Financial Resource List for Smart Wealth Management
Table of Contents
- Student Finance
- Simple Living Australia
- Frugal and Thriving
- Aussie Finance Blog
- Smart Investing Blog
- Lifehacker
- The Financial Planning Association of Australia Blog
- Saving Guide
- My Money Story
- Money for Life Coaching
- Barefoot Investor
- Mozo
- The Daily Reckoning
- Low Income Loans Australia
- Debt Deflation
- Money Morning
- Peter Martin
- Aspiring Millionaire
- Shaz Jones
- Aussie Blog
- Roger Montgo
- The Simple Dollar
Whatever stage of life you’re at, it’s never too early or late to learn more about building wealth and managing your finances. The earlier you start on learning about wealth management, the sooner you can devise a clear strategy for achieving your financial goals. With the complexities of financial management, it is best to obtain advice from professionals, but the resources outlined in this list will guide you to better understanding your financial adviser’s advice so that you can make better financial decisions for you and your family.
Financial Blogs
Student Finance
Student Finance is an Australian blog maintained by blogger Andrew Beks. The site offers hundreds of articles on shopping, saving, and budgeting specifically written for students. There are useful insights into choosing the right mobile phone carrier, saving on entertainment and holidays, and how to find the best deals on electronics and computers. You can read about how to set up an effective budget and how to avoid financial scams and risks. Students will also find the articles on finding jobs and life at university useful.
Simple Living Australia
Simple Living Australia is a financial and lifestyle blog on financial management, saving money, and achieving financial goals. The website offers practical articles on debt management, investment, and tax. There is a range of content on debt management and getting out of debt, and the blog also covers topical subjects on running your own business, investments, and property.
Frugal and Thriving
Frugal and thriving is a blog about living the good life while spending less money. The site features articles on innovative ways to cut on grocery costs, inexpensive recipes to feed families, smart spending tips, and fun and practical DIY crafts. There are also useful articles on budgeting, low-cost homemaking, and saving on your bills, cost-effective entertainment, and special occasions. The site has a number of free guides and checklists to help you budget and spend wisely.
Aussie Finance Blog
The Aussie Finance Blog focuses on personal finance, frugal living, insurance, life hacks and career, and what you can do in each of these areas to build your wealth over the long run. Personal finance topics range from home loans to investing and super, while the frugal living section covers topics such as saving more on electricity and financing home renovations. Life hack tips include subjects such as saving on a car deal and buying property.
Smart Investing Blog
The Australian’s Smart Investing Blog is written by Rob Bowerman and features insightful articles on core personal finance topics such as superannuation, saving, and investments. The blog provides updates on regulatory changes that could affect tax, super, and investment issues. There are also more technical articles on policy and trends relevant to investors, and useful articles on issues such as taking a career break and property investment.
Lifehacker
Lifehacker is a well-known blog about life hacks and technology products. The site features dedicated sections on money and small business, which covers everything from insurance to financial advice. The money section contains free articles on topics such as great tech deals, saving money when eating out, and reducing energy costs. The sections on home, entertainment, travel, and health offer life-hack articles that help you save money (and time and resources) in these areas.
The Financial Planning Association of Australia Blog
The Financial Planning Association of Australia Blog is managed by the association for its members.It features dozens of in-depth articles by a number of contributors who are Certified Financial Planners. Topics range broadly to cover topical personal finance areas, including debt management, planning for your child’s education, and superannuation. There are also detailed articles on retirement planning, student debt, and choosing the right financial adviser, as well as news articles on recent legal changes that can affect personal financial management.
Savings Guide
The Savings Guide is a practical and popular blog on all aspects of saving effectively. The blog focuses on practical ways for anyone to save money, and in this area, the blog covers everything from self-motivation, reducing utilities, grocery shopping, paying down debt, and finding a good deal on insurance. There are highly detailed articles on grocery shopping, with smart hacks and tips to cut down on spending. The blog also provides useful budgeting tips and strategies for saving.
My Money Story
My Money Story is a personal financial and frugal living blog by Blogger user Rivulet. The site provides her highly personalised insights on tracking spending – with detailed breakdowns of everything she bought throughout the year – and blog posts on frugal tips and saving more money. As Rivulet states, her goal with the blog is to track her spending, save more, and be debt-free by the age of 40.
Money for Life Coaching
The Money for Life Coaching blog is maintained by experienced money coach Peter, a Certified Financial Planner who works with individuals, couples, and businesses to assist them with their financial goals. The blog covers useful topics such as avoiding overspending, how to save more, how to budget, reviewing financial products, and how to choose the right insurance packages. The blog also features philosophical articles on work, happiness, and productivity.
Mozo
Mozo is a product comparison site that provides comparison information on everything from banking and insurance deals to travel and energy offers. You can also use the site to find reviews on providers and institutions, as well as news stories and practical articles on how to save, grow, and invest your money. The blog also features a selection of articles from guest bloggers and experts, and readers can find useful tips on other financial management topics such as budgeting, spending, and travel.
Daily Reckoning
The Daily Reckoning Australia is an e-news site with daily updates on local and global investing markets. The financial market sections cover everything from the stock market and technology markets to bond and energy markets. There is an Australian section that includes articles on the local economy, the share market, housing, and the Australian dollar. The site also features an investing section on money, super, and investment ideas. For experienced investors, there are dedicated sections on gold and precious metals, currencies, commodities, and the global economy.
Low Income Loans Australia
Low Income Loans Australia is an informational site that provides useful information on loans for people with low incomes. You can explore different loan options such as Centrelink loans, loans for the unemployed, and pensioner loans. There are also articles on relevant topics such as obtaining financial advice, debt management, and finding cheap loan options.
Debt Deflation
Debt Deflation is economics professor Steve Keen’s blog on the global debt bubble. The rather wonkish blog offers in-depth and highly technical articles on subjects ranging from monetary policy and China’s economy, to insights on the Greece crisis and the role of the European Central Bank. The website provides all of Keen’s periodic Debtwatch reports, which are free to download. For serious investors, Debt Deflation is a must-read blog.
Money Morning
Money Morning is an Australia financial news service that promises readers they will ‘tell it like it is’. The blog provides analyses of economic policies, the housing market in Australia, and news on topics such as the stock market, investments, commodities, and the financial system. Money Morning provides detailed news and updates for seasoned investors, but the articles are not too technical to appeal to those who are just starting to learn about investing and building their financial wealth.
Peter Martin
The personal blog of Peter Martin, Economics Editor at The Age, is a valuable resource for the latest information about the Australian economy and financial matters such as tax, government policy, monetary policy, and labour trends in the country. While readers will not find practical tips on everyday topics, the blog offers useful insights for investing, tax, superannuation, housing, and other personal and business finance issues.
Aspiring Millionaire
Blogger Kylie Ofiu has the self-professed goal to be a millionaire by the age of 30, and her blog records her journey towards her goal. Aspiring Millionaire offers a combination of the practical and the motivational. Article topics include debt reduction, making money and saving money, as well as inspirational topics like making a vision board and creating the right mindset for making money. The blog also covers the occasional lifestyle topic such as dressing for work and healthy lifestyle habits.
Shaz Jones
Business writer, motivational speaker and blogger Shaz Jones runs a personal blog that offers personal development, business, and finance tips. There are practical articles on managing credit card debt, real estate, budgeting, and building wealth, as well as articles on motivational and philosophical topics such as success, improving performance at work, gratitude, and effective communication. Most of the articles on Shaz Jones are short snippets, and the variety of the topics means there will be something of interest to everyone.
Aussie Blog
The blog of Aussie Home Loans covers all aspects of buying and maintaining a home, as well as articles relating to personal financial areas other than mortgages and homes. It also contains a section called Ask John, which features questions from readers and answers by Aussie Home Loans founder John Symonds. Other than readable blog posts rich with actionable information, there are guides on buying and selling homes, investing in property, and renovations. The site offers various calculators for buying a home, including stamp duty and borrowing power calculators.
Roger Montgomery
Value investor and fund manager Roger Montgomery manages the Roger Montgomery blog, which offers a wide range of investing articles by different contributors. Topics covered by the blog include big vision subjects such as commodities and economic trends as well as practical tips such as pricing products, investing offshore, and small business. Most of the blog articles appear to be free, but there is some subscriber content.
The Simple Dollar
The Simple Dollar is a financial resource website designed to help people who are fighting debt and who also have bad spending habits. It was created by Trent Hamm in 2006 and has been helping people with their finances ever since. One of our favourite tools they have available is their Debt Payoff Calculator, which can create for you a plan to payoff your debts.
Financial Tools
TrackMySPEND
TrackMySPEND is a free app from ASIC’s MoneySmart that is available in both Android and iPhone versions. The app is designed to assist users track, review, and monitor their money. You can use the app to record your household budget, develop costs for specific events such as birthday parties, and track your travel and work expenses. You can also use the app to set spending limits, review your spending, tag expenses to apply categories, and send yourself text reminders on spending. You can export recorded data for further analysis on your computer.
Money Health Check
Money health check is another free app from ASIC’s MoneySmart. This app is designed to help you find out if you have your finances under control. The app explores areas such as your financial goals, expenses, income, debt, investing and saving, retirement, superannuation, and insurance. It will provide you with an assessment of your financial situation and give you a list of recommendation actions, which you can then save for later.
Women’s Money Toolkit
ASIC’s MoneySmart offers the free web-based Women’s Money Toolkit, which is designed to help women assess and prioritise their financial and life stage goals. Users start by answering a brief series of questions about their current circumstances, and the toolkit provides a list of priorities. These can include insurance, buying a home, investing, and budgeting. Each toolkit item opens up a box with tips and to-do items that will help you achieve that goal. The to-do items link to further tools and calculators that will assist you further in meeting your goals.
Property Capital Gains Tax Calculator
The Property Capital Gains Tax Calculator, provided by Australianbiz.com.au, is a free, comprehensive calculator that helps you work out the tax you may need to pay if you realised a capital gain on a commercial or an investment property during the 2014/15 and 2015/16 financial years. It provides an indicative comparison of the capital gain realised, as well as the additional tax on the gain under the Indexation and the 50% Discount Methods. You can use the calculator for other investments such as returns on shares.
Personal Finance Tools, NineMSN
NineMSN’s Personal Finance Tools includes a basic retirement calculator that allows you to work out how much you will have saved by a certain age given your current age, income, and super savings. There is also an interest calculator that works out how much interest (and repayments) you will pay over the course of your mortgage. Homeowners will find the extra repayments calculator useful for working out how many years they could shave off their home loan by making extra repayments. The site offers a car loan calculator for working out how long the loan will take to repay, and a savings calculator for calculating how much you can save over time.
Financial Organisations
CPA Australia
CPA Australia’s resources are mostly directed towards members and potential members, so much of it has a professional focus. For example, there is a professional resources section with papers on CPA Australia’s policy positions with the latest regulatory developments, and The Naked CEO and The Bottom Line, which focus on leadership and business tips. Consumer visitors of the site, however, will find INTHEBLACK to be the most useful resource, as it contains a wealth of information on accounting and finance, tech, and personal finance.
FPA
The website for the Financial Planning Association of Australia is filled with useful resources for professional financial planners and non-professionals seeking tips for building wealth. The FPA blog itself has been mentioned above, while the policy issues section offers news articles on regulatory changes and other industry developments that can affect investing and financial planning. There is also a news section that covers the latest news in the financial planning industry.
FMAA
The Financial Management Association of Australia is a professional membership organisation for students studying in business-related fields. Its website offers resources that are directed at professionals, but non-professionals can also find resources such as career guides, its news and blog section useful for industry information. For business students seeking to enrich their career opportunities, there is a jobs and opportunities section.
MFAA
The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia is the peak professional body for financial and mortgage brokers across Australia. There is an industry section for professionals in the field, but most visitors will find the news section most useful for information on the financial brokerage and mortgage brokerage industry in Australia. There is information about regulatory changes, consumer trends, property investing and other market trends, and there is a section on MFAA’s membership for consumers.
FBAA
The Finance Brokers Association of Australia Limited is a national association for finance and mortgage loan writers in Australia. The website offers a free members-only e-magazine covering industry trends, but its media section is fully accessible for all visitors. Its media section provides news on regulatory changes, industry trends, and other finance and mortgage industry information relevant to professionals in the field.
CAFBA
The Commercial Asset Finance Brokers Association of Australia is the peak industry body for the equipment finance industry. While most of the website is dedicated to information for equipment finance professionals – with sections such as upcoming events, training, and professional development – its news section provides industry news and insights on issues that may be of relevance to general consumers and businesses. For example, there are articles on consumer finance, regulatory changes, and small business financing, and of course, there is a member directory that allows you to find an equipment finance broker.
AFMA
The Australian Financial Markets Association website is a rich resource with content directed at its industry members in the financial markets. The information is highly specialised and can be technical, but investors will find its media section useful for regulatory updates on issues that could affect the markets and investment. There are also links to market data and other reports that could be useful to seasoned investors.
AFA
The AFA, the oldest association representing Australian financial advisors, has an industry news section but most users will find its consumer centre useful for general information about getting financial advice and using a financial adviser. There is a member directory that allows consumers to find a financial adviser near their location, and a user-friendly blog with a wealth of information on everyday financial issues for consumers, on topics such as money management, small business, and family budgeting.
AFAANZ
The Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand website offers a variety of content for accounting and finance academics across Australia. The AFAANZ publishes a quarterly newsletter that is free for anyone to download. While it is fairly technical, experienced investors could find the content useful for insights into the progress of accounting and finance research and institutions in Australia. Other than the newsletter, there is also a News from Institutions section with information on regulations and market trends.
AFGonline
AFG is a major provider of mortgage broking services through its portal, AFGonline. Consumers can use the site to find a home loan, or find a mortgage broker. There are useful articles on choosing the right home loan, and other tools and information on mortgages. The site also offers a news and data section, but this is mainly for mortgage professionals.
The Internet offers a wealth of knowledge in the form of practical tips, news, and digital tools to assist with building wealth. There are expert bloggers sharing insights about financial management and free calculators to facilitate budgeting, planning, and saving. Professional associations for the financial industry offer excellent content in the form of news and guides, and some of these sites provide excellent user-friendly content directed at consumers. This information can motivate and inspire readers to make better financial decisions, help them find the right professionals for advice, and support consumers in achieving their financial goals.
If you’d like to speak with an expert financial advisor, contact the
professionals at MEDIQ Financial today.