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Jess and Glen use a case study to demonstrate the advantages of compounding interest and how the returns can change based on variables.

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Glen and Jess discuss the concept of Investing in Property and the points to consider when investing in property to live or to rent.

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Why get insurance when your young, fit and healthy? Jess and Glen explain the benefits of insurance and unpack the 4 main types available.

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Hear how Glen simplifies the differences between a share and a managed fund.

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Jess stresses the importance of women having their superannuation sorted and why.

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Jess and Glen give their tips on how to be more conscious with your spending and assist in achieving your financial goals.

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The Hare breaks down how the Australian Tax System works.

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The Fox discusses the risks and returns related to different types of investments.

Many people in their late 20s or 30s reach out to Fox & Hare with the belief that they will never be able to afford their own home or investment property. After exploring this a little further and catching up with Kellie Landrey, Principle Buyer at Scoutable, property expert and all round top gal, it became apparent that we haven’t been assessing affordability accurately. Kellie shared with us the below table put together by the Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA) looking at the annual average loan size, interest rates, loan repayments and wages. Their research suggests that mortgages are more affordable today than they were in 1990.

In 1990, it would require 48.1% of the average annual wage to pay off the average home loan of $66,300 due to the high variable interest rate of 17%. While the average home loan size has grown substantially to $389,000 in 2018, the standard variable rate is just 5.1% (or less) resulting in repayments of 40.9% of the average annual wage.

Let’s think about what that actually means… While property prices are still going up in some areas these numbers tell us that the struggle to get into the property market has more to do with people scraping together an initial deposit rather the buyer’s ability to service the loan.

Your dream of property ownership can become a reality but like some people need personal trainers, others need wealth coaches. If you feel like you’re saving but never going to get the property of your dreams, keen to learn about government incentives for first home buyers or want to ensure the money you work hard for is working hard for you, we’d love to hear from you.

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How often do you greet a friend, colleague or acquaintance with ‘how are you?’ and the response is, ‘ohh so… busy!’ People clearly have different views on what busy is. Someone working 9 to 5 and only gets 45minutes for their lunch instead of their allocated 1hour may class themselves as busy. On the same token, someone working 75 hours a week may also be tagged as ‘busy’. My challenge for the new year, rather than responding with ‘ohh geez I’m so.. busy’ is to respond with either I’m being ‘productive’ or ‘unproductive’. In my view, this means so much more….

Two things I’m always conscious of when avoiding a ‘busy’ day are; Firstly, prioritise tasks which get you closer to meeting your goals. Any other tasks that don’t help you to do so are just clutter. Secondly, jumping from task to task without clear direction or goals is just “busy work” and is likely not going to result in a productive day. We’re sh*t at multi-tasking, focusing on one task at a time makes you more productive by allowing you to be fully immersed in the task at hand. If your mind starts to wander to another task, simply write it down and come back to it later.

Some food for thought, the average worker spends 30 hours a week checking email. For most workers, simply checking to see whether they’ve got a new email consumes as much time as they spend doing productive work. Does this sound like you? If so, one simple trick may be to turn off your email (if not all) the notifications on your phone, you’ll be amazed how much more productive you’ll become just by not constantly glancing over at one of the biggest time wasters of all, your phone!

Something else that I think is imperative to a productive workday is the incorporation of physical activity, for me, this is blocking out 1.5hours in my diary every day to go to the gym. Everyone’s different, this could be a lunchtime boot camp with colleagues, afternoon yoga or a morning jog, essentially anything that gets you moving. This time is my time and no one else’s. It allows me to have a productive morning, followed by some ‘me time’ then allowing me to go back to the office for a productive second half of my day without the need for quick fix stimulants, like a double shot cappuccino or brownie from Bourke St Bakery.

This year, let’s avoid ‘busy’ and simply be ‘productive’.

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After over a decade inside some of Australia’s largest companies (including CommBank, Macquarie Bank and Zurich Financial Services) I recently jumped into self-employment which prompted some nostalgic reflections on my biggest learnings along the way. If I could write this to my fresh faced, straight out of school, 18 year old self this is what I would want her to know…

1. Do things that scare the sh*t out of you

If I think about the opportunities that gave me the greatest boost in my career they were not the ones that were easy or simple… they were the ones that completely took me well and truly outside of my comfort zone. The ones that give you butterflies and cold sweats and have you wishing for an emotional support animal. I remember when I was about 25 I was asked to MC the first day of the largest Financial Adviser conference in Australia, 800 delegates! I was truly terrified, there was a little voice inside that tried to convince me there was no way I would be able to do it. But then, I decided to ignore that voice, I found my big girl pants, spent hours in front of the mirror practicing and the next thing you know I was getting ready for sound check.  This was a pivotal moment for me in my career. Not only was it a huge success, I built a strong brand for myself (more on that later) and led me to a role that saw me presenting to Financial advisers at conferences in Australia and all over the world. How often are you pushing yourself further than you feel comfortable with? When was the last time you did something that really scared you? If the answer is no idea, its time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. You got this!

‘Great things never came from comfort zones’

2. Say Yes

If you are presented with an opportunity, it might be a new role, new project, new community initiative – say yes! Often I find, particularly women, don’t take the next role or project unless they feel they satisfy 100% of the criteria. Saying yes will mean you learn faster, build influential networks and further opportunities.

When I was 18 working for CBA and studying at Uni there was an email sent around  looking for someone to help out with keeping on top of birthdays and team events. Bored answering calls all day (despite my colleagues warning me it would be a tremendous amount of work with no additional pay) I said ‘yes’. Flash forward 6 months and I had met every Executive on my floor, spent time working with them on their team events, making sure they celebrated team milestones and organised our first floor wide ‘International food day’ (did I mention I love food?). The culture of these teams had changed dramatically during this period, productivity had increased and absenteeism reduced. By all measurements, my initial ‘fluffy’ project had remarkable knock-on effects and management took notice. By putting my hand up and going outside my job description I was ‘lucky’ enough to meet a man who offered me my next role.

3. Never burn bridges

It’s fair to say you aren’t going to like every single person you work with. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and sometimes in business this can create friction. Some people think it’s a wonderful idea to let them know how you felt as you ride off into the sunset to your next opportunity… DON’T! Never, ever, ever do this… I have watched so many people ruin future opportunities by thinking this is a good idea. The world is small and you just never know who you will be working with or have mutual connections with. Write it on paper and burn it if you have to, its cathartic… I hear.

4. Lean in and out

I read Sheryl Sandberg’s ‘Lean In’ in one sitting on a flight home from a holiday overseas. I loved it, it appealed so much to me. There is so much to be said for leaning in but there is also a lot to be said for ‘leaning out’. If something doesn’t feel right, if you are not in an organisation that you feel passionately connected to or if you have a leadership team that doesn’t support your progression… get out.  In today’s corporate world some leaders literally expect you to be at their beck and call 24/7. I completely didn’t listen to my body when I was under the pump and it led to total and utter burnout. Luckily, I had an amazing boss who supported me to get better, not all bosses are like that. Listen to your body and make sure you are doing those basic things it takes to survive – sleep, eat well and move (I still have to remind myself of this one!).

5. You are a brand

Finally, you are a brand. Your personal brand should be treated like an ongoing, never ending, no deadline, project. How people perceive you has a huge impact on your career progression opportunities. I have seen some amazingly bad things happen to people when they don’t actually consider their brand. Here are some of my top tips (based on years of on-watching): don’t get white girl wasted at ANY work events, ever! Say good morning to people in your company you don’t know, its amazing how many people will be genuinely surprised and then strike up a relationship.  Fashion passes, style remains – always dress for the job you want to have. Lastly, make connections outside your company – go to other industry events to build your network. My network is an asset that I regularly call on for guidance, support and insights!

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It seems like a no brainer, right? You are buying a home, so you’ll pay off your credit cards to reduce your debt, but keep them active so you can buy some furniture or deal with emergencies even when you have a mortgage to pay. Wrong.

It’s obvious that a lender will consider your credit card debts and the monthly repayments on those when you apply for a mortgage. But what many people do not realise is that credit cards that don’t have any balance owing can also impact a lender’s assessment of what you can afford to borrow.

If you have a high credit limit, you also have a high debt risk in the eyes of your lender. As the logic goes, there is no stopping you from racking up debt on your credit card the day after your loan is approved. Say, on lovely furniture to fill that new house.

“We have to take account of three per cent of the total credit card limit, regardless of what the applicant owes,” says the finance broker.

“If they had a $10,000 limit but they only owe $1000, we still have to assess $300 a month and that comes directly out of their liability. It does make quite a difference” , says the broker.

From this, it can be assumed that if you haven’t put a cent on your credit card for the past five years, a high credit limit will negatively affect your serviceability; $300 per month off a mortgage repayment means quite a bit over the life of a loan. In fact, being able to repay an extra $300 each month on a 30-year $500,000 loan at 5.5 per cent interest will mean paying it off 5 years faster, and saving approximately $100,000 on the total cost of the loan. Alternatively, it may mean that you are able to borrow an extra $50,000.

The best thing you can do is lower your credit limit or cancel your credit account..

“You need to pay out your credit cards and avoid having any other debt,” says the broker. “You need to be able to use your full amount of income.”

For those who have to pay off their credit account before dreaming of cancelling their liability, it is, of course, imperative to make those payments on time to avoid negatively impacting your credit history.

Get in touch today and see where your finances stand.