More Australians are working past the age of 70 than ever before, but many members of Generation Y say they’ll opt out of the workforce early. The Financially Independent, Retire Early (FIRE) movement popularised by American millennials has reached Australia, and plenty of young people are jumping on board. Nearly half of Australians aged between 18 and 34 plan to retire before 50 and 83 per cent say they’ll exit the workforce by the age of 60.

Young people say they want enough money to retire early because they’d rather spend time indulging their own passions than working in a career for life. Many are also disillusioned with the future of healthcare and state-funded pensions, so feel they’d better grow a substantial nest egg to take care of themselves.

Some Baby Boomers might say young Australians are being unrealistic, but FIRE devotees know what it takes to opt out of the workforce early. Twenty-eight per cent of millennials planned to retire with between $2 million and $5 million in the bank while one fifth felt they’d need more than $5 million to fund their retirement.

Members of the FIRE movement stick to strict budgets and do everything they can to cut costs, including walking to work instead of paying for petrol or public transport, living with their parents, and buying clothes at op shops. Many also work on side hustles to supplement their main income. Investments are also popular, with more than half of Australians 18 to 34 investing in ASX-listed companies. Twenty-seven per cent have investment properties, and just as many have invested in cryptocurrency.

“The FIRE movement is currently in vogue, but for many young Australians being financially savvy has been instilled in them for a long time,” Matt Leibowitz, CEO and co-founder of investment platform Stake, told Business Insider.

“It goes way beyond being frugal. It’s about a new breed of independent and clued-up individuals who simply won’t settle for anything less than independence, choice, and autonomy to live by their own terms.”

If you want to exit the workforce early, Chase Edwards can help. Call us on 1300 854 833 to organise your free financial health check. We’ll assess your finances and let you know whether you’re on track for early retirement and how we can help you get there. This is a totally free service offered to you, without any obligations, so what have you got to lose? Call us today to learn more about how we can help you achieve the early retirement you’re dreaming of.

Ghosts and ghouls might send shivers up our spines around Halloween, but something terrifies Australians much more: credit scores! New research from financial comparison site finder.com.au has found one in seven Australians are too scared to check their credit score.

Most fear their score will be so low it would disqualify them from getting a mortgage, a personal loan, or a rental lease. Many worry simply checking their credit score would make it worse. One in 10 said they avoided learning about their credit score because they would be embarrassed if their partners knew their scores were low.

Financial experts urge the nearly two-thirds of Australian adults who don’t know what their credit score is to summon the courage and get the facts.

“Checking your credit score isn’t something which should be feared,” confirmed finder.com.au spokesperson Bessie Hassan speaking to news.com.au. “In fact, you should be more worried if you don’t know what your credit score is.”

She also dispelled a common myth, noting that simply checking your credit score has no negative impact.

“What can however impact your credit score is not checking it and then applying for credit you won’t be approved for because you do not have a good enough score,” she explained.

Several other bad money habits can also dent your credit score. Carrying a lot of debt or having a lot of credit cards, even if they’re not maxed out, harms your credit score. So does making several inquiries about new credit cards in a short period of time.

Knowledge is power, so don’t let fear hold you back from making smarter financial decisions this Halloween season. Even the lowest credit score can be increased. Knowing your credit score tells you whether you need to modify your financial behaviour to improve your credit health. Check your credit score for free using the national credit reporting bodies listed on the government’s Equifax Australia website, then call Chase Edwards on 1300 854 833. Our financial experts can help you put plans in place to reduce your debts and improve other elements of your financial health to increase your credit health.

Do you ever wonder why some people seem to find growing wealth easy while others always seem strapped for cash? Is higher education the key, or perhaps the wisdom that comes with age and experience? According to new research from Temple University in Pennsylvania, the willpower to resist instant gratification is a greater factor in determining financial success.

The willpower to resist instant gratification doesn’t just come in handy when browsing the shops or driving past fast food restaurants. It also helps resist addictive substances, like cigarettes and alcohol, which can deplete savings and limit earning potential. When people struggle with these substances, their confidence can also suffer. Negative self-esteem can hold people back from pursuing further education or higher job opportunities, which puts additional pressure on finances. The lack of cognitive control which inhibits willpower also negatively impacts creative and productive thinking, two activities usually rewarded in the workplace.

“Put simply, if people can vividly imagine themselves in the future with larger rewards, they are more likely to be patient,” the researchers claimed in their report.

The researchers admit that the jury is still out on whether the ability to resist the things we want is an inherent personality trait or a skill that can be learned. However, if we can learn to have willpower, they say these lessons should start early.

“If you want your child to grow up to earn a good salary, consider instilling in them the importance of passing on smaller, immediate rewards in favour of larger ones that they have to wait for,” said William Hampton, the study’s lead author.

If you find it difficult to resist the impulse to spend, we believe it’s never too late to change your habits. Chase Edwards friendly financial experts can work with you, helping you repay your debts and grow your wealth faster than you might think. Call us on 1300 854 833 to learn more about our services.

It’s a familiar feeling. Pay day is looming, and you’re wondering how you’ll make ends meet until your earnings hit your account. You swore you’d tighten your belt this month, but you still can’t figure out where last month’s paycheque went. It doesn’t feel like you’ve done anything out of the ordinary, so what have you been spending your money on? According to new research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), your appetite for convenient meals may be to blame.

With all the media buzz about rising prices, you might think energy bills are eating away your income. However, the ABS study shows Australian households are spending much more on restaurant and takeaway meals than gas and electricity. Our mealtime cravings cost us around $95.05 every week, three times the average national spend on electricity ($35.05). Sydneysiders are indulging more than people in other capital cities, spending roughly $112.80 each week on restaurant and takeaway food.

Our spending on these culinary indulges has also increased with the rise of food delivery services like Menulog, UberEats, and Deliveroo. Aussies who use these services typically use them every week, for a total national spend of $2.6 billion each year.

“Australian households spend around $12,300 a year on food and non-alcoholic drinks,” confirmed Bessie Hassan, a money expert from comparison website finder.com.au. “However, that’s getting easier and easier with more restaurants happy to deliver to your front door.”

Eating out at a favourite restaurant or ordering in can be a welcome luxury after a busy day. However, when you regularly use these food services they can take a serious toll on your finances. Ask yourself, how much are you spending on convenience meals? And do you really want to spend so much on these luxury dishes when you could prepare your own for a fraction of the price?

With restaurants and food delivery services all accepting credit card payments, your taste for convenient meals may leave you with large debts. Those debts can stay with you long after you’ve stopped using the meal services. However, they don’t have to. Chase Edwards debt minimisation experts can help you clear those credit cards sooner than you think, giving you the financial freedom to buy the ingredients you really want for those home-cooked meals. Call us on 1300 854 833 to learn more.

Policy researchers have issued a dire warning that Australian millennials could live in poverty when they retire unless the country’s superannuation system undergoes extensive reform.

The experts say members of Generation Y have low superannuation balances which they aren’t contributing enough to. They also have little chance of owning their own homes, so they’ll have much higher ongoing living expenses than the current generation of retirees.

Currently, roughly one-third of Aussie retirees have a comfortable level of income. Half of Australians over 65 rely on the age pension to cover their living costs. The researchers say considerably more millennials will rely entirely on the age pension, despite policy measures like the super guarantee.

The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) found as recently as 2012, 40 percent of Australians had virtually no superannuation entering retirement. While this is troubling, the CIS said baby boomers were managing in their old age because most owned their homes.

“People who are retired have seen a 61 percent increase in their wealth between 2002 and 2014. For those who are 25 to 34, it’s just 3 percent,” Simon Cowan, the CIS’s research director, told ABC News. “That big difference is overwhelmingly driven by house prices.”

While the majority of Baby Boomers own their home, the Grattan Institute estimates Australian millennials aged between 25 and 34 on low incomes have just a one-in-five chance of entering the real estate market.

With dreams of home ownership fading, Mr. Cowan says the Federal Government must overhaul its superannuation system.

“The system is built around people owning their own home and basically owning their home unencumbered [by debt],” he explained. “If that ceases to be true, then our retirement system needs a rethink.”

Without major changes to the superannuation system, Mr. Cowan fears Millennials will struggle financially, with many falling below the poverty line.

“One thing we do see quite clearly is that people who own their own home have a much better living standard in retirement than those that don’t,” he said. “The people who are really struggling — they’re struggling not so much because of super, but because they have little or no savings, no home, and they’re completely dependent on the pension.”

The situation concerns young people like 26-year-old Sonia Arakkal who despite working in the financial services sector says her super balance is so low she hasn’t checked it in years.

“I worry, not just about my friends, but everyone in my generation,” she told ABC News. “It’s interesting because everyone in our generation is very empathetic and educated, and so we will march for marriage equality, but we won’t march for housing affordability because we don’t know just how dire the system is — whether its superannuation, housing, or even how much tax we pay into the system, compared to how much is spent on services for young people.”

While the Federal Government might overhaul its superannuation system to benefit young Australians, there are no guarantees. That’s why we believe you should take charge now. It’s never too early to start thinking about your retirement. Call Chase Edwards on 1300 854 833 to organise a financial health check. Our money experts will make an honest assessment of your finances and discuss how we can help you improve them now and in the future. This is an entirely free service, and you’re under no obligation to see us again. With nothing to lose and so much to gain, what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and call us today.

Investment properties in Newcastle and the Hunter Region have massive money-making potential, according to the real estate investment experts at HotSpotting.com.au. The site just named the New South Wales area north of Sydney its number one power region in the country.

Some of the area’s best performers, according to HotSpotting.com.au’s latest Price Predictor Index, including Edgeworth, Medowie, Mayfield, Muswellbrook, Rutherford, and Singleton, which were all named in the nation’s top 50 “supercharged suburbs.” However, other suburbs in the region are also attractive due to their close proximity to major cities, strong local economies, and recent infrastructure investment. Most suburbs in Newcastle and the Hunter have seen significant sales increases for houses and units and strong growth over several consecutive quarters.

“The City of Newcastle has had very strong price growth (many suburbs have risen 20 percent or more in the past 12 months),” HotSpotting.com.au’s report notes. “Now the momentum has shifted to Lake Macquarie and locations in the nearby Hunter Region (including Maitland, Cessnock, Singleton, and Muswellbrook).”

Terry Ryder, HotSpotting.com.au’s creator, and property expert believes Sydney’s affordability crisis is driving the property market in Newcastle and the Hunter.

“Booms can only go on for so long until affordability eventually becomes a factor and the buying demand that’s within the market becomes exhausted,” he explained to news.com.au. “Then you have measures from various authorities to take the heat out of the market and these things conspire to bring the up cycle to an end. It can only go on for so long.”

“Regional yields are much better than the cities, so there’s a good prospect for growth,” he added. “The buying price is a lot better, so we call it a win-win for buyers.”

Chase Edwards is proud to be a part of the Newcastle community. While we now have offices throughout New South Wales and Queensland, our story started right here in the Hunter. That gives us a unique insight into the property market in the Newcastle and Hunter Region. Call our Swansea office on 1300 854 833 to learn more about how we can make your dreams of building a property investment portfolio in Newcastle or the Hunter Valley come true.

Mortgages are supposed to be our ticket to home ownership, the great Australian dream. However, for roughly half of all Australians, a mortgage is a key stressor leading to sleepless nights and bitten fingernails.

Western Australians are the hardest hit, with a new survey from online mortgage marketplace HashChing finding 53 percent of mortgage holders in WA feeling stressed about their home loan and its repayments.

Victorians and New South Welshmen were only slightly better off, with half of the mortgage holders surveyed in each of these states saying their mortgages stress them.

Forty-six percent of Queenslanders reported high levels of mortgage stress. South Australians seem the most comfortable with their mortgages, with 45 percent stating their home loans stressed them out. While these results are comparatively better than in other states surveyed, they still don’t suggest the people of SA are living stress-free!

HashChing did not survey people from Tasmania, the Northern Territory, or Australia’s Capital Territory for its report.

HashChing reported that many mortgage holders facing high home loan stress had changed their lifestyles to relieve the financial pressure. Holidays, hobbies, and entertainment were all first to go. Half of all stressed mortgage holders also took the knife to their everyday budgets, making severe cuts to grocery, utility, transport, and food bills to cover their mortgage repayments.

While making lifestyle changes can be an effective way to cover mortgage repayments, missing out on holidays and other luxuries don’t do a lot of personal stress levels. At Chase Edwards, we believe it is possible for mortgage holders to do it all. Our finance experts can teach you smart mortgage reduction strategies to help you reduce your stress and pay off your home loan sooner. Call us on 1300 854 833 to learn more.

Australians downsizing their homes will be able to supercharge their superannuation balances, under a new Australian government scheme from July 1.

Under the new initiative, Australians ages 65 years and over can divert up to $300,000 per person into their superannuation accounts after selling a long-held home. This sum will be exempt from existing superannuation contribution restrictions, including the work test, age test, and the $1.6 million tax-free balance cap.

It was first thought the scheme would only benefit Australian retirees who were already wealthy. However, research shows that couples with low superannuation balances will receive the greatest benefit, due to the way the initiative interacts with the Age Pension.

For example, a couple with $100,000 in their combined superannuation accounts could potentially invest a total of $600,000 of proceeds from the sale of their home into their retirement fund. This would boost their annual income in retirement by $27,759, as nearly half of the proceeds of downsizing wouldn’t factor into the Age Pension asset test.

“The stabilising impact of the Age Pension means that it is also relatively more beneficial to retirees with lower super balances than those with higher balances considering similar levels of home equity available for release,” financial expert Jeff Gebler told Nicholas Grove of Money Management. “However, the circumstances for individuals vary and will depend on factors such as their spending needs, availability of home equity, and housing preferences.”

The government’s new initiative provides a great way for many Australians to boost their superannuation balances. However, downsizing isn’t for everybody. Call Chase Edwards on 1300 854 833 to arrange an appointment to discuss the best ways to boost your savings and prepare for retirement.

Balance transfer deals seem like an enticing way to eliminate credit card debt. However, financial experts warn consumers to read the fine print to ensure they don’t end up paying more.

Many credit card companies offer zero percent honeymoon interest-free periods on balance transfers. Many consumers don’t realise these promotions typically come with fees and charges.

Financial comparison website Mozo.com.au notes the number of balance-transfer deals attracting upfront fees has doubled in the last year. These fees typically range from 1 to 3 percent of the transferred balance, so they can easily amount to hundreds of dollars just to open the new credit card account.

“They charge an upfront cost of the per cent of the balance you transfer so make sure you choose a card without this fee or your first repayment will just be going towards this fee rather than paying off the debt,” cautioned Kirsty Lamont, a spokesperson for Mozo.

Consumers should also consider whether they’re switching to a credit card with an annual fee and how that fee compares to their existing card. The length of the honeymoon period is also important, along with the interest rate once the honeymoon period passes. Credit card holders must be realistic about whether they can really pay down their debts during the honeymoon period, and if they can’t whether they will be worse off. In most cases any balance outstanding after the honeymoon period attracts the more expensive cash advance interest rate, rather than the smaller interest rate applied to new purchases.

Ryan Watson, a financial adviser speaking to Newscorp Australia, also cautioned consumers against adding new charges to their new credit card. The interest-free period typically doesn’t apply to any new purchases.

“When completing a balance transfer you should cut up that new card to ensure you don’t get deeper into debt,’’ he said. “I can’t stress enough, credit should only be used in case of an emergency — not for everyday splurges.”

Australian credit card debt stands at a record high of $52.9 billion. With so many Australians struggling with high debt levels, it’s understandable many look for quick fixes. However, balance transfer deals may not be the answer for many Australians. To learn better ways to reduce your credit card debt, arrange an appointment with Chase Edwards on 1300 854 833. Our debt minimisation experts can suggest smarter strategies to help you clear your debt and enjoy financial freedom.

The number of Australians making extra contributions to their superannuation balances grew slightly to 20.8 percent between January 2017 and January 2018, according to Roy Morgan Research. However, financial experts say more Australians must boost their super balances if they hope to have a comfortable retirement. 

Despite a recent rise of 0.4 percent over the last 12 months, the number of Australians making contributions above the superannuation guarantee has actually fallen since Roy Morgan began its research in 2010.

It’s also notable that Australians who make extra payments to their superannuation account tend to be high-income earners. A Roy Morgan representative said this situation presents “a major problem” for Australians with lower salaries, who will have significantly less in their superannuation balances unless they take proactive measures.

The Australian government concedes the superannuation guarantee must increase from 9.5 percent to 12 percent to adequately fund Australian retirements. However, it won’t reach this increased rate until at least July 2025, so Australians who want to have more in their superannuation accounts when they retire must act now.

Superannuation currently represents just 27.4 percent of the average Australian household’s net wealth. Making additional superannuation contributions is the easiest way to increase retirement savings.

If you’re ready to make additional superannuation contributions, speak to Chase Edwards. Our superannuation experts understand the rules around voluntary contributions and can help you maximize your super-related tax benefits. They can also predict how your finances are currently tracking and suggest strategies to help you improve your wealth and reach your retirement goals. Call us on 1300 854 833 to organise an appointment and start planning for your future.