In the Media
How Much Do I Need to Buy A Home?
The Australians are looking at the property market with eager eyes because of the record low interest rates these days. So, how much to save and how much to take loan? This question comes in everyone’s mind who is looking to purchase a property. After all, opting for a mortgage...
Written for The Australian Newspaper – The bank of mum and dad
Trying to purchase a home in the Sydney property market is challenging given the rise in prices over the past few years.
One strategy children in their 20's and 30's have employed to crack the market has been to ask their parents/parents-in-law to provide financial guarantees over the loans they are...
Australian Banks Forced to Reduce Property Loans Due to Strict New Loan Standards
New loan standards put forward by the APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) last month have forced banks to cherry pick individuals that want to purchase homes in Australia. The tougher new loan standards were put in place to let off some steam in the booming property market.
The new standards required...
Why Australian Banks Need to Hold Additional Capital Reserves?
APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) had announced that it would raise average risk weightings for property loans by 4% from 16% to 25% from 1st July 2016. The move by the financial and banking regulating authority in Australia will increase capital reserve requirements by an average of about 80 basis...
End-of-month-pay struggle or the importance of budgeting
According to the latest ING Direct Household Financial Wellbeing Index, two in three Australian households are short of cash between pays and one in three need to use credit cards to compensate this gap.
Further, almost half of the households feel that an extra $300 extra would be needed to be...
Written for The Australian – Over 50s discover it’s tough to get a home loan
In this article, I interview mortgage broker Alex Woo and discuss the various factors affecting people who are over the age of 50 and wishing to borrow money from banks to purchase or refinance. It was interesting to discover that there are separate rules for those under the age of...
Quoted in BRW on borrowing to invest in shares
In this article, I discuss some of the considerations when thinking about borrowing money to invest in shares. This is a very high risk strategy as borrowings adds leverage which magnifying returns, both positive and negative. Only investors with a high risk tolerance and long-term investment horizon should consider this...
Article Written for The Australian – How to Avoid the Debt Trap
GENERATIONS X and Y are finding themselves in an increasingly worsening debt spiral because of cost of living pressures, social pressures and a lack of financial discipline.
The credit card, a necessary evil of modern living, is the main contributor to the debt problem faced by our younger generation today. Ten...