Is my financial planner overcharging me?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Q I have a financial planner who charged $7700 for an initial investment of around $30000. This gave me a credit until $100000. Every time I do additional investing (capital +or margin loan) they charge 5.5% of that extra investment amount (after $50000 it becoms 3.5%). Also the index fund, MLC-Vanguard Aus share index charges its 0.54% with a 0.3% rebate + the margin loan interest of approx 10%. My question is, this seems extreme to me. is it? The value of the portfolio would have to increase by at least 4% + 4% dividends for this investment to even break even. Am I right?

Josie’s answer: ‘Watch out.  Everyone is after your money.   Learn how to outsmart them! (also applies to financial planners).

Thanks for your question and I am gobsmacked.     Read the story »

5 simple ways to avoid overspending at the shops

Beat the Retailers at their own Game

We are all prone to overspending. Ladies, just look at all the clothes you have purchased over the years, and half of them you probably don’t wear. If I calculated how much I have spent just on clothes since I started work at 15 years of age, I would no doubt be horrified (best to stick my head in the sand!).

The men are not going to get away with it either. From my experience they tend to purchase big ticket items, such as big screen TVs, power tools, and stereos. Read the story »

Margin Lending - the good, bad and the ugly.

Margin loans are simply an investment loan that is secured against the assets you are purchasing, such as shares and managed funds.   You don’t need to sign over your house and that is why so many people like them.    However, investors can get into trouble if their investment falls below a certain level, known as the loan to valuation ratio (LVR).

You may have heard of margin calls.   When these happen, investors are in a bind.  They can either sell down their investment to restore the LVR,  in other words forced to crystalize losses, or have to find the funds to top it up.  What a tough decision to make in this current economic climate.  You could be buying bargains, or perhaps throwing good money after bad.    Some institutions also allow you to assign other assets.  Read the story »