the most you can do. That works out to be $20,800 per annum. Which means, your two year timeline is not really achievable, but a five or six year timeline might be a bit more realistic.

You just need to do the math and break it down into bite size chunks, think in terms of weekly or fortnightly savings goals to get you to the bigger savings target at the end.

Think about the SMARTER goals I mentioned in part one of the budget series!

Not happy with the timeline, that is ok, because you don’t have to actually just restrict spending, you can also work on Earning More Money!!

One thing my wife and I did to save for our house that a lot of people don’t really know too much about, is that we decided that we wanted to build our first home and wanted to do it within two years. However, what we were earning was not really enough, so instead of just saying oh well, its not feasible, we will just lengthen our timeline…

We decided to sacrifice a little bit more and worked harder to earn more money for eighteen months. We had to get a deposit together of roughly $90,000 to build our first home, we had $18,000 between us at the time. Which meant we needed $50,000 saved in just over eighteen months. (First home owners grant was $10,000 and we got a small loan from Liv’s parents, which we paid off before we moved into our home)

Our savings rate was just over $640 per week that we needed. And we made it happen!!

We scrimped and scraped, we worked harder, built up side hustles and earnt more money that way as well.

The one thing that I hope you take out of this, no matter how hopeless it feels, there is always more you can do, you don’t just have to restrict spending.

Which brings me to the the Most Important part of achieving your goal and sticking to your budget, it comes down to Pure OPTIMISM and HOPE for the Future!

You cannot go out of your way to make life harder right now, if you do not have any belief in being able to achieve what you want to. It is humanly not possible for you to make sacrifices and stick to them, if you do not believe that what you are doing is going to work.

That is why you need to set a savings goal that is achievable, you need to be able to hit that savings goal for a long time and you need to make sure that you are 100% invested in making your DREAM a REALITY!

________________________________________________

Budgeting is hard, life is hard too sometimes, but being able to have a budget that thinks of all the things that might crop up, such as car accidents and other emergencies, holidays, bills, rent/mortgages, groceries, birthdays/gift giving, charity, pets/vet bills, insurances, rates…

Having a budget is not made to reduce your spending or restrict your lifestyle, it is made to bring you FREEDOM in your life. A budget is made to give you the life you want!

A true budget will make your life easy and will set you up for success in anything you would want to achieve. If you get the budget right, your 30, 40, 50 and especially 60 year old self is going to love you for it so much more.

If you can make a budget that you can stick to, you will be able to save and achieve your goals in the long run! And I reckon it is one of the first major steps towards Taking Back Control of your Wealth, your Health and your Life!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

How to Take Control of Your Money: Budgeting Series Pt One

The only way you can Take Control of your money habits and spending/saving behaviours is to first understand what you are doing right now and have done in the past.

The best way to do this is to look at the numbers over the last three to six months, because numbers never lie, when memory and previous experience can be muddled.

I have found over the last ten years owning a sole trader business and having to do all the books myself, that you will be surprised, even ten years in, with your actions when it comes to spending.

Step 1: Do an audit of all your accounts.

The most important aspect of planning for a budget is to understand what you are doing right now and in the past, therefore, doing a full scale audit is really important.

Although it is the most important part, it is also the most boring for most people and why most people will always struggle when it comes to budgeting.

1. To complete an audit, you need to gather up the last three to six months of bank statements from all accounts, including your partners if you have one (always work with a budget as a team, which means there is no “I” in team").

2. Create the categories for each month of where you will be inputting the spend, an example of this would be groceries, take-out, mortgage/rent, kids schooling, self-education… The list can be as long as you make it, but I will provide a list I use of my own which is super comprehensive at the end of this article that you can look out for.

3. Understand how you work, do you need a highlighter to cross off all the transactions you have inputted? Do you need multiple highlighters for each category? Are you like me and would rather input as you go through each line of transactions? By being able to understand what works for you, it will be quicker and more efficient!

4. Input all transactions, no matter how tiny they are, it is imperative that you do this, even if it is just a $1 chocolate bar from the supermarket.

5. Lastly, you need to make sure each category is tallied up, in this I use excel. Which has functions such as Sum that will calculate all the totals up for you. Excel makes life a lot easier and quicker to create a budget and to track your spending, I would highly recommend it!

Step 2: Decide on what you want to do with the information now gathered!!

Almost as important as step one is working out what to do with the information you have organised. Have you got a surplus of cash/savings at the end of each month? Do you spend more money than you make?

Or do you just break-even?

Step two is where you can have all the fun, or it could be where you need to have tough conversations with either yourself or your partner. If you have just broken even, are you content with that?

Do you want to build up a cash reserve for emergencies? Do you want to save for a house? Having a child? Retirement?

Do you just want to be able to get away and see the world?

I can guarantee you, everything you ever dreamed of doing, all of it comes down to money and being able to use money wisely. If you have a goal you want to achieve, if you have something you want to do, you will need to have cash to do it. That is why, it is a great idea to talk to a coach or a Financial planner, who can help you with drawing out what you truly want, how to make your life better.

You can talk to friends and family, however, having someone who is not bias is an extremely important asset to have, someone who only has your best interest at heart.

One thing I have learnt, as much as you love friends and family, they do not always have your best interest at heart. Not out of malice or evil intent, in fact it is because they love you that they can sometimes offer bad advice.

Step 3: Now you have decided what you want, set REALISTIC goals!!

Setting realistic goals is paramount to budgeting success, you cannot maintain a budget if you blow it every month. You will just get disheartened and will dread reviewing your numbers every month. (Step four by the way.)

To do this, you need to look at creating a SMARTER goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timely, Evaluate and Review) surrounding lifestyle, finance, education, career and relationships. I would suggest choosing one category to work on first, do not overwhelm yourself. Stick to one thing only until you get better at it!

Of course, you may not achieve said goals all the time, however just by purely setting the goals, you will at least be moving towards the life you want.

Step 4: Commit to reviewing your budget and goals every month!

Once you start on this path of Taking Back Control of your money, the most important aspect of the journey is to continue it. Between the age of 25 to 28 years old, our spending habits and savings rate has changed dramatically. We are constantly changing our budget and our numbers, therefore, you need to know them to be able to change them and keep up with the consistent changes.

If you are not good with finances, that is ok, you can ask your partner to do it, like I do for my wife. However, you need to make sure that you are open and transparent with the financial decisions. Otherwise, you could always hire a professional to help you with regards to this as well, such as a Financial Planner or coach.

Step 5: Take Action

Lastly, but definitely not least, YOU NEED TO TAKE ACTION!

There is no way around it, you need to put in the work if you want to reap rewards, you can outsource if it is not your strong point, but you will still need to do some groundwork.

I hope that the above will help you on your journey to taking back control of your finances,

Please see below the budget planner, and if you would like a copy, just submit your details below,

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Submit Your Details below to get access to a FREE Budget Planner, Fully Editable like the one you see above!

43% of Marriages End in Divorce According to New Statistics (2021)

Which is actually better than the divorce rate 20 years ago, according to Ibis World [1], where the divorce rate was closer to 50% based on divorce rate to marriages.

However, that percentage still seems extremely high to me, that means 2 in 5, almost 1 in 2 marriages, end in tears and messy finances.

And do you want to know what the number one reason for divorce in Australia is?

You probably already know, but it comes down to money most of the time, from partners lying about their finances to not being able to create the lifestyle that was promised and changing values surrounding money.

Therefore, one way to help bring that divorce rate down significantly would be to do what you reckon?

If you thought, well its simple, you just need to acquire more money…

You would be right to some degree, however, when it comes to money, having more doesn’t mean that you are happy.

In fact, a recent study completed by the Purdue university [2], using the Gallup World poll data, suggests that earning more money up to a certain degree can indeed bring more happiness, if the money is spent the right way. Mainly by buying back more time to spend with family and loved ones, as well as giving back to the community you live in.

Therefore, having more money is definitely going to help decrease the statistic, however it is also how you use your money, how you communicate with your partner about it and also will come down to how much time you spend earning said income.

So first of all, how much money is needed to be happy/content in your relationship and also yourself?

Well according to two different studies, from Princeton (2010) and Purdue Universities (2018), the bottom line is US$75,000 or AUD$100,634 per year.

That is the amount needed to be earned each year to at least be happy, to live the life you want, afford everything you need and to be able to service all of your debts as well, plus have some surplus cash to do with what you like.

If you are not earning that much personally, but you are married or in a De Facto relationship, don’t stress, because that corelates to household income as well. Therefore, between you and your partner, if you earn at least this much between you, based on the studies above, you should be content with your life.

Of course, that brings me to the next issue when it comes to money in relationships, which also is probably the number one reason why money is the killer of most marriages.

And that comes down to how you spend said money and communicate that spend with your partner!

1 in 4 (23%) have lied to a significant partner about their money spending habits [3], with the main reason of lying to said partner being debt (50% of respondents blamed debt for lying).

There are a few things that my wife and I do that I would like to share with you, which has definitely helped improve our relationship.

1. We have a night every one to two months where we go through our finances/budget and talk about where we are heading honestly and openly.

2. We have no hidden accounts, the only account I have which my wife doesn’t have access to is a business account. However, if she wanted to see it, all she has to do is ask.

3. We have a few standards, if we are wanting to make a purchase above $200, we need to talk with our partner about it first. Especially, if the purchase is a want, rather than a necessity.

Has that stopped us from having disagreements every now and again? No, of course not. We still have areas where we don’t agree, because we are fundamentally two different people.

An example of this would be our use of surplus cash, I love experiencing things and seeking adventure, we both do in fact. However, I am more risk-oriented, therefore I am fine with having less cash on hand, my wife is not though.

My wife is the opposite and has been taught to save and have cash in reserve, which is a great lesson to be taught. That is why we discuss the use of our money and where it goes, we disagree on some elements, but that is where compromise is needed.

Once we have agreed on the compromise of how to use said surplus cash, we need to stick by it. Which is what the monthly, to two monthly “date nights,” as termed by the ‘Barefoot Investor’ Mr. Scott Pape, are for.

To keep each other accountable and to make sure that we are moving in the same direction and spending the money in the right way.

The subject of relationships and being able to build better connections through open and transparent communication is a big one, and all it takes is for one person in the relationship to prioritise it and bring up any frustrations/concerns.

I truly hope that the above has been able to help someone in their own relationship, to help make your connection last!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

________________________

1. https://www.ibisworld.com/au/bed/number-of-divorces/30/

2. https://www.renolon.com/can-money-buy-happiness-statistics/#:~:text=A%20study%20done%20by%20Princeton,after%20earning%20beyond%2080000%20USD.

3. https://www.finder.com.au/marriage-and-divorce-statistics-2021

Holiday Budget: We just got back from our Honey Moon

I have been a bit quiet over the last few weeks because my wife and I were finally able to go on our honeymoon, roughly a year after getting married.

Now that we are back, I wanted to go through how much it cost us through a day by day breakdown to travel to Queensland in 2022.

Which will hopefully help anyone who may be looking to travel to the Northern part of Queensland, which is an absolute spectacular and majestic part of the world that I would highly recommend for anyone to go to.

We splurged a bit more, due to the fact it was our honeymoon, so you could definitely do it a lot cheaper if you wanted to. However, we also could have spent a heap more as well…

Day 0 (A prelude before going away): Crown Promenade and Delta Concert

Accommodation- Crown 1 night= $378 (not worth the money in the end)

Delta Concert = $300

Food and Drink = $38

Total = $716

Let’s start with Day 1: Flights to Proserpine from Melbourne

Mantra Club Croc resort, just outside of Airlie Beach. Booked through Redeem Vacations.

Jet Star flights for my wife and I to = $299.92

Shuttle Bus to Accommodation = $44

Accommodation for 4 nights = $120 (We got a voucher through our photo booth and Redeem vacations)

Food and drink = $65

Groceries = $30.45

Taxi ride = $10.50

Total = $569.87

Day 2: Ocean Rafting and Snorkelling adventure

Standing on Whitehaven Beach, which is a pure wonder of the world, with the whitest sands and bluest waters!

Adventure = $278

Food and Drink = $88

Total = $366

Day 3: Day in Airlie Beach and Relax Day

Airlie Beach Lagoon, public swimming area, with waters just as beautiful as its bay.

Food and Drink = $51.50

Total = $51.50

Day 4: Tongarra Sailing and Snorkelling Adventure

Tongarra Sailing and Snorkelling adventure, heading back in with a sunset sail at Airlie beach.

Adventure = $300

Food and Drink = $53.50

Total = $353.5

Day 5: Hamilton Island (Loads of Free water sports/activities)

Sunset on Hamilton island was pure bliss and left us breathless from the beauty. The array of colours was amazing and the image above does not do it justice!

Taxi Ride- $11.10

Ferry (returns) = $240.50

Accommodation for 1 night at Reef View Hotel = $430

Food and Drinks = $77.7

Total = $759.30

Day 6: Car hire and travel to Townsville/Magnetic Island

Car Hire for 6 days (we also went above the KM limit) = $970

Accommodation for 1 night at the Rambutan = $143.7

Food and Drinks = $44.3

Groceries = $19.70

Total = $1,177.30

Day 7: Magnetic Island and Palm Cove

Unfortunately our only day of bad weather where it rained all morning was on Magnetic Island.

Ferry trip to Magnetic Island = $56.8

Bus trip = $6.70

Palm Cove Accommodation for 2 nights = $535

Food and Drinks = $62.50

Groceries = $30.50

Petrol = $70.51

Total = $762.01

Day 8: Palm Cove Markets and Relax Day

Peppers resort Palm Cove, where we stayed at an apartment called Palm Cove Paradise for couples.

Markets = $45.6

Food and Drinks = $84.80

Total = $130.40

Day 9: Daintree Rainforest and Port Douglas

The Daintree Rainforest, where the Rainforest meets the beach. Pure amazing sights and wonder!

Mossman Gorge Bus fare = $26

Ferry Ride over Daintree river return = $39

Daintree Discovery Centre = $71

Ice Cream = $11.10

Food and Drinks = $24.5

Groceries = $12.45

Accommodation at the Ramada for 1 night = $170.10

Total = $354.15

Day 10: SkyRail Daintree Rainforest and Cairns

Karanda Train and Skyrail = $238

Karanda markets = $27.65

Cairns Accommodation for 2 nights= $216

Food and Drinks = $55.60

Groceries = $21.35

Total = $558.65

Day 11: Atherton Tablelands and Waterfall Hunting

The Milla Milla Waterfall, has to be some of the freshest waters and amazing swimming spots we have been to!

Crystal Cave and Geode = $90

Petrol = $55.45

Food and Drinks = $32.10

Total = $177.55

Day 12: Cairns and Flight Home

Ice cream = $18.50

Food and drinks = $28.5

Petrol = $50.45

Long term Car park = $120

Flight Home = $315.20

Total = $532.65

Which concludes the holiday and brings us to the grand total of (drum roll please)…

Grand Total = $6,508.88

When I look back on the holiday and see the grand total, I was a little surprised, I thought we had spent around $5,500 or so.

However, we had also brought a few things like some accommodation and flights before we left, so I may have forgotten about a few of those that definitely add up over time.

Like I said above though, you can definitely do a lot of what we did for much cheaper, but we wanted to splurge a bit more for our honeymoon and were willing to do so.

Of course, we didn’t spend all that much on drinks or eating out, as we made our own lunch and took our own breakfast majority of the time.

You could definitely see how we could have splurged a lot more as well.

But hopefully, if you are planning on a trip to Northern Queensland, this has helped you and now you can budget for yourself and your family before going up.

Until next Time,

Take Back Control

Who else is enjoying the Stock Market Rollercoaster?

Have you felt it yet? The emotional rollercoaster of the stock market, which has literally been going up and down like a yo-yo the last two months, but especially the last month.

The epic highs from last years massive bull run on the stock market left you feeling euphoric, like you could do no wrong.

Which started to slow down by the end of December, and then it picked up right where 2021 left off, hitting what was an all-time record for the ASX 200 (The index tracking the top 200 companies in Australia).

However, by the end of January, we almost saw a correction, where the market dropped significantly by 7-8%, but you would have thought, here is a buying opportunity, “Buy the Dip mentality.”

You would have thought, it will go back up anyhow…

And it did, actually re-gaining 4-5% and then Russia invaded Ukraine, where we saw another dip of 3-4%, driven by major uncertainty in the global economy.

ASX 200- Jan 4th, 2022 - Mar 24, 2022

The ASX 200 is still down nearly 3% from the start of the calendar year. What a ride!!

My portfolio returns for the Month of March

The returns and losses of my very own stock portfolio over the last month has been a hell of a ride, which left me doubting myself at the start of March.

Just looking at the graph’s above, you can see the volatility and it really does look like a rollercoaster track!

Being invested in the market truly has left you feeling like you have been on a ride, full of adrenaline and then the opposite, feeling down right silly and as if you had made a huge mistake.

Over the last month, some investors would have made some massive decisions, whether to buy, sell or hold…

Which given the current climate, the uncertainty in the world, the greater economy and what the future holds, these decisions have been truly difficult.

But, I for one have been enjoying the experience that is the rollercoaster of the stock market the last month. The choices that have needed to be made over the last month was easy for me, as I hope it was for you.

I found myself buying down more shares within the companies that I own in the massive drop in the market at the start of January.

Since Russia has invaded, I have been sitting pretty, where I got myself a bag of popcorn and have just enjoyed the ride.

Were there doubts? Of course there was, especially when my portfolio was showing losses of 15%…

However, what stopped me from selling down and jumping over to the smoother ride that would be the carousel (ie; cash or bonds), was the knowledge of history on the stock market and also knowing the Fundamentals of the businesses I had invested in!!

The stock market, over the course of 200 years, has seen more gains than any other asset!

Knowing this, it is an easy decision, because over the long term, the assets that are held will see returns. The other factor, whereby I know the underlying fundamentals of the business, has left me feeling safe and secure at night.

I have invested in companies that have a huge cash reserve, low debt and are profitable over the last two financial years. Not to mention, their Return on Equity (the return a company has on the equity they use to invest back into the company), has been holding strong at 8-21% over the last ten years.

Meaning, they are very unlikely to go bankrupt, and that management is good enough to ride the waves of war, inflation and much more.

Will some companies be a loss?

Sure, but that will be offset by the gains that other companies will be making over the next 5-20 years!

Which is why I for one have been revelling in the rollercoaster that is the stock market over the last three months.

And I hope you have too.

Ps.

Investing in the stock market is not for everyone and truly depends on your risk tolerance, as well as many other factors regarding your life. If you are thinking about investing in the market, please find a trusted and professional Financial Advisor who can help you navigate the mind-field that is the Financial Markets!

The pure fact of the matter is, it is about learning to control your emotions and figure out who you are as a person.

Until next time,

Take Back Control

The Greatest Hedge Against Inflation!

On my morning walk with Marlow (my 12 month golden retriever) this morning, I listened to a Jim Rohn lecture on wisdom. And in his usual way, Jim Rohn explained the concept of wisdom in his round-about, way through stories and parables (not from the bible, but some are).

I listened to the lecture for about thirty minutes and there is one thing I was able to take from it that stood out above all else. From all of Jim Rohn’s own wisdom, from the knowledge he took from Socrates, the greatest philosopher of ancient Greece, from the wisdom of King Soloman, of the bible, and even the success of an investing banker friend that had it made…

Each and every person from history that you would deem wise and all-knowing (omniscient, a word to add to the vocabulary if you want), they all had one thing in common!

The fact that they believed they did not know anything, they were seekers of knowledge and of truth.

In fact, I remember last year being in a meeting with a mentor of my own, and we were talking about inflation, the affects it has on the broader economy and to every day people like you and I.

The one thing that really stood out from that meeting is that inflation does not matter, in fact, you should be happy about inflation. Rather than complain about rising costs of living, go out and work on using this opportunity of rising costs to get a promotion or a salary increase.

You do not have control over the greater economy, but you do have control over the knowledge you accrue and over the income you earn.

The more knowledge and value you give back to the company you work for, the more your income will increase. Inflation, if it becomes set and on-going, leads to wage increases, you just need to be able to demonstrate your value and ask for that raise!

But, the person who believes they know everything, will not increase their value to the company, in fact, they will not change at all.

Therefore, become a seeker of wisdom and knowledge. Make it your ethos, your life’s goal to accrue more information and life experience. Be more valuable than the next person and inflation will not matter, in fact, you will sing and dance when you hear that fuel and food prices are increasing, as it means that it may be time to ask for that extra raise.

Which is why you should ask great questions, seek more knowledge and be more valuable. If you think you know nothing, that means that you will be even more hungry to seek out what will benefit your life and the lives of others around you!

I know I will be seeking to understand and gain more knowledge to make myself a valuable asset to the marketplace,

Until next time,

Take Back Control!

How to Change Your Thinking and Mindset to Achieve anything!

Within the previous blog, raising standards and deciding to choose your own fate was the most important factors to being able to Take Back Control…

Before you can do that though, you do need to be able to change how you think and your mindset!!

One of the book’s I have read in the past that drummed into me that mindset is key, would be “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill.

With such a simple message that is pounded into you from the very title, it truly opened my eyes to the fact that anything is possible, if you just think about it and obsess over it enough!

There are a few factors that led to the change in my mindset to be more successful and to work on achieving what is truly valuable to myself and my family.

These factors are completely transferrable to yourself, most importantly, if you work on them everyday, you will be able to create a bulletproof mindset!

These factors come down to;

• Getting clear on who you want to be as a person, what your strengths/weaknesses are and knowing the lifestyle you want to live, including career, business, relationships etc. (The journey you need to walk)

• Surrounding yourself with people who want to be achievers, growing a network and just being able to challenge each other. (Environment and relationships are pivotal to change)

• Moving away from pain or heading towards pleasure (Having a make or break moment in your life)

Let me run through what pushed me on the path of change to being more successful, in the hope that my story can help you to also change your thinking and mindset!

Starting with a make or break moment, a time in your life where you have either had enough of something or you are challenged to the point where it becomes necessity to survive.

For my moment, it was both!!

The moment for me was when I was asked by a friend to join him in a business venture when I was 18 years old, at the time, I was running my own sole trader business and working casually as well as going to university.

Unfortunately, the timing was just not right for me, because at that point in time, I was broke…

In fact, I remember having -$7.03 in my bank account at that exact moment, I was utterly distraught and the feeling of shame, disappointment, and even a little fear of missing out, was crushing.

That was the moment I knew I had to change, I needed to change and push myself further than I had ever done so before!

From there, I knew I had to move away from the emotional pain and setback, and move towards the person I wanted to become.

I didn’t truly know who that was until I started surrounding myself with people who wanted even more success in life than myself. I started paying a business coach to help me create a better Personal Training business, I pretty much spent all of my spare time working towards never being broke ever again!

The idea of not having the money to afford fuel to just get to work weighed on my mind…

It drove me to be better and to change my mindset, I stopped spending money for myself and put everything I had back into paying down the rent, business coaching and just being better!

The moment is what made my mindset shift, which drove me to change my environment and relationships and in the end has led me to get clear on who I am as a person.

The thing is, you don’t need a moment of pain to help you decide on what you want to do or who you want to be.

No, I was young and pretty naïve at the time, but I know you can be better, I believe that you can be more.

All you have to do is decide right here and now to prioritise what you stand for as a person!!

You just need to want it more than anyone else, you just need to learn to sacrifice a little bit now for long term gains later.

Once you have decided to do something, set out small actions to take and help you to achieve your bigger goals.

I went from -$7 to owning our first home with my wife within ten years from that moment, we have also now brought our second home, our dream home which we will live in for the next 20-30 years.

Which is where we will hopefully start a new journey, where we can build our own family and strive for heights we didn’t think was possible ten years ago.

It just goes to show, if I can go from -$7.03 in my account to being a home owner in ten years and running a business, plus buying our dream home…

You can do it too!!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

What it takes to Take Back Control of Your Life-Health-Wealth!

Would you agree that you feel like the days are just flying by, you wake up and before you know it, you are getting ready to settle down for the night, putting the kids to bed, or doggo/cats, or both!!

You may be bringing out the glass of red, or ice-cream for some, its been a big day and you want to give yourself a treat. Well-deserved too, you got that big deal today, or you were able to finish a massive project and you feel accomplished and relieved that it went well…

But, you still don’t feel completely happy with yourself, you may not be feeling fully fulfilled, maybe you just aren’t doing anything for yourself anymore!

You drone out to the white noise on the T.V as you eat your ice-cream or share a glass with your partner, trying to re-coup from what felt like a huge day.

You start scrolling social media on your phone, as the T.V show is not really all that interesting, and you start seeing all these people away on holidays, escaping the mediocrity of their lives.

You start wanting to get away, to escape it all, you start becoming jealous and envious of all these people on social media that are working out, just like you use to when you were younger.

They look fit and most of all, they look HAPPY!

How did it come to this?

…Today, I wanted to share this story with you, because this is how a lot of people feel!

You don’t feel like you have control of your life, you don’t feel fulfilment, nor are you completely happy, you are not content and always want more.

If this has touched something within you, this story above, I want to share with you how you can Take Back Control starting as of this very moment.

I like to tell my clients, it first starts with a decision to WANT to do more, to be more. And truly, you need to DECIDE that you want to change before anything else, which can be scary, but nothing good comes from standing still.

You only have to look at nature to understand this, nothing stands still, the trees bend with the wind, or they snap in half…

The rocks on the foreshore are slowly eroded away by the consistent pounding of the waves, becoming smaller and smaller until it breaks off from the cliffs and erodes down into a pebble.

You cannot stand still, you cannot expect to feel content, or happy if you have decided to stop achieving for YOURSELF!

I found this out the hard way, whereby I stopped for around two years, which mentally, was the worst two years of my life, I tried achieving for others and it just led to frustration.

You need to DECIDE to ACHIEVE for YOURSELF!

Once you have done this, you are a step closer to Taking Back Control.

The next step is to deciding to becoming someone else entirely!

Everything that has happened to you up until this point in time that you have control over, things like deciding to reward yourself with ice-cream or a glass of red every night, these are based around who YOU are, your identity.

Everyone loves a treat every now and again, but when did it become EVERY night?

Maybe it was an accumulation of multiple bad days, maybe you got too busy and everything was hard, so a comfort at the end of the day was really nice to make you feel better…

However, now you have even less energy, you feel even less happy, you stopped being that person who worked out, you stopped identifying as a healthy and fit person.

You can also contribute this to every scenario that was a bad habit built up over time, if you don’t identify as someone who is always struggling with money, you will continue to always struggle with money.

If you believe yourself to be the person who snacks consistently, you will always snack!

You need to decide to be someone else and raise your standards to match your new identity, that is how you Take Back Control.

In my previous article, I wrote about the four pillars of health and within that, I gave you my standards that I always meet, each and every day.

That is how I remain healthy, that is why I am able to be positive and full of energy. All because, I made a decision, a decision to be the healthiest I can be.

Sure you will make mistakes along the way, you will give in to temptation and you can enjoy a night out every now and again, but you still need to decide on WHO you will be and whether you will CHANGE who you are.

No matter where you are struggling in life, whether it is with relationships, wealth, health, education or career, you can always CHOOSE to be better, simply by deciding and taking action on raising your standards!

Hopefully this has lit a small ember within your stomach, a spark to change, because that is all you need.

In my next blog, I will be writing about how I changed my thinking and who I was when it came to money, going from -$7 in my bank account to owning my own home!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Without Health, what is the point in Wealth?

As a personal trainer of 10 years and also a business owner within the health and fitness industry, I know a thing or two about health. I also know that without health, there is no point to having an exorbitant amount of wealth!

Therefore, today’s blog is dedicated to improving one’s life through your health and fitness, which after 10 years in the industry, you could say it is my bread and butter.

Firstly, I have seen a numerous amount of people who have neglected their health over the years, they got busy with work, had kids, and they forgot about themselves and did everything for others.

Which is great, however, also has led to a series of issues they do not even see as issues, such as;

+Becoming overweight, which leads to more health problems down the track (Nothing against being overweight, unless it is detrimental to your health)

+Hormonal changes and therefore heightened emotional fluctuations.

+Increased inflammation due to a neglected diet, which again causes more problems down the track as you get older

+Sleeplessness or insomnia, which again leads to more health issues as the problem persists

+Mobility issues, which leads to dysfunctional movement and muscle contraction, again leading to more problems down the track.

When I say they do not see the above as issues, we have grown to accept that putting on a few kilograms is okay, especially through COVID-19 and being locked down so consistently here in Victoria.

However, it is not the actual increase in bodyweight or few extra kilograms that is the problem, it is the increase in unhealthy habits that have been formed thanks to lock downs that is the main issue!

1. The increase in use of technology, for kids, as well as adults, which incorporates more sitting down and sedentary behaviour.

2. The increase of “convenience” foods, as we lost motivation and became flat due to a decrease in energy, which led to not wanting to cook wholesome meals at home.

3. The ability to actually go to a gym was lost to us through lock downs and as COVID cases persisted, people did not want to go out as much.

4. The ease of which we became entangled in unhealthy habits, which will only lead to more unhealthy habits.

The habit cycle can be a vicious one, whereby you get stuck in it without even knowing, hence the term getting “stuck in a rut.”

I want you to know though, that lockdowns were not your fault, that COVID-19 was not your fault, and that you were set up to fail with the ease of which you could simply click on an app and order any take-out you wished upon, at the time.

What you need to do now is become aware of it, become aware of all the unhealthy habits that you have picked up over the last two to three years.

And once you become aware, you simply need to make a choice…

Do you want to continue along these unhealthy habits and end up like a lot of older people my wife sees most days who are struggling to perform simple every day-to-day tasks?

My wife is an occupational therapist you see, who works with a lot of older people who need help with coming up with strategies to perform simple every day-to-day tasks. And also making their life easier as they move on to the next great beyond in palliative care.

I hear all her stories of all these older people losing the ability to just go to the toilet by themselves, and yes, some of these unfortunate people just have bad genetics and bad luck.

However, a lot of these older people could have potentially avoided all of their health problems by simply leading a slightly healthier life.

Or…

Do you want to choose to be a bit better, just slightly healthier, and potentially lead your kids to a healthier lifestyle as well?

Avoiding all that pain and suffering for yourself and your family as you get older!!

Because I can guarantee you, if you are feeling horrible a lot of the time, if you have no energy, if you feel bloated and gassy, if you feel that you are angry with the world or if you are struggling mentally with anxiety or depression…

You are most likely struggling in one or more of these four core areas of health;

1. Physical Activity

2. Nutrition

3. Stress

4. Sleep

I have some key performance metrics that I give my clients on these four core areas in every introduction session I have, and I have never had anyone rate themselves perfectly in any of these core areas.

Which is fine, because shit happens in life, things happen and we get stressed, we lose sleep, we prioritise things differently.

However, you should always fall back to these four core areas and simply work towards these performance metrics…

Physical Activity

• Work towards getting 7,500 to 10,000 steps everyday

• Train 2-3 times per week or get your heart rate up at the very least for 10-15 minutes, 2-3 x per week.

Nutrition

• Eat healthy, wholesome foods 80% of the time, the other 20% you can have a few treats

• Eat more Protein, whether that means eating more meats, fish, nuts, legumes, poultry etc.

• Eat a heap of vegies EVERYDAY!!

Sleep

• Sleep 7-9 hours EVERY Night

• If unable to, get a 20 minute power nap in the middle of the day

Stress

• Don’t take everything personally, everyone has stuff going on, therefore you need to take every situation with a grain of salt.

• Take in 5 DEEP breaths when you feel overwhelmed

• Most things that happen today, won’t matter in 10 years, so why stress about it?

And Finally, Be GRATEFUL for what you have, this goes a hell of a long way. I myself will take a step back in a stressful situation or if I am feeling overwhelmed, and think, “I have my health, my family are healthy and we have clean water and food to eat, therefore I have everything to be grateful for!”

If you can work towards improving these four core pillars of health and do these easy things everyday, you will be right on track to living a much healthier lifestyle.

It just takes a choice and a decision to do it, that is all.

Will you choose to be healthier for yourself? If not for yourself, for your kids, your partner or even your dog/cat?

I leave you with that to think about and I hope you do choose to be just that little bit healthier today!

Until next time,

Take Back Control

Did You Know that You are an Investor Already?

Most people know that they get paid superannuation, however most people do not go beyond that. They don’t see it as their money, until they get to the age of 40-50 years old, which is a HUGE mistake!

Your superannuation is YOUR Money and it is really important you understand what you are doing with your money. It can be the difference of between an extra $50,000-200,000, or more even depending on your earnings, at retirement. Which I am sure would go a long way to being able to travel the world when you retire, if that is what you want to do.

Your Superannuation is your first investment, which started as soon as you got a job. As Living in Australia and working in Australia means legally your employer must pay your superannuation guarantee.

The minimum superannuation pay for each eligible employee is 10% of their ordinary time earnings (OTE). However, it's scheduled to progressively increase to 12% by 2025. - ATO (1)

Which means 10% of your income will go towards your super every year, so if you earn $100,000 before tax, you will have roughly $10,000 contributed to your superannuation. The best part, all super contributions made up to $27,500 is taxed at a smaller rate than your wages that get paid to your bank account.

Any contributions that are made are taxed at 15%, which is a lot less than the average 32-37% of your income that gets taxed, depending on how much you earn.

You not only save money by having super, but you also can make a lot of money from the returns your fund will get for managing your money.

Of course, you want to make sure that you have the right fund and the government has even provided a great website that will compare your current fund with up to four other funds that may get you better results down the track based on previous performance.

Check out the Your Super Comparison Tool here

The above comparison tool is great, however it does have some short-comings, which are due to the fact that it doesn’t filter funds based on ESG (Environmental Social Governance), therefore you don’t know where your money is going and if its ethical. As well as the fact it only compares based off of the previous 7 years of annual returns and the annual fees.

Which, in hindsight, if you are 20 or 30 years old, you want your money in a fund that has been able to perform well for much more than just seven years.

However, the tool is a great start to seeing whether your fund is performing well or not and can give you some good insight into how other funds are performing.

The main reason as to why you should not just choose the fund that is the best-performing from the Your-Super-Tool comes down to the fact that every person’s circumstances are very different and depending on your age, you may not want the highest performing fund. Generally speaking, the higher the annual returns, the more volatile the returns can be.

If you have only six years left to retirement and you are in a very aggressive fund, that may affect you significantly if the markets were to have a down-turn.

Hence why it is always best to speak to a professional advisor and work with one to set-up your superannuation.

I believe it is especially important for when you are younger as well, when you get to about 21-29 years old, you should be essentially starting your professional/trade career.

Which means your super contributions will be much higher from your employer than it was previously. There are a whole range of things that you need to figure out due to your increased super contributions that will possibly make you a lot more money than the general fund that your super fund will put you in.

Not to mention there is insurance within super as well, whereby that eats away at your retirement savings, but it may be the only way you can afford to get life insurance, TPD (Total Permanent Disability) and Income protection. Therefore, you want to know what insurance is going to suit you the best and how you may need it to change when you have a baby, build a house etc.

But it is all really hard to figure out all by yourself, which is why using an accredited Financial Planner is the way to go!!

There are so many things that can go wrong if you choose the wrong fund, but there are a few tools at least to get you started.

I hope this has helped and that brings us to the end of our beginner investors guide.

If you have found this guide valuable, I would love it if you shared all ten blogs with friends and family. The more the merrier, as I want to see each and every one of you learn to Take Back Control of your Life-Health-Wealth !

Until next time,

Take Back Control

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References:

1. https://www.ato.gov.au/business/super-for-employers/paying-super-contributions/how-much-super-to-pay/