Category: Inflation & Interest
So it has been a while since my last post. I feel bad, but will get over it since no one complained to me. I wanted to give a quick update on my P2P lending from the last post that I made on the topic. I also wanted to answer/address the goals and questions I had previously. So here goes. First, let’s address the questions What rate of return will I receive? Currently the rates are listed as: Wisr: 7.6% to 8,4% (see here). RateSetter: 8.3% (see here). OurMoneyMarket: 8.4% up to around 17% (see: here). How long will my...
Continuing on from my first post about Peer to Peer (P2P) Lending, I wanted to have a look at the three remaining retail P2P lenders. As I am still a retail client, the wholesale funds hold little interest to me at the moment. As a quick recap, the three remaining peer to peer lenders are: Wisr (previously DirectMoney) RateSetter OurMoneyMarket Before assessing the remaining three however, there are some key questions that need to be answered. Some of them can’t be answered, like “will I lose my money”, but I will try and see if some of the information they...
I have wanted to start my foray into Peer to Peer (P2P) Lending for almost a year now, and I have finally had time to get around to it. Just like most people, I am a fan of having a diversified and balanced investment portfolio based on my desired risk vs return objectives… That really sounds like a boring old man’s statement, I didn’t think I was that old yet. Given the current RBA cash rate is only 1.5% I have been looking to other investment options to increase returns. I already have quite a bit invested in a few...
A little while ago Len (from Financial Farmers – go check them out) commented on my post How We Made Our First Million Accidentally. He asked about financial freedom, not having to work, and early retirement. In my reply I talked about maintaining principal, inflation and a bunch of variables. We both had similar goals (although 40 seems a little to soon for me), but had very different capital requirements ($3+ million vs $1.25 million). So I wanted to redo some of my calculations, and was also questioning some of my assumptions. Needless to say, I jumped straight to Excel and put in...
Some Of The Finance Topics I Think About If you just want numbers, jump down to the end of this post for the record return numbers. Otherwise let me jump back and have a look at the many bits and pieces that make up a persons financial picture. I am sure I don’t have them all listed, and am surprised people don’t think about their finances every single day given how broad the topics are. On any given day I can find myself thinking about any or all of the following: House prices Official interest rate Investment loan rates Bank interest...
Many people would say there are more than five steps. Others would say just one or two things could get you on top financially. Both could be argued, but after reading many blogs, living out all of the five to some degree, and doing a lot of thinking, I have come up with my five realistic steps to get on top, stay on top, and win financially. To set the ground work I just want to say that by “on top” and “win” I mean not having to worry about money. I am not talking top 1% or 0.1%, I am talking...
My View Part #1 – Bracket Creep On Tuesday the 3rd of May 2016 the proposed federal budget was handed down. Budgets will often change or tweak a lot of things from education to defence, from welfare to health and from taxation to job creation. Almost every budget has good parts and bad parts for every individual, company and the economy/country as a whole. Being squarely in the individual category, and with this being a personal finance blog, it is the changes that directly impact me, my family, and my friends (along with fellow Australian personal finance bloggers) that I am most interested in. I...
After my last post on ways to waste your money, one of my friends came to me and asked about why I had not included fancy cars on the list. You could argue that a ride in a fancy car could come under activities, or that learning covers off car mechanics, but neither are really a justification for owning a fancy (read: expensive) car. There is a reason for that, I am not a fan of fancy cars. Or more specifically, I am not a fan of the cost implications of fancy cars. What’s Wrong With A Fancy Car? There...
