We plan ahead for many aspects of our lives, but few people plan for future aged care needs. Now is the time to change that trend.

The truth is, most of us avoid thinking about our own future aged care needs, delaying our decisions until perhaps they’re taken out of our hands.

Life expectancies are increasing. This means not only might we expect to live longer than our parents and grandparents, but we might also expect longer and more active retirements. However, this does not remove the possibility that we may need help with daily living and medical care in our older years.

If we reach a point when we are increasingly vulnerable, we don’t want to be left unprepared.

Planning creates peace of mind

Planning for our retirement, as we dream of travel, cruise ships and caravans as well as more time playing with the grandkids, can be quite enjoyable. Perhaps that’s why we put off planning for our aged care needs – it’s not as much fun to think ahead to a time when we might need more support.

But with the right advice, planning ahead offers many benefits and can be easier than you think. Benefits may include:

• Peace of mind for you and your family
• Taking pressure off family when a crisis occurs
• Allowing you to have a voice, and
•  Avoiding costly mistakes.

Creating a plan that will work for you includes consideration for what sort of life you want to live and what makes a good life for you. This should take into account options for where you could live but also how to continue to your interests and stay connected to family, friends and your community. Understanding the costs and planning your finances is a key component of making the plan work effectively.

Don’t leave it too late

Don’t leave your planning too late. We have helped many of our clients to start the planning process and often discuss when and how to bring your family into this process.

If you’re ready to start the conversation, call us on 03 9723 0522 and let us work with you to create a plan for all of your retirement.

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Telephone : 03 9723 0522

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

Think you can’t afford aged care? Advice on your options can help to understand what is affordable and how to best structure your finances.

When you move into residential aged care, the room price might be quoted as a lump sum, but you will have the choice to pay for your room as a lump sum or a daily fee or a combination.

In the same way that you can choose to buy or rent a home, so can you effectively choose to “buy” or “rent” your room in aged care. This choice can help with affordability if you don’t have enough assets to pay the full lump sum or don’t want to sell your assets. But there are a number of important things to consider.

If you pay a lump sum (called a refundable accommodation deposit – RAD) this is not lost money. The balance will be refunded to you or your estate when you leave, with repayment guaranteed by the Federal Government.

While you live in the aged care service, you are giving up access to your money and do not earn interest, but you will reduce the fees that you might otherwise have paid for renting the room. As interest rates increase, so may the benefits of paying the RAD. As a bonus, you might also qualify for additional age pension because the RAD is exempt for Centrelink and Veterans’ Affairs assets testing.

The decision whether to pay the lump sum or the daily fee is not an easy one and requires full analysis of your finances. You need to analyse the benefits and make sure you retain enough liquidity to meet your other ongoing expenses. Your estate plans and family situation may also impact which choice is better.

When making your choice, it is important to look beyond just the impacts when you enter care, but also what might change over time and what happens to your estate. Make your choice easier with advice. Contact us on

Think you can’t afford aged care? Advice on your options can help to understand what is affordable and how to best structure your finances.

When you move into residential aged care, the room price might be quoted as a lump sum, but you will have the choice to pay for your room as a lump sum or a daily fee or a combination.

In the same way that you can choose to buy or rent a home, so can you effectively choose to “buy” or “rent” your room in aged care. This choice can help with affordability if you don’t have enough assets to pay the full lump sum or don’t want to sell your assets. But there are a number of important things to consider.

If you pay a lump sum (called a refundable accommodation deposit – RAD) this is not lost money. The balance will be refunded to you or your estate when you leave, with repayment guaranteed by the Federal Government.

While you live in the aged care service, you are giving up access to your money and do not earn interest, but you will reduce the fees that you might otherwise have paid for renting the room. As interest rates increase, so may the benefits of paying the RAD. As a bonus, you might also qualify for additional age pension because the RAD is exempt for Centrelink and Veterans’ Affairs assets testing.

The decision whether to pay the lump sum or the daily fee is not an easy one and requires full analysis of your finances. You need to analyse the benefits and make sure you retain enough liquidity to meet your other ongoing expenses. Your estate plans and family situation may also impact which choice is better.

When making your choice, it is important to look beyond just the impacts when you enter care, but also what might change over time and what happens to your estate. Make your choice easier with advice. Contact us on 03 9723 0522 to arrange an appointment to discuss your situation.

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Telephone : 03 9723 0522

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

With the price of iceberg lettuce peaking at an insane $12, and inflation not letting up any time soon, it’s a good time to review what you can do to reduce your food spend.

If you’ve been wincing at the total on the register at the check-out recently, you’re not alone. Food prices have spiraled due to crops being impacted by floods in New South Wales and Queensland, coupled with the increase in the cost of fuel due to the war in Ukraine.

Groceries are the second biggest expense for Australians – putting food on the table is second only to the cost of putting a roof over our heads.ⁱ Given that it’s where a lot of our hard-earned cash goes, anything you can do to manage the rising costs of your food shop will really help your bottom line.

Reduce wastage

The first point of call is to reduce the amount of food you throw away. Each year we waste about one in five bags of groceries or around $2,500 per household per year.ⁱⁱ

Good ways to avoid food waste include planning your shop and even creating meal plans for the week ahead. Before you do a shop – have a look at building on what food you already have in the house. The Foodwise website has a planner that lets you enter the ingredients you already have, selects recipes and assembles a shopping list for any extras you may need.

Keep an eye on what’s in the fridge and be aware of use by dates. You can also use your freezer to extend the life of items if they are getting close to the use-by date and you’re unlikely to use them in time.

Seek out specials

The next step is to reduce the amount you are forking out at the checkout.

While it makes sense to shop around, it can be time-consuming but there are a number of apps you can download to help you easily track down the best deals. Trolley Saver and Half Price compare specials across the major supermarkets and Frugl provides the best bargains at a range of grocery retailers.

It’s also worth looking at retailers like Costco and Aldi who offer cost savings across their brands and products. It’s not just the big retailers though – many smaller discount brands are springing up mimicking the Costco model and charging an annual membership fee to access discounts and special offers so it’s worth keeping your eye out for these.

Shop wisely

Making some tweaks to the way you shop can also trim your grocery spend. One of the classic rules of saving money on your groceries is to never shop on an empty stomach. You’d be surprised how many treats make their way into your trolly when you are famished!

It’s also a good idea to look at the unit price of the items you are buying and consider buying in bulk for cost savings. Also consider substituting fresh produce for tinned or frozen and adjusting your recipes to substitute cheaper produce or cuts of meat. Buying what’s currently in season is usually a good way to save on fruit and veggies.

It’s worth seeing if there are any home brand or plain label alternatives to your usual brands. The home brand of a product is usually very similar to the name brand and is often made by the same manufacturer but retailing for a cheaper price. Your taste buds may not even be able to tell the difference – but your hip pocket will.

While these tweaks might not feel like much when you look at individual products, by the time you fill your trolley they can all add up to significant savings at the checkout.

Grow your own

The price of fresh produce is the main culprit for increases – junk food has only increased 1%, compared to around 5.6% for fruit and veggies.^iii,iv But saving on food costs does not mean living on pizza. Why not grow some of your own produce? You don’t need a huge garden – or even to have a garden – many herbs and leafy greens do very well in pots or even on a sunny spot on a countertop.

There are many ways you can save on your food bill and each tiny change you make will add up at the checkout and over time. Given that food inflation seems to be a trend that’s not going away any time soon – it makes sense to start saving today.

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Telephone : 03 9723 0522

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

Sustainable investing isn’t new and is becoming more mainstream. From climate change to gender diversity, more people are aligning their money with their values.

In 2021, Australia’s sustainable investment market increased 20% to a record $1.5 trillion. The Responsible Investment Association Australasia (RIAA) 2022 benchmark report found sustainable investments represent 43% of total professionally-managed funds.

In addition to traditional shares and fixed interest sustainable investments offer a wide range of assets, including property, alternatives such as forestry, infrastructure, private equity and cash.

Most big super funds offer a sustainable investment option and some offer this as their default option. You can also buy sustainable managed funds, including a growing list of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

What are sustainable investments?

Focus on people and planet

Sustainable investing is also known as ethical, responsible and ESG (environmental, social, governance) investing, with the focus on people, society and/or the environment.

Sustainable investments are selected using a variety of screening methods, including:

• Positive screening selects the best investments in their class
• Negative screening excludes harmful sectors, companies or activities such as arms, gambling, animal testing, tobacco and fossil fuels
• Norms-based investing screens for minimum standards of relevant business practices
• Impact investing has the explicit intention of generating positive social or environmental impacts.

The term ESG investing is used when a fund or company commits to sustainable investing in these three areas:

• Environmental – air and water pollution, biodiversity and climate change
• Social – child labour and labour standards, ethical product sourcing, gambling and human rights
• Governance – board diversity, corruption, business ethics, corporate culture and whistle-blower schemes.

The report found gender diversity and women’s empowerment are also gaining popularity.

Sustainable investing is not all warm and fuzzy. Performance still matters.

Performance gains

Initially, sustainable investing often came at the expense of returns but that is no longer necessarily the case.

The report compared the performance of what it terms responsible investment funds and mainstream investments funds (on average and net of fees) over the past 10 years to December 2021.

Responsible multi-sector growth funds consistently outperformed mainstream funds and their benchmark over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years. Responsible Australian share funds generally outperformed or were on par with mainstream funds. Only responsible international share funds disappointed, underperforming mainstream funds across all timeframes.

Watch out for greenwashing

Increased demand for sustainable investments has led to a rapid increase in the number of products available. The rush to cash in on the trend has sometimes led to what is known as ‘’greenwashing”. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) describes greenwashing as the practice of misrepresenting the extent to which a financial product or investment strategy is environmentally friendly, sustainable or ethical.

ASIC warns investors to review the product terms. For example, a fund might describe itself as ‘’no gambling” but may invest in companies that earn less than 30 per cent of revenue from gambling. Look for a clear explanation of how the product will achieve its aims and don’t rely on vague language like “considers”, “integrates” or “takes into account”.

Australian companies lifting their game

It’s not just super funds and managed funds taking sustainable investing more seriously, Australian listed companies are also adapting to changing investor preferences and regulatory environment. A recent analysis of ESG reporting by Australia’s top 200 listed companies, PwC found a 13% increase in companies declaring a commitment to net zero emissions. However, only 55% of those disclosed a transition plan or activities that will enable them to reach net zero.

There was also a 10% increase in companies disclosing climate risks and opportunities, and a 30% increase in companies disclosing a gender diversity policy.

For investors seeking sustainability along with financial returns from their investments, momentum and choice is growing. So please get in touch if you would like to discuss your investment options.

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Telephone : 03 9723 0522

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

Stay up to date with the latest developments in the property market over the past month.

The big story on the global economic front continues to be inflation, and how high interest rates will go to tame it.

In Australia, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe is watching consumer spending, where higher interest rates are having an impact. Retail trade fell 0.1% for the first time this year.

The ASX200 index demonstrated steady gains over the month, rising more than 5% in November.

Click here for our December update video.

Please get in touch on 03 9723 0522 if you’d like assistance with your personal financial situation.

Suite 2, 1 Railway Crescent
Croydon, Victoria 3136

Email: integrityone@iplan.com.au

Telephone : 03 9723 0522

Integrity One Facebook

This information is of a general nature and does not take into consideration anyone’s individual circumstances or objectives. Financial Planning activities only are provided by Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd as a Corporate Authorised Representative No. 315000 of Integrity Financial Planners Pty Ltd ABN 71 069 537 855 AFSL 225051. Integrity One Planning Services Pty Ltd and Integrity One Accounting and Business Advisory Services Pty Ltd are not liable for any financial loss resulting from decisions made based on this information. Please consult your adviser, finance specialist, broker, and/or accountant before making decisions using this information.

Values decline as the cash rate continues to climb

It took the Reserve Bank just seven months to move the official cash rate from an historic low of 0.10% in April to 2.85% by November. The last time the RBA sent the rate up by 2.75% it took more than six years. Therefore, it isn’t any wonder why home values are falling – there’s been a shock to the system.

Although this shock has been short and sharp, and values are declining as a result, prices across the country are still well above pre-pandemic levels. Property experts are not yet willing to call the ‘bottom’ of the cycle, however, the RBA’s change from 0.50% to 0.25% increments is expected to calm the immediate panic.

Property past its peak

Figures from PropTrack (realestate.com.au data business), show national values are -3.81% off their peak. National annual price growth is now sitting at -1.08%, the slowest pace since August 2019.

Sydney is the city with the biggest gap between November 30 and its peak, down -6.28% according to PropTrack while Melbourne is -4.75%.

Across the capitals, Darwin (-0.49%) led the price declines. In Canberra, prices are now 0.54% below their level a year ago. Hobart prices fell 0.27% in November to sit 2.92% below their peak in April. However, prices remain 1.06% higher than levels seen in November last year. Adelaide is currently at its peak.

PropTrack senior economist and report author Eleanor Creagh said after several months of value declines – plus the fastest rise in the cash rate since 1994 – both buyers and sellers are gradually acclimatising.

“Sellers are adapting to market conditions after several months of price falls, whilst buyers are taking advantage of the less competitive conditions relative to spring last year and sentiment is finding a floor,” she said.

Ms Creagh added that as the RBA slows the pace of its hikes prospective buyers are regaining confidence. In other good news for purchasers, there is an increase in supply compared to this time last year.

“From here, further rate rises will increase borrowing costs and reduce maximum borrowing capacities, weighing on prices. However, this will be offset by tight rental markets and rental price pressures, rebounding foreign migration, low unemployment, and housing supply pressures.”

It’s all in the numbers

According to the CoreLogic national Home Value Index, by November’s close there had been seven months of consistent declines. The index revealed that over the last three months, national home values were down to a median of $714,475.

During the same quarter, Brisbane has been home to the sharpest decline, recording -5.6%.

Sydney and Hobart followed with identical declines of-4.4%.

Canberra recorded a -3.8% dip, with Melbourne recording -2.7%.

Adelaide, Darwin and Perth felt minimal movement under 1% with falls of -0.8%, -0.6% and -0.5% respectively.

When CoreLogic number crunchers put the capital cities together there had been a combined slump of -3.5% and regionally values fell similarly by -3.6%.

Although values are falling across the country, data shows the pace of declines has actually eased over the past three months across Sydney and the past four months in Melbourne, with many other smaller capitals and most regional markets also seen the pace of declines decelerate.

Tim Lawless, CoreLogic’s research director, said while values have been in negative territory for several months now, it’s still too soon to call the trough of the market just yet.

“There is still the possibility that the pace of declines could reaccelerate, especially if the current hiking cycle persists longer than expected,” he said.

“To-date, the housing downturn has remained orderly, at least in the context of the significant upswing in values. This is supported by a below-average flow of new listings that is keeping overall inventory levels contained,” Mr Lawless added that we’re yet to see the full impact of rate rises as households likely still hold excess savings accumulated during lockdown, plus there is a large cohort of fixed rate borrowers who’ve so far been insulated from rapid rate rises.

Despite the nationwide price falls, CoreLogic reports housing values are still above pre-Covid levels, which would imply most homeowners are sitting in a positive valuation position relative to their purchase price – as long as they bought before the pandemic.

Note: all figures in the city snapshots are sourced from: CoreLogic’s national Home Value Index (November 2022)

If you have any questions or need any information please give us a call on 039723 0522.