Rising Tide Blog

Unlike many of you I’m sure, I actually love June, as it means I get to have a second crack at my financial “new year’s resolutions”.

So, here are a couple of things that I’ll do over the next few weeks to make sure I don’t move into the next financial year with the same regret that I left January?

Reducing Tax

Just this morning, I logged into both mine and Annie’s superannuation accounts and made a one-off contribution to each. As Annie hasn’t been working since Max was born (and COVID), we made sure we put a bit more into hers to try and even things up.

Don’t forget that most of us can make additional, tax deductible contributions to super and believe me, it’s definitely simpler than it used to be! Check out the ATO out to see what you can do or give us a call and we will see how we can help.

Getting my sh*t together

This weekend I will spend an hour or two organizing all my paperwork to make sure I get my tax return as quickly as possible. 

Here are a few things I’ll be doing:

• Go through the last three months of my bank statements and check if there’s anything I should be claiming (particularly as I have been working from home more)
• Review my last tax return, to see if I have spent any money on the same deductions as last year
• Check the email I sent my accountant last year to make sure I know where to look/download things in July when the financial year has ended (so often I forget where to look or have forgotten passwords)
• Check in with my super funds and life insurance to make sure my details and all the beneficiary nominations are correct and up to date 

While I am it

I figure while I am in the midst of a good working bee, I might as well bite off a bit more and chew bloody hard. So here are a few things I WILL do whilst I am it.

1) Ring my car insurer to make sure they aren’t charging me more than I should be paying. I’ll also make sure all my details are up to date (we recently moved to a new house).

2) Ring my health insurer and do a requote with one of the comparison sites – these premiums are forever increasing so any savings will be worth the effort. 

3) Whilst I am reviewing my bank statements (mentioned above), I will go through my direct debits & ensure they are all still relevant. As mentioned in an earlier blog, this is a MUST at least twice per year.

4) When I am logged into the bank, I will also check my interest rates and contact Bob de Fegely (bob@ctrt.com.au) in our lending team to make sure that my rates are sharp.

Finally, when Max goes down for a nap, I will spend half an hour with Annie recapping on a few of the bigger financial goals in our life, and make sure we are on the same page. While I do most of the grunt work, I truly believe we both need to be on the same page in order for us to reach our goals!

So, what will you be doing this weekend?