Dear Sir/Madam,

Once again, not a lot to report from our office since our last newsletter. Life is flying by too quickly!

We have another travel story for you this month. Our clients, K & J enjoyed a trip down south a few months ago with their caravan and these were the highlights:

• Lightning Ridge free thermal pool to relax the weary body. Black opals, arts and crafts and the Glengarry Hilton Pub.
• Bathurst – we did a lap of the mountain in 8min 5 sec pulling a caravan.
• Kangaroo Valley – free camp, wombats, an amazing place.
• Wollongong Sea Cliff Bridge, a great walk.
• And camping by the beautiful Hawksbury River.
• Just a few places we visited in this beautiful land that we live.

Rod’s comment:

Since the end of July, we have seen the Australian sharemarket drop 5+% and many overseas markets have dropped up to 10%. There seems to be a certain amount of concern by the general public that we are heading towards another global financial crisis type event fuelled by the Trump/China trade war. Although I cannot guarantee we won’t see a significant drop in markets, I will be surprised if we see the 35+% drop we experienced in 2007/2008. Fundamentally many of the worlds largest economies including Australia are travelling okay with very few of the indicators of a looming financial crisis that were evident at the end of 2007. That’s not to say that we won’t have a lot of volatility until the trade issue and other matters are resolved (if they ever are).

If anyone has any individual concerns or questions, please contact the office to have a chat with Rod.

Until next month,

Emma

Dear Sir/Madam,

Another enjoyable golf day but with a change of venue resulted in a smaller turn out than normal. The “hole in one” did not go off once again but the drives were closer to the pin than previous years. Hopefully, next year will be the year where someone will get the $10,000! Some pictures of our day are on our Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/totalwealthmgt/.

We had a special breakfast last Friday to celebrate Emma putting up with Rod for the last 10 years!! Here’s to the next 10!

Now that the Federal election is over, hopefully we will see political stability for the next 3 years enabling the Coalition to pass legislation which will reduce taxes with the ultimate aim of stimulating the economy. In contrast the State Government budget appears to only promise a burgeoning public sector spend but not delivering jobs at the coalface such as more police, nurses and teachers.

I expect ongoing volatility in sharemarkets for the remainder of 2019. However sharemarkets still appear to offer best returns on the back of strong dividends compared to low cash rates and fixed interest. We’ve attached an article which provides some interesting insights into the results of long term investing in property versus shares in Australia.

https://www.westpac.com.au/news/money-matters/2019/04/property-vs-shares-the-long-term-verdict/

Until next month,

Emma

Dear Sir/Madam,

This year is passing us by too quickly and Easter is upon us again!

Last Friday, the TWM staff had their annual flu shots, as there are no sick days allowed in this office!! Rod would like to recommend to any of clients to go see Phuong from Priceline Pharmacy at Riverlink for your flu shot as we did not feel a thing!

By now, our Centrelink clients should have received a letter notifying them that their Age Pension has increased from the 20th March 2019 and the Government also paid a one-off Energy Assistance payment as at 2nd April 2019. Other beneficial changes to the Age Pension recipients include an increase in the Work Bonus for those that are still working and an expansion of the Pension Loan Scheme.

There was a little mistake in our last newsletter – the date for our annual Golf Day! It is coming up next month on Friday 24th May 2019. We have been sending out invitations so if you have not received one and you would be interested in playing or entering a team, please call the office.

Until next month,

Emma

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

Happy (belated) New Year to all of our clients!

The office is well and truly back into the swing of things after a relaxing holiday break with our families over the Christmas period. To celebrate another year, we enjoyed a lovely afternoon watching the horses.

As mentioned in one of our previous newsletters, we have decided that each month we will include a story regarding one of our clients. If you have a story or photos to share, please get in touch and we will include them in future newsletters.

This month, Rod would like to share with you some pictures that our clients, Joe and Raeleen took when they travelled last year to see the wildflowers in WA.

The global and domestic issues that Rod raised in the December newsletter are continuing to create volatility in economies and sharemarkets. The good news is that sharemarkets stopped dropping at the end of December and so far 2019 has been a positive one although there is still some way to go before markets have fully recovered from what happened in the last few months of 2018. Rod is expecting continued volatility and most likely returns of less than 10% for this calendar year.

Until next month,

Emma