Press

Fox & Hare’s breastfeeding policy made it to Asia:

• Read Fox & Hare co founder, Glen Hare’s Op Ed on the important of a robust and fair breastfeeding policy.
• Founded in 2011 Green Queen is an award-winning sustainability & impact media platform advocating for social & environmental change in Asia.
• Link here

About Fox & Hare: Founded in 2017 by two former Macquarie execs, Fox & Hare aims to empower and educate Australians in the wealth accumulation phase of their life journey. Through the provision of a safe, inclusive and accepting environment, they’ve built a diverse and devoted following of 30/40 somethings, from many backgrounds, abilities and genders. The organisation and its co-founders have  featured in the AFR, IFA and Sydney Morning Herald, been included in Financial Standard’s Power 50 and voted IFA’s Thought Leader of the Year.

In a nutshell:

• 2022 was the year of “cost of living, almost everything seemed to get more expensive!
• The Fox & Hare members and team came up with many creative ways to offset the rising cost of living.
• From menstrual cups to mutts, these are the Fox & Hare teams five favourite life hacks guaranteed to save you money in 2023.

2022 was bloody expensive.

Food, fuel, travel, you name it and the cost is likely up from 2021. Unsurprisingly, though, Fox & Hare’s money minded team and members came up with some creative ways to offset the increase in cost of living. From meat free Mondays to menstrual cups, here are our advice team’s favourite, creative ways to make bank in 2023: 

1.  Go vego for a few nights per week:

   More money and less disease is a winning combination – one that I’ve (gladly) seen increasing in popularity over the last twelve months! Whether you’re partial to steak, chicken, pork or kangaroo – meat is expensive and too much is bad for you. There is good news, though, and when you cut back – like a huge number of Fox & Hare members have over the last year – you’re able to buy better cuts, contribute to the end of battery farming and live a longer, healthier life.

    

   

   Gone are the days of bland, boring vegan & vegetarian food. We started our meat free journey with this super simple, but delicious, braised eggs banger from chef Yotam Ottolenghi.

    

   According to a Canstar Blue survey of 6,000 Aussie shoppers, the average spend on supermarket meat and seafood products, per shop, across Australia is $36 which, assuming respondents shop once per week, equates to roughly $1872 per year.

   Cut that number in half and you’ve bought yourself a return flight to Tokyo, significantly decreased your risk of stomach/bowel cancer and, provided you buy ethical, made a sizeable contribution to a world with less suffering. 

   – Simon, F&H Financial Adviser and bed & breakfast Host.

    

2. Use a menstrual cup:

   It’s estimated the average Australian woman spends $234 per year on her period. Couple that with a persistent wage gap and multitude of other unofficial “taxes” applied primarily to women (hair & makeup, anti-ageing, nails, etc) and we’ve some serious financial inequities to unpick.  

   One of the coolest ways I’ve seen my members cut back on their spending in 2022, and I myself have been doing for over 15 years, is making the switch to a menstrual cup. This is a $30-50 spend every 2-5 years that will pay massive dividends to your bank account, overall health and even the environment.

   The cups are designed for long term use, so you can quite literally save thousands of dollars with one purchase, minimising your period’s impact on your bank balance and redirecting hundreds of pads and tampons from landfill.

   Most important, though, unlike tampons, menstrual cups don’t absorb your vaginal fluid, leaving your PH levels and bacterial balance intact – minimising the risk of toxic shock syndrome, infections and other nasties! Win, win, win.

   – Trish, F&H Financial Adviser & Mum

    

3.   Apply for scholarships:

   I am a recent graduate and, as a result, simultaneously staring down the barrel of a long period of HELP repayments while considering whether post-graduate studies are an option for me. One of the most interesting cash saving schemes I came across in 2022 was applying for scholarships!  

   One Fox & Hare member spent five hours on a successful scholarship application and ended up being awarded $3,400! That’s like getting paid $680 per hour – to write about her passion. I’d always considered scholarships as reserved for a small few, but the reality couldn’t be more different.

   There are more than 3,000 up for grabs in Australia and they are available across both higher education and vocational sectors. Even better, they’re not limited to tuition! And can cover other expenses such as living and accommodation costs.

   If you’re considering levelling up in 2023, I would definitely recommend looking into a scholarship!

   – Sam, F&H Associate Adviser & recent graduate

4. Choose a Mixed Breed/Bitza:

   Choosing a cross/mixed-breed dog can simultaneously reduce your veterinary costs while improving the wellbeing of all pets in general.  

   2022 marked the first year that I would welcome a dog into my life. Larry is a pure-bred Greyhound, adopted from the local dog’s home and a very good boy. I had never questioned the (assumed) knowledge that pure bred = more expensive = higher “quality”.

   So, you can imagine my surprise when I found out it would be more expensive to insure a pure breed than a Bitza (bits of everything) and would likely cost significantly more in vet and other bills over Larry’s lifetime!  

   The quest for “pure” bloodlines in pedigree / purebred dogs leads to inbreeding which, in turn, leads to the proliferation of painful and life-threatening disabilities over the animal’s lifetime. Selective breeding guaranteed that Larry would look and act a certain way, but also entrenched an increased risk of debilitating disease, like Osteosarcoma, inflammatory bowel disease and Glomerulonephropathy that will seriously affect his quality of life – and, less importantly, my bank balance!

   Even more surprising than the realisation that pure bred dogs are significantly more likely to experience health issues, was the realisation that choosing a mixed breed “mutt” would result in a significantly lower risk of congenital health issues, better long-term health outcomes and savings on vet bills / insurance. 

   I still love Larry and I still love Greyhounds, but if their situation wasn’t so dire, with so many needing to be rescued (17,000 are killed in Australia every year) – I’d be sure to choose a pet with a higher likelihood of good health.

   – Glen, F&H Co-founder, Financial Adviser & newly minted Dog Dad

    

   

   I love my pure breed, but if the insurance companies are to be believed, choosing a mixed breed would likely improve the quality of life for my pet AND reduce associated vet bills

    

5. Ride a bike where you can:

   I was so surprised to find out the average Aussie family spends more than $18,000 per year getting from A to B in their car. That’s a huge amount of money for any pay bracket and absolutely must be minimised – at every possible opportunity. 

   Happily, I’ve noticed a huge jump in the number of Fox & Hare members cutting costs by switching the car for a bike where possible. It’s not a perfect solution, but one of the most accessible for a decent number of Australians. Transportation costs are rising faster than inflation, spurred on by spiraling fuel prices, higher personal loan repayments and the climbing cost of insurance.

   Even if you’re not able to give up the car full time, which most of us are not, you can still save a huge amount by switching to a bike where possible.   

   The average household paid $100.39 per week for fuel in 2022, that’s $5,220 over the course of the year! If you can switch 75%, 50% or even 25% of those journeys for a bike ride, you’d be pocketing an absolutely massive $3915, $2610 or $1305 – and that’s before we get started on the health benefits! 

   – Courtenay, F&H Advice Operations Manager

What next?

If you’re worried about your current financial position and ready to take steps toward financial security, reach out to Fox & Hare for a free coffee and catch up.

We have helped hundreds of people, just like you, unlock their potential. 

We can assess your current financial world – and clarify what it is exactly that you can achieve.

Do you want to be bad debt free? We can tell you exactly how long that will take. Do you want to own a home? We can tell you how long that’ll take too.

If you like what you hear, you can tee up a second, commitment free, “Goals and Values Session” and begin to unearth what’s been holding you back and why.

We’re close to fully booked for the next two months and only take on 10 new members every month, so if you’re into it.

Book now!

About Fox & Hare: Founded in 2017 by two former Macquarie execs, Fox & Hare aims to empower and educate Australians in the wealth accumulation phase of their life journey. Through the provision of a safe, inclusive and accepting environment, they’ve built a diverse and devoted following of 30/40 somethings, from many backgrounds, abilities and genders. The organisation and its co-founders have  featured in the AFR, IFA and Sydney Morning Herald, been included in Financial Standard’s Power 50 and voted IFA’s Thought Leader of the Year.

Associate Advisers! ?? are hiring.

We are on the lookout for 2 Associates to join the Fox & Hare family.

We are a tight knit team of 13, work remotely (with an option to use our Sydney office) and catch up once per month for a boogie and laugh.

If you want to launch your career with one of Australia’s most recognised and respected advisories, check out the job description here.

————————-

To apply, please forward your resume and cover letter to Courtenay Walker at Courtenay@foxandhare.com.au

REALLY want the role? Reach out to a Fox & Hare employee on LinkedIn – they know our company and culture inside out. Who knows what you could find out!

FOX & HARE FINANCIAL ADVICE CELEBRATES MAJOR STEP IN “CLEANING UP” AUSTRALIA’S BELEAGUERED ADVICE INDUSTRY

Industry leading firm cements its place as one of Australia’s most progressive advisories, passing rigorous social, environmental and good governance B-Corp certification process. 

22/06/22 SYDNEY, NSW: Today, Fox & Hare, one of Australia’s most recognised and celebrated boutique advisories celebrates passing the gruelling assessment and certification process to become a fully certified B-Corporation. By meeting the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability, Fox & Hare intends joins other business leaders in a global movement of people using business as a force for good – working toward a global economy that benefits all people, communities and the planet.

Fox & Hare Co-Founder, Glen Hare says “we recognise the damage that years of shady behaviour, exclusion and questionable ethics have caused to our industry and believe that this is a significant step toward rectifying that damage. A Recent Roy Morgan study revealed a meagre 17% of Australians rate Financial Planners ‘very high’ or ‘high’ for ethics and honesty – and we’re doing everything in our power to change that.”

B-Corp certification calls for the highest verified standards in social, environmental and good governance. Fox & Hare’s successful accreditation was underpinned by the implementation and maintenance of policies including, but not limited to: 

• Gender representation and equity at all levels of business: Less than 23% of Australian advisers identify as women, an already depressing number that falls precipitously when adjusted to include entrepreneurs and business owners. Fox & Hare smashes industry glass ceilings at every level, it is female co-founded, boasts a 50/50 gender split amongst team members, and a whopping 49% of members who identify as female.

• Meaningful inclusion for the rainbow community: It’s estimated that less than 5% of Australia’s total population identify as members of the rainbow community – yet more than 16% of the Fox & Hare membership base do so. Welcome news for a cohort reporting significantly higher levels of financial hardship and stress than their heterosexual and/or cis-gendered counterparts.

• Environmental and social stewardship: Recognising the impact human activity has on the climate and environment, Fox & Hare maintains 100% carbon neutrality – offsetting everything from staff commutes to utilities. Further, Fox & Hare uphold specific reduction targets relative to previous performance, are currently in the process of sponsoring an Australian environmentally focused NFP and have a stated commitment to reach 50% of all funds under management invested ethically by 2023.

Fox & Hare are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with other notable B-Corporations Patagonia, Koala, Aesop and Bank Australia.

About Fox & Hare: Founded in 2017 by two former Macquarie execs, Fox & Hare aims to empower and educate Australians in the wealth accumulation phase of their life journey. Through the provision of a safe, inclusive and accepting environment, they’ve built a diverse and devoted following of 30/40 somethings, from many backgrounds, abilities and genders. The organisation and its co-founders have  featured in the AFR, IFA and Sydney Morning Herald, been included in Financial Standard’s Power 50 and voted IFA’s Thought Leader of the Year.

Glen Hare

0434 418 478

What do you get when you combine a ridiculously credentialed financial planner, with first hand experience of financial challenge, hardship and motherhood?

The newest addition to the Fox & Hare family, Trish Gregory.

“I decided to become a Financial Adviser after my partner was medically discharged from the RAAF in 2016” says Trish

“Up until that point I’d been the stay-at-home parent with two of our eventual three children, and absolutely loved the opportunity to put into practice what I’d been learning organically for years”

After successfully landing the pivot of the century, from stay at home mum to launching a career in advice in Melbourne then Canberra, she found the time to launch a monthly mother’s financial forum – facilitating conversations about investment properties, share portfolios and financial goals, in a safe, friendly environment (with no advice given, of course!).

Obviously not one to settle, Trish tells us she “didn’t want to complete the minimum required level of education” and followed up her Graduate Diploma of Financial Planning with an almost complete Master of Financial Planning – both earned with a distinction grade average, while raising a family of three.

We believe that life changing financial advice comes as a result of first-hand experience, hardship and the ability to truly understand the transformative effect that properly (or poorly) managed finances can have on our lives. Trish brings all three to the Fox & Hare experience in spades.

“I watched the effects of a messy divorce on my mother’s financial situation and knew that I wanted to be financially independent. I bought my first home long before I met my partner, signed up for a ‘basics of investing’ course at my local Tafe and started from there”

“When my journey began I was working with a salary around 40k, I wasn’t earning the big bucks but I was a homeowner, I was an investor and I was putting money into my offset account”

“Life can throw some really shitty situations your way, things can get extraordinarily stressful – even WITH savings and those earning a higher income are not immune, there are so many costs imposed on them and that’s before we even consider the self-imposed ones”

“I want all the young people out there, the ones who look like me and the rest of the Fox & Hare team to know that they have lots of time, lots of opportunity and lots of potential – I’m here to help you with all of these competing priorities , all the complex goals that are there but you have no idea where to start”

We are so grateful that Trish chose to join us at Fox & Hare and look forward to the many great things to come!

“Don’t wait until you’re not busy to pilot new technology. You will always be busy, you just need to prioritise appropriately in terms of what you feel will be the best outcome for your clients.”

Glen recently had a chat with Head of Wealth at myprosperity, Karolina Kuszyk, on the importance of advisers embracing new technology as a way to do business.

As majority of Fox and Hare members are millennials, there is an expectation to provide an excellent digital experience.

You can read the conversation HERE.

Don’t trade off looking wealthy for being wealthy.

More and more young professionals are becoming interested in the benefits of investing. However, with so many options, the battle between growth vs income investing, and the infamous speculative advice from friends(Gamestop anyone?), it can be confusing with where to start.

Jessica features in the latest Livewire Income Series providing her insights on starting the investment journey, including the following common mistakes:

• Thinking you can time the market – not even investment professionals can do that!
• Not being diversified, having all your eggs in one basket is high risk
• Not sticking to the plan! Make investing regularly an automatic debit from your bank account, just like other bills you pay. Dollar-cost averaging is also a good way to ensure you aren’t buying on the most expensive day of the year
• Your friend Alex who has never worked or studied finance probably doesn’t know more than the experts, do your research and think critically before you jump on the bandwagon of random stock recommendations.

Read the entire article here.

Glen Hare joins with Andrew Geoghegan from ausbiz to talk about the amazing organisation: Wear it Purple.

Wear it  Purple was founded in 2010 by teenagers in Sydney recognising the global need to show the rainbow youth that there are people who support and accept them.

In 2021, the theme for Wear it Purple Day is – Starting the Conversation, with a focus on acknowledging the progress that has been made for the LGBTQI+ community, and also keeping the conversation alive on the challenges still faced by this community.

Glen shares astounding statistics around the rainbow youth:

• 75% of LGBTQI+ kids are bullied
• 15.5% of LGBTQI+ youth aged 16 and above had suicidal thoughts in the past 2 weeks

” If the rainbow youth are not being supported by their loved ones for who they are, this can obviously create some challenges in the household” – Glen Hare

Australians enjoy the highest median wealth per adult in the entire world! 

The global median wealth median is $5,820 per adult, in comparison to Australian’s impressive median of $264,903!

Our collective wealth is incredibly jaw dropping in comparison to the global median, however it means fifty percent of Australians are wealthier than the Australian median and fifty percent are not.

Glen takes a deep dive into the two key drivers for Australian’s wealth, providing insight on the positives and negatives for each.

Can you guess what the two key drivers are?

Read Part One on The Urban Village website.

In the latest episode of our Ask the Experts series, Glen chats with Cris Parker, Head of the Ethics Alliance, to reveal how our ethics shape our decision-making in business, finance and life.  

Do you know how Crypto mining works and the impact it has on the environment? Looking at Bitcoin alone, its energy usage has resulted in the currency having the same annual carbon footprint as Argentina! Does profit over the planet align to your core values and what is your responsibility as a consumer? 

In this Ask The Experts session, we were thrilled to be joined by ethics expert, Cris Parker. Cris heads up The Ethics Alliance, a community of organisations that work to collaboratively to shape the future of business ethics.   

She is also a director of The Banking & Finance Oath, a pledge of integrity and commitment that aims to increase consideration of stakeholders and decision-making accountability by financial service professionals. 

In this conversation, Glen and Cris covered a bunch of topics including: 

• Why ethics impact our decision making 
• How our choices connect to both our personal and financial lives 
• Top tips and tools to explore your personal values and challenge your ethics 
• How trends such as investing in Crypto challenge profit vs planet  + more! 

How do our values impact our decision-making? 

We chat a lot about values with our members at Fox & Hare because we’re a big believer in making decisions in all aspects of life that align with what’s important to us. This ensures we’re putting our time, money and attention towards things that truly fulfil us.   

Cris points out that many of us don’t have that clear picture of what’s really important to us as a starting point.  

“If you want to determine your values, start by thinking of those times where you felt happy, fulfilled and satisfied. Then ask yourself: what made you feel that way? That is a good way to determine what you value, “ tells Cris.  

What are the ethical considerations when investing in Cryptocurrency? 

There’s been  plenty of discussions about Cryptocurrency in the past few years as a new investment opportunity but when it comes to ethics, how can we tell if Crypto aligns with our values? 

“It’s worth considering the amount of energy that it takes to mine things like Bitcoin. Back in 2011 you could just use a laptop to mine Bitcoin. Now, you need rooms of computers to do that,” reveals Cris.  

To put that in practical terms: Bitcoin uses the same amount of energy as the entire country of Poland every single day. If you’re passionate about sustainability and the future of our planet, it’s worth considering if this high-energy usage really aligns with your values before investing in it. 

Are more of us making decisions with ethics in mind? 

For those of us living in the inner city, it’s hard to walk down the street or head to the movies without seeing an ad about “ethical” investing or businesses but how widespread is the take-up of ethical decision making?  

Cris reveals that bigger social issues (such as climate change and the Black Lives Matter movement) are giving everyday people a newfound awareness of ethics and how it impacts our day-to-day lives.  

“Historically, ethics has been used as a mechanism to call out bad behaviour. But that’s changing,” tells Cris.  

Now, more of us are feeling comfortable talking about ethics. The more ‘normal’ ethics becomes, the more socially acceptable it is to question our biases and blind spots, and the greater our collective expectation is for others to do the same (including businesses). 

What business sectors do you feel are leading the way in ethical decision-making? 

As Cris explains, many businesses are making their commitment to social and ethical decision-making  visible to consumers. “When you’re investing now, a lot of organisations are very transparent about their commitment to social and ethical responsibility,” tells Cris. 

However, she caveats that by saying that there’s no set standards to measure businesses’ ethical requirements up against, leaving plenty of room for variety. 

“I do think financial services more broadly are making a strong effort because they want to be seen as living up to their values and commitment to ethics,” tells Cris.  

Cris points out that it’s important to do our own research and investigate whether businesses are truly acting ethically. Unfortunately, ‘greenwashing’ can fool us into thinking that businesses are doing good, while still conducting themselves in ways that aren’t socially or environmentally responsible.  

Our top takeaway points 

1.  Every choice we make should be a reflection of our values: from what organisation we work for to where we invest our Super, each decision we make needs to be aligned with our ethics and what’s important to us. 
2. When investing, check what an organisation’s values are and whether they’re living up to them: as consumers, we have the right to question and hold companies accountable to their said values and mission statements (and don’t be afraid to take your money elsewhere if you’re not happy with their response).
3. Remember that your purchasing power can be a force for good: all of us have the ability to use our money to make the world a better place. Whether that’s switching to a renewable energy provider, finding a truly ethical super fund or even swapping to recycled toilet paper, your dollar can make a difference.  

Want to learn how you can invest in-line with your ethics? Click here to book in for a quick chat. ? 

In the latest episode of our Ask the Experts series, Jess chats with Rebecca Pope (Head of Intermediary) and Matthew Lumsden (Head of Distribution) from Vanguard Australia to unpack The New Virtual Frontier for Life and Work – How Technology Will Enable Us to Have Better Lives.

There’s no denying that 2020 was an incredibly challenging year for many of us. While we don’t want to discredit just how difficult the past 12 months have been (and continue to be for many of us), we wanted to focus this conversation on the opportunities that the ‘new normal’ presents for our personal and working lives. 

That’s why we’re thrilled to be joined by Rebecca and Matthew from Vanguard Australia to explore how to make the new digital world work for us.

In this conversation, Jess, Rebecca and Matthew covered a bunch of topics including: 

• How has the rise of the Zoom economy impacted our lives both personally and professionally?
• Now that flexibility is the norm, how can we leverage this to achieve or re-establish our goals?
• How to make the digital world work for YOU not the other way round
• How the COVID pandemic changed Matthew and Rebecca’s work and personal lives for the better
• Common reactions to the volatility of the market and how to avoid making impulse decision

Is it time for a tree or sea change?

The trends towards permanent WFH orders is something we’ve seen from big business, including Twitter, Facebook, Spotify and Salesforce. 

With many employers embracing remote working during (and after) the pandemic, living in close proximity to the CBD isn’t as essential as it once was. If you’ve been dreaming of a coastal or mountain getaway, the virtual frontier has now made that more of a reality (much sooner than many of us anticipated). For Matthew, the shift to remote working has opened exciting new opportunities for him and his team. “The geographic boundaries and points of friction created by distance have gone, and we’re all on the same page now. We’re using tech to its best advantage for ourselves as a team and also for our clients,” tells Matthew. Plus, greater flexibility in where we work has enabled Matthew and his family to make the move from Melbourne to Port Macquarie, a transition that has allowed him to live closer to his family. 

If you have the flexibility to fully embrace remote working, now could be an opportunity to swap high inner-city rent or mortgage repayments for a more affordable home in regional Australia. 

How the virtual frontier can help you achieve your goals faster

Let’s look at how you can supercharge your savings and propel your goals forward by embracing the virtual frontier. 

One of the goals that is most common among our members is to buy a property followed closely by generating a passive income. 

Say you were paying a $1 million mortgage in the city. You’d be paying approximately $4,300 per month in mortgage repayments. But if you picked yourself up and moved to a more affordable regional area, you might be able to swap this for a $600,000 mortgage. Instead, you’d only be paying $2,600 per month in repayments. And then, you could take the difference between those mortgage repayments ($1,700 per month) and start an investment portfolio. If you invested for example $1.7k each month at a return of 6% over 20 years, you’d have a portfolio valued at $822,000. And if you wanted to live off the returns, that’s roughly at $50k a year in passive income. 

The concept of Ikigai & how to use this in your life 

A big part of making these new changes work for us comes back to understanding our purpose. Matthew explains this using the Japanese concept of Ikigai (which translates to reason for being). 

“It asks you four questions: what do you love, what does that world need, how can you be paid and what are you good at. It forces you to sit down and think carefully about those four quadrants of your life and perhaps identify which areas aren’t getting the attention it deserves from you,” Matthew tells.

When deciding your next move in work or life, using the principles of Ikigai can help steer you in the right direction and clarify what’s really important to you. 

Investment fundamentals 

As for what’s ahead for the market in 2021, both Rebecca and Matthew believe it’s important to stay the course and not react to market volatility. 

“Investing is a long-term game,” explains Matthew. “We’re not big believers in speculation. I think what’s most important is having a plan and understanding your ‘why’. Without a plan, how can you know why you’re investing in the first place?”

And this is exactly the philosophy we share with our Fox & Hare members, too. Rather than selling at the bottom of the market, the best investors will understand that experiencing periods of volatility is a normal (and necessary) part of the process. And as we’ve already seen, markets will continue to recover – it’s all about being patient and staying the course.

Our top takeaway points

While there were stacks of expert insights shared during this session, here are our biggest takeaways:

1. Sit down and figure out your why: no matter what’s happening in the market, make sure you understand what’s important to you before making your next move or decision. 
2. Get clear on your long-term plans: this means having a clear big picture vision for what goals you’re working towards to make sure every step you take is aligned to what you value most. 
3. Be ready to adapt to new opportunities: while remote working has presented plenty of challenges, there are big benefits to be gained from tech that we can all use to add more flexibility and balance to our lives. 

Want to learn more about becoming a Fox & Hare member? Click here to book in for a quick chat. ?

Jess recently sat down with the team from Next Gen Planner to discuss the lesson she’s learned from launching Fox & Hare Financial Advice.

It’s no secret that launching a business is a big undertaking. And we know that first hand!

As the Co-Founder of Fox & Hare, Jess Brady has a wealth of experience about what it takes to launch a financial advice business and what lessons she has learned along the way.

Listen to this episode now on the Next Gen Planners’ website HERE.

Glen recently sat down with the team from MetLife to chat about his most frequently asked questions about insurance inside super. 

It’s a topic many of our members are curious about: what is insurance inside super, and what level of cover do I need?

The truth is that not all super funds offer the same level of cover when it comes to insurance inside super.

While some claims for insurance inside super are straightforward, others are more complex and require a lot more work in the hopes of getting your claim approved.

Plus, there are important differences between the default level of cover you receive with your super fund and the type of insurance you take out within super as a retail policy.

To answer all your burning questions about insurance inside super, Glen chatted to MetLife to share his wisdom. Read more here. 

With fertility rates falling in Australia, Glen chats to The New Daily about the costs of having a child.

Many believe that Australia is currently in the midst of a “baby bust”, with the spiraling cost of raising a child making it unlikely our fertility rates will boom anytime soon.

Even before the pandemic, our national fertility rate had dropped to the record low rate of 1.66 babies for every woman. Now, many experts believe that the added financial pressures of COVID-19 and a once-in-a-generation recession have made the costs of having a child even harder to stomach.

So, Glen sat down with the team from The New Daily to share his insights into one of the biggest concerns facing couples in 2021.

Glen reveals that many couples are concerned about the idea of having to rely on a single income while having a child, particularly at a time when job security is at an all-time low.

Read Glen’s full insights on The New Daily’s website. 

To celebrate the theme #ChooseToChallenge for IWD 2021, Jess Brady sat down with Suzanne Grayson to chat about all things women and leadership. 

Earlier this month, our very own Jess Brady joined our superstar videographer and photographer Suzanne Grayson to discuss women in leadership on her new podcast series, #ChooseToChallenge.

Suzanne brought together nine brilliant and inspiring women that represent a range of different stereotypes that women face. Alongside her photo series (which you can check out on her Instagram page), she also recorded a deep-dive conversation with each guest.

In Episode 7, Suzanne was joined by Jess to discuss the barriers to female leadership and why the representation of women in leadership is so important.

Tune into this 30-minute podcast to hear Jess and Suzanne explore:

• The assumptions made about women in leadership positions
• The barriers women face in getting into leadership roles
• The everyday acts of leadership we can do whether we want to climb the corporate ladder or not
• The impact of unconscious bias in the workplace

Ready to dive in? Listen now for free on Apple Podcast.

As part of International Women’s Day, The Fox Jess Brady, sat down with Realestate.com.au to chat about the gendered disparity in property ownership. 

On March 8th (International Women’s Day) CoreLogic released its inaugural Women and Property Report, revealing the relationships between the gender pay gap and the gender wealth gap.

Specifically, the report highlighted how the 13.4% pay gap has impact women’s ability to access homeownership.

So, the team from Realestate.com.au called on Jess to chat about what needs to be done to address the property ownership divide between the sexes.

Jess revealed that this gender pay gap impacts both when and where women can get into the property market.

“If we can do more to get younger people into the property market earlier, it’s obviously going to have a big impact for women because it’s highly likely that they’ll be earning an income and be pre-children,” she said.

Based on the average weekly full-time earnings for men and women, it would take women an additional 10 months to save for a 20 percent deposit on the current median Australian dwelling value.

Glen features on the latest episode of Meet Pay Love Podcast this Valentine’s Day revealing when and why you should join accounts when in a relationship ?.

Glen features in the latest edition of Urban Village to discuss the easiest way to fail your finances in 2021. ??
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As we put the dumpster fire that was 2020 firmly behind us, it’s more important than ever to think about how we can transform 2021 into the life-changing realignment that we all so sorely need!

In my experience as a financial adviser, many of us have a general idea of what it is we should be doing on our journey toward financial freedom but, for whatever reasons, fail to get started. Whether it’s option paralysis, procrastination or just “waiting for the perfect time” it’s this failure to get started that is one of the biggest financial hurdles we see here at Fox & Hare Financial Advice.

When it comes to finance, procrastination should be considered public enemy number one. Consider this, you’ve been thinking of getting started investing for a while – whether it be property, stocks or even additional super – but, for whatever reasons, haven’t yet taken the plunge. Every moment spent deliberating robs you of a moment that could have been spent accruing interest! Two hypothetical Surry Hills locals, Yin and Marcus are looking to begin investing. Yin starts January 2021, depositing $400 per week at five per cent per annum for ten years. Marcus takes a while to get started and doesn’t make his first deposit until January 2026, but decides on $800 per week – to make up for lost time. $400 per week for ten years or $800 per week for five, both at five per cent PA interest. Do you think there would be a significant divergence in the returns? If you said yes, you would be right. At the ten year mark, Yin would walk away with a total of $269,152 while Mark would finish more than $30k down at $235,752. The reason? Compounding interest – which is the interest you get paid on the interest that you earned!

It’s a general, very simplified example but still a pertinent one. If you’re looking to fail your future’s finances this year, then your very best bet is to not get started working on them!

In the latest episode of our Ask the Experts series, Glen chats with Senior Economist at CBA Belinda Allen, to unpack the state of the economy and her predictions for 2021.

Are you wondering what impact COVID has had on the Australian and global economy? That’s exactly what we covered in the latest installment of our Ask The Experts series. We were so thrilled to be joined by Senior Economist at CBA, Belinda Allen who has extensive experience as a financial market’s economist, working to develop and communicate views on the Australian and the international economies. 

In this conversation, Belinda and Glen covered a bunch of topics including: 

• How is the Australian economy tracking at the moment? 
• How has income support impacted Australian consumer confidence? 
• How have international governments managed that pandemic from an economic standpoint?  
• What is the impact of international trade tensions on the Australian economy?
• How will a vaccine impact Australia’s economic recovery?

Belinda’s insights about the outlook for our economy 

We kicked off our conversation with Belinda by discussing the current state of the Australian economy. After the turbulence we’ve seen in 2021, Belinda shared some very optimistic insights about how our economy is tracking. “We use spending data at CBA to see what Australians are spending their money on and look at what income we’ve seen come through our client’s bank accounts to work out if the economy is improving,” tells Belinda. “It’s clear at the moment that the Australian economy did start growing again in the third quarter, with growth up to around 3.3% (and we expect similar pattern again in the fourth quarter).” Despite Australia’s economy contracting by 3% over the course of 2020, Belinda is positive about our economy’s outlook heading into the New Year. “We’re very confident that the recovery is going to be quite strong in 2021, and we’re expecting growth to be a bit over 4%,” tells Belinda. “Based on our calculations, we’re going to enter 2021 with around $100 billion more than we would have otherwise due to more Australians saving their money in 2020.”  

And it seems Belinda isn’t the only one who is optimistic about our economy going into 2021. “We’ve just received new consumer sentiment data that shows we’re experiencing a 10 year high in consumer sentiment. That comes down to two things: the housing market is improving again as well as the very significant income support and interest rate cuts provided by the Government and the Reserve Bank of Australia,” Belinda explains. 

As for global markets, Belinda explains that the state of international economies is deeply tied to how they responded to COVID. “From an economic perspective, the way governments and central banks across the world have managed the virus has greatly impact their overall economies. While Australia’s policy was to ‘go hard and go early’, other countries did sit back a little bit. In the US, they’re still debating a fiscal stimulus package and they’re still facing heated conflicting debate (particularly after the recent Presidential election),” tells Belinda. 

Our top takeaway points  

We discussed a bunch of Belinda’s insights about the current state of the market. So here are the top takeaway points we learned during this session:  

1. Economic support has been key to Australia’s positive economic outlook: “2020 was a really difficult year to forecast as an economist. However, we have seen things like JobKeeper really help to keep unemployment rates relatively low. At CBA, we think the unemployment rate has already peaked at 7.5% and we predict this will fall to 5.75% by the end of 2021.” 
2. The property market presents a range of opportunities in 2021: “We predict that property prices will rise in 2021 because interest rates are so low. However, we’re still concerned about inner-city apartments because we don’t have international students returning and overseas migration will remain low for the next couple of years. But overall, we’re seeing strong demand by owner-occupiers and we’re seeing many consumers using their excess saving to put towards purchasing property.”
3. The global economic outlook depends on how the pandemic progresses: “For the global economy to get back to any sense of normality, a vaccine would need to be widely distributed and taken up by citizens.” 

Keep an eye out on our social channels and upcoming newsletters for more information about our 2021 line up of Ask  The  Experts live Q&A sessions in 2021. ?

Want to learn more about becoming a Fox & Hare member? Click here to book in for a quick chat. ?

Glen and Jess unpack with Money & Life how to attract the millennial generation whilst building a modern business.

“Millennials don’t struggle to imagine the future. Where they get lost is connecting the dots.” – Jess Brady & Glen Hare, Financial Advisers, Fox & Hare

The Millennial Generation (currently aged 26 – 40) arguably have some of the biggest financial decisions to plan for in the near to immediate future—buying their first home, starting a family, or transitioning that side hustle into a business. Yet, most individuals are not seeking advice until they are close to retirement. We caught up with Glen Hare & Jess Brady, founders of Fox & Hare, an advice practice specialised in servicing the needs of millennials. Glen & Jess are early adopters of new technology and users of Morningstar’s financial planning software, AdviserLogic. Here are 5 tips to help you attract and retain this untapped clientele.

1. Demystifying Financial Advice

First things first, you need to get millennials in the door, and this starts with breaking down the preconceived notion that one needs to be old and rich in order to get financial advice. No one wants to be nearing retirement and thinking ‘imagine if I did this 30 years ago.’ Savvy and educated millennials will have questions around fees and conflicts of interest post-Royal Commission. To highlight the value of advice, you need to be able to answer those questions and be transparent about what you can and cannot deliver. It is imperative that you show clients the sooner they can make smarter financial decisions, the far better off they are going to be in the long run.

2. Lead with Education in all Parts of the Journey

While millennials might be coming in with some financial knowledge and have DIYed in the past, many will have reached a cap in terms of their financial understanding or their ability to execute. Or this might be the first time they are talking about their finances and can be intimidated. By educating your client in all parts of the advice journey, you help them feel comfortable with the investment decisions and how those decisions will get them closer to achieving their goals, all while building their financial literacy.

3. Goals & Value Session, the “Lightbulb Moment”

By exploring goals early on, you help clients understand that it is a balancing act between living now and planning for the future. From the start, Fox & Hare engage their members in a goals and value session, asking them to imagine what their next 12 months, 5 years, and beyond looks like. This is an opportunity to highlight that your role as an adviser is to focus on the financial levers such as cashflows, tax optimisation, budgets, etc. Clients will have a “light bulb” moment when you connect the dots and use modern technology to demonstrate how your expertise in balancing these levers will enable them to achieve their goals.

4. Millennials Expect Technology-Enabled Advisers

Younger clients want to engage with an adviser on their terms. Advice businesses need to focus on how they connect with clients in an efficient and scalable way whilst also immersing themselves in the client experience. When choosing a technology provider for their business, Fox & Hare appreciated that AdviserLogic understood the needs of IFAs and shared their passion for improving Australians’ access to quality financial advice. AdviserLogic’s intuitive layout and ease-of-use helps advisers increase their clients’ confidence in the advice they are being given. This extends to even screen sharing for a more engaging and personal walk-through with clients, illustrating how the advice links to their goals. Extending your CRM by connecting it with other apps is also a great approach. AdviserLogic integrates with Zapier, opening access to productivity tools like Calendly (a simple scheduling tool for booking meetings that eliminate back and forth emails at any time of the day or night), Google Forms (which enables you to build and survey clients in minutes), and DocuSign (eliminating the need for physical wet signatures). These apps help advisers better connect and deliver a more engaging experience for younger clients.

5. Client Feedback Should be More Than Just a Survey

Ultimately clients are seeking your advice to grow their wealth and meet goals, but it is equally important to ensure they are happy along the way. Millennial-focused businesses like Fox & Hare believe in ongoing engagement through focus groups and continually interviewing their clients. This is done both before they launched the business to make sure they were reaching their millennial audience and to monitor and improve their onboarding process over the first 90 days for new members. This quick feedback helps them meet and even exceed client expectations.

Losing a job when you’re in a partnership can trigger strong emotions and cause you both to rethink your financial future. Glen shares with Mark Raberger, the Head of Health at Metlife Australia, his top tips on how to cope.

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It’s understandable that when one person in a relationship loses some or all of their income, the other can feel vulnerable. How can partners help?

Mark Raberger: Focus on some positive things you can both do. It’s about the surety of being in it together. Each person’s wellbeing can be affected in four main areas: mental, physical, social and financial. So, while you might be affected financially, there are plenty of things you can do about the other three:

• Keep up your social life. Sometimes when people lose a job, they might become a recluse and curl up under the doona. So, without forcing the issue, you can help them address both the mental and social health areas by keeping engaged with friends. Social interaction is incredibly important.
• Keep physically active. The temptation to have a lot of downtime because there isn’t a job to go to can quickly impact physical health. Encourage each other to get out and be physically active, such as making time – yes, that means regular dates – to go for walks or bike rides together. Getting out into the fresh air for even mild exercise is good for your mind as much as your body.
• Keep on learning. There are also good benefits to be had from learning new skills. Encourage your partner to engage with an art or craft they enjoy. We often wish we had more time on our hands to learn new things.
• Keep a good sleep routine. The other big area to focus on is sleep. When people are anxious or distressed they might find their sleep is heavily affected. Knowing this, encourage each other to have good sleep hygiene. By this I mean, have a before-bed routine: switching off your device  at least an hour before sleep; finding calmer, more relaxing things to do instead of thinking about finding the next job at 11 o’clock at night.
• Wake at a similar time each day. You can encourage your partner to get up and get ready for their day, just as they would if they were still going to work. If you can do some exercise together before you go work, that will be useful too.

So, it’s about staying active: physically, socially and mentally.

What areas of health support are available?

Mark: When a household has income, some people might think they can’t afford to get the right support, though there are some good free or subsidised options:

• Mental health support. We’re fortunate in Australia to have great organisations like Beyond Blue, Lifeline and the Black Dog Institute, as well as subsidised therapy services available through GPs. The Government also increased subsidised additional mental health therapy sessions from 10 sessions up to 20.
• GP visits and telehealth. We recently launched a campaign at MetLife about why it’s OK to see your GP, because we know people were hesitant about visiting local health providers during the pandemic. Most GPs now have people safely visiting their clinics, though if you can’t visit in person, the Government also supports telehealth consultations. We want everyone to continue having regular check-ups with their GPs, which is why GP visits, home visits and telehealth consultations are Medicare-subsidised and many doctors bulk bill, which means you won’t have to pay for anything.

On the financial side, what are some positive steps people can take to cope when there’s less income available for the household?

Glen Hare: Whenever we’re working with a couple, we always talk about ‘household income’, because we want to encourage that shared sense of purpose in maintaining a household together. So, while one person might be earning less at the moment, they could have more time to look after things like groceries, cleaning and organising social events – all things that contribute good benefits to the household – and then of course, make adjustments when they’re working again. We want both people in a couple to be on the same page and making decisions together.

Mark: I agree. While one person might contribute more money to covering expenses such as groceries and bills, rent or mortgage, it’s important to make shared decisions about how money is spent for the household. Both partners can also look at which areas they can make savings, especially discretionary spending, where you can easily adopt more affordable alternatives.

What are some good areas where household expenses can be reduced?

Mark: If there’s one positive about the lockdowns during COVID-19, it’s that many households rediscovered ways to enjoy time at home instead of going out. So rather than paying restaurant or pub prices every time you want to catch up with friends or family, we’re socialising at each other’s houses.

Glen: We’ve seen a lot of our members review all their subscriptions during COVID-19, so they can save monthly expenses such as subscriptions to magazines, streaming services, gym memberships, which all add up. If you can save $100 a month by cancelling some subscriptions that gives you more money to put into savings or investments that will grow. I think COVID-19 made a lot of people reprioritise some of their big lifestyle aspirations, like international travel or new cars or renovations. Every time household income changes you have an opportunity to review what’s important to you – you can learn a lot about what’s really important to you.

Thinking about what’s really important in life, what are some other opportunities for resetting personal ambitions?

Mark: If you’re not currently in a job or have reduced hours, you have more time to focus on your career goals, which is a positive. Especially if you were working in an industry that was hard hit by COVID-19, you’ll find a lot of businesses are rethinking what work-life balance means.

So, it could be an opportunity to think about what kind of work will give you a better work-life balance. A simple example is that people who live a fair way from their employment or their previous employment could see it as an opportunity to look for work closer to home.

It might also be a catalyst to upskill or even retraining so you can pursue other career options – see it as an opportunity, rather than a loss. We’ve seen more education providers offer discounted or free courses, and there are some government supports available for retraining.

From a mental perspective, while you’re looking for a new job doing some training and research about new career options is a good way to keep your mind busy – it’ll keep you active and give you something to look forward to – and building new knowledge is rewarding in itself.

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Want to hear more tips on how to encourage a positive experience when managing financials? ??

Check out our blog: “Fall in love with your financials” ?

In the fifth episode of our Ask The Experts series, Glen sits down with Adam Verwey, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Future Super (Australia’s first 100% fossil fuel-free super fund) to discuss all things ethical investing.

Are you passionate about creating a livable world? Do you care about what brands and organisations you support? If so, this next Ask The Experts conversation is just for you.

Adam has a long history in ethical investments, currenting working as the Managing Director of the Future Super Group (the investment manager for Future Super, Cruelty Free Super and Verve Super), responsible for investment management, impact and advocacy for over $1 billion in super funds.

Adam is also Director at the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, an organisation helping to engage and advocate for ethical decision-making with companies and stakeholders. Plus, he is the portfolio manager for the Thomas Reuters Australian Fossil Fuel Free Index and a member of the Responsible Investment Committee for the Betashares sustainability ETFs.

In this conversation, Glen and Adam cover off on a range of topics including how Adam got started in ethical investing, how he chooses which companies to invest in, the current conversation around ethical investing and the impact of ethical investing on performance.

Adam’s insights on ethical investing

We kicked off our conversation with Adam by finding out a bit about why he got started in ethical investing. “I went to high school in Broken Hill, and there is a mine founded and operated by BHP in the middle of town, right in the main street. It’s a lead and zinc mine, and this lead was poising children in my town and it has serious consequences (such as learning difficulties etc.),” Adam explains.

“During my time at university I helped to change where the student union’s money was invested and switched them to an ethical fund. And that got me thinking: I wonder where my super is invested? I checked my super fund and realised it was predominately invested in BHP.”

That decision to make a personal change to his investments was what sparked Adam’s interest and passion for ethical investing. “Over the last decade, I’ve seen the power we can all have when we take collective action around something like our investments. We have the power to create a world we are proud of. So that is what motivates me, seeing the impact of when we all work together to use our values to shift where our money is invested,” tells Adam.

And it is a logical place for all of us to start, as Adam explains, “we’re all mandated to invest, so we might as well be invested in companies and assets that align with our values.”

As the Managing Director at the Future Super Group, Adam helps to shape the companies included in the group’s super fund portfolios. When vetting companies, he considers the shared values of the group and screens out companies that don’t align with these values.

“One of the areas where Future Super is a bit different is around screening out the Big Four banks. Banking in itself is not evil, it’s just how they operate as a bank that is good or bad. We screen those banks out because they are heavy funders of fossil fuels and other things like nuclear weapons,” Adam tells.

And there’s other less obvious companies that don’t make the cut. “We’ve screened out Woolworths, in part because they are the largest owner of poker machines in Australia (through their hotels and pub holdings).”

“Another interesting company is Tesla, a company that creates a lot of electric vehicles as well as solar and battery technology. They’re also disruptive and can potentially help provide the technology the world needs to create a livable planet. But at the same time, Tesla treat their staff terribly. For example, during COVID Tesla demanded their staff attend workplaces which were unsafe and there were elevated levels of COVID spreading throughout their warehouses,” reveals Adam.

“A lot of the ethical screening work we do is pretty straightforward, but there is an element of grey area for certain companies (like Tesla) that aren’t as clear,” tells Adam.

Our top takeaway points

We discussed a bunch of Adam’s insights into ethical investing. So here are the top takeaway points we learned during this session:

1. Collective action can spark meaningful change: If 7.7% of Australia’s superannuation money was invested in renewable energy or related industries than we could power a 100% clean energy grid in Australia by the end of 2030. Your choices can have tangible, real-world impacts.
2. Investing ethically doesn’t mean sacrificing performance: Ethical funds in each asset class have slightly outperformed funds in the same asset class (but not by much). So usually, you can expect the return from an ethical fund to be similar to a non-ethical fund.
3. Ethical investments are well-placed to whether turbulent market conditions: The funds that are doing the best now are those that completely exclude fossil fuels. So, the biggest factor in determining whether your super fund got a positive or negative return over the last financial year was whether your funds invested in fossil fuels.

Keep an eye out on our social channels and upcoming newsletters for more information about our next Ask The Experts live Q&A session. Want to learn more about becoming a Fox & Hare member? Click here to book in for a quick chat.