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The Age
5 days ago
- Business
- The Age
How to teach your kids about money, without making it boring
Real Money, a free weekly newsletter giving expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money, is sent every Sunday. You're reading an excerpt − sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox. Thinking back to when I was in school, I struggle to remember any classes where money or financial literacy was the topic. Sure, we'd cover things such as compound interest in maths, and I have a vague recollection of CBA's ill-fated Dollarmites popping in at some point, but that's about it. I have a far better recollection of the teachings of our lord and saviour Healthy Harold, but he was a giraffe puppet, so perhaps that's an unfair comparison. Unfortunately, by all accounts, things haven't gotten much better in the [REDACTED] years since I've left school. Melbourne University's HILDA survey in 2020 showed a sharp drop in financial literacy for those aged 24 and under, and numerous surveys since then have reinforced that young people are falling behind when it comes to money smarts. What's the problem? A lot of the blame for this has been lumped on the government and schools, which is fair. The national curriculum does include some aspects of financial literacy, but it's largely up to schools on how to implement it, and it's not a stand-alone subject. Loading The government has also not made financial literacy a priority for years, with a 2022 decision to shift responsibility for the area from ASIC to Treasury effectively shuttering any progress. This has meant a lot of responsibility for this stuff has fallen, for better or worse, on parents. But when it comes to such an open-ended topic as financial literacy, it can be difficult to work out where to start, especially in a way that will keep younger children engaged. What you can do about it
The Age
12-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
Boring, but essential: Get these things sorted before you turn 60
Real Money, a free weekly newsletter giving expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money, is sent every Sunday. You're reading an excerpt − sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox. There are many things in the personal finance realm that fall into the 'boring, but essential' bucket. For example, every time I prattle on about superannuation, or sitting down to do your tax return – hint, hint. They're all things we have to do, but not things we want to do (though joke's on you, I love prattling about superannuation). A prime example of this is estate planning, which has the double whammy of requiring you to both a) think about your impending death, and b) do a lot of dull paperwork. But it's absolutely essential to get your will sorted out, so much so that many experts recommend you write one as soon as you turn 18. Obviously, the vast majority of us don't actually do that because we're too busy partying and being cool, and indeed, if I unexpectedly passed away right now there'd be no documentation on how to distribute my collection of rare Yu-Gi-Oh cards, so that's a pity. Loading What's the problem? Realistically, a lot of us leave it until later in life to think about drawing up a will, usually when we have significant enough assets and dependants to pass those assets on to. This means you might be in your 50s or 60s by the time you actually get around to it; 93 per cent of people in their 70s have a will. We also leave it that late to do myriad other important things that can make a huge difference to our (and our loved ones') quality of life. And I get it, things can get away from you, and, again, no one likes sitting down and doing boring stuff. But once retirement starts to peer around the corner, there are some things you really should get onto. What you can do about it
Sydney Morning Herald
09-07-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Do you really need an accountant to do your tax return?
Real Money, a free weekly newsletter giving expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money, is sent every Sunday. You're reading an excerpt − sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox. If no one has done so yet, let me be the first to wish you a happy end of financial year, a day I'm sure you've been counting down to on your calendar, staring wistfully out the window as you awaited its arrival. Well, wistfully stare no more, as we are officially in the 2026 fiscal year, and as the saying goes, it's tax return time baby! If you don't think about all the tax you've paid for the past 12 months, getting your tax return is basically like free money (unless you end up owing tax, in which case, I have no silver lining for you). Plus, with the awful weather in Sydney and Melbourne at present, what better time to curl up on the couch and start tallying up your deductions? You could even invite a friend! What's the problem? I am embarrassingly eager to do my return (if that's not obvious), but not everyone is so crazy about the idea. Data from the ATO shows about two thirds of Australians pay a tax agent to handle their affairs, while the remaining third of us do it ourselves. If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is − Australia has one of the highest rates of tax agent use in the OECD. Loading The Tax Office doesn't break down that data by age, but I'd bet that most people employing tax agents would be on the older side, while younger workers are more likely to do it themselves. There are a few reasons for this, one of the biggest being that the online tax lodgment service, MyTax, has only been around for a decade or so, and its e-Tax predecessor was by all accounts a complete nightmare.
The Age
05-07-2025
- Business
- The Age
Do you really need an accountant to do your tax return?
Real Money, a free weekly newsletter giving expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money, is sent every Sunday. You're reading an excerpt − sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox. If no one has done so yet, let me be the first to wish you a happy end of financial year, a day I'm sure you've been counting down to on your calendar and staring wistfully out the window as you await its arrival. Well, wistfully stare no more, as we are officially in the 2026 fiscal year, and as the saying goes, it's tax return time baby! If you don't think about all the tax you've paid for the past 12 months, getting your tax return is basically like free money (unless you end up owing tax, in which case, I have no silver lining for you). Plus, with the awful weather in Sydney and Melbourne currently, what better time to curl up on the couch and start tallying up your deductions? You could even invite a friend! What's the problem? I am embarrassingly eager to do my return (if that's not obvious), but not everyone is so crazy about the idea. Data from the ATO shows roughly two thirds of Australians pay a tax agent to handle their affairs, while the remaining third of us do it ourselves. If that sounds like a lot, that's because it is − Australia has one of the highest rates of tax agent use in the OECD. Loading The tax office doesn't break down that data by age, but I'd bet that most people employing tax agents would be on the older side, while younger workers are more likely to do it themselves. There are a few reasons for this, one of the biggest being that the online tax lodgement service, MyTax, has only been around for a decade or so, and its e-Tax predecessor was by all accounts a complete nightmare.
Sydney Morning Herald
22-06-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The July 1 changes that will put more money in your pocket
Real Money, a free weekly newsletter giving expert tips on how to save, invest and make the most of your money, is sent every Sunday. You're reading an excerpt − sign up to get the whole newsletter in your inbox. As you wake up this morning, bleary-eyed, and reach for your phone to read this column (which I assume is the first thing all of you do on Sundays), it'll be almost exactly one week from the end of financial year. I know, I know, it might be hard to contain your excitement, but in big news for accountants everywhere, July 1 is just around the corner. For a long time, I believed that the end of financial year was a bit of a silly thing that was only relevant to corporates and people who worked in finance, and was usually just an excuse for companies to have a mid-winter staff party. I still mostly believe this, but now I also know that July is when you can get that sweet, sweet tax return, so at least now there's something in it for me. Loading What's the problem? However, there's actually a ton of other interesting things that happen in July by virtue of it being the end/beginning of the financial year. A lot of legislation is written with July being the start date, and, similarly, anything that increases over time (such as shifting tax brackets) will come into effect on July 1. Maybe all these accountants are onto something after all. What you can do about it With so many things changing in July, it can be difficult to keep track of them all, so here's a handy list of everything you might need to be across in the personal finance space:
