V-News Blog

Browse our blog to uncover the path towards your financial freedom.

Mar 8, 2019
3 min

Teaching kids the secrets of financial success

In an increasingly digital world, the value of money can be a difficult concept for children to grasp. Here are some tips for helping your kids and grandkids become wealthy and wise. When you were young, do you remember standing next to mum or dad at the corner shop and watching them count out notes and coins to pay for the bread and milk? This was a valuable lesson about the purpose and value of money. Fast forward to today – few corner shops exist and the days of counting c

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5 things to consider before a sea or tree change

Matthew Carberry

Mar 7, 2019
4 min

5 things to consider before a sea or tree change

Before you swap your briefcase for a beach towel, have you thought carefully about what life in a quieter location will really be like? If you’ve spent most of your life in the fast lane, retirement might be your chance to change gears. And if you’re considering a sea or tree change, you’re not alone. Recent statistics show that many non-city-dwelling baby boomers are choosing to make their home in Australia’s coastal or hinterland regions.* The idea of waking up to ocean sou

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Matthew Carberry

Mar 1, 2019
4 min

5 ways women can take financial control

Financial independence is an essential aspect of female empowerment. Here’s how to achieve it. In many households, women often take a back seat when it comes to navigating their family’s financial future. But this can make it difficult for women to become financially independent – especially if they’re ever faced with divorce, separation or widowhood. That’s why it’s so important for women to engage with their finances and not leave everything up to their partner – or to chan

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Matthew Carberry

Feb 20, 2018
4 min

Your Financial Future Starts Now

They say every great journey begins with a single step — and yours is just beginning. Here’s how to get on the path to financial freedom at the same time. Every year, thousands of young Australians start one of the biggest journeys of their lives: their careers. And if you’re one of them, you’re probably having a great time making the most of your new income without thinking too much about planning ahead. But the good news is, you can get yourself set up financially for the f

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Matthew Carberry

Jan 18, 2018
4 min

Cashing in on the sharing economy

Thinking about using your car, home or personal skills to make some extra cash over summer? Before you do, make sure you understand what’s involved. The ‘sharing economy’ refers to the sharing of goods, skills or services for a fee, usually facilitated by a third party through a website or app. (1) In recent years, it’s revolutionised how we book holidays, get around town, source help – and even earn money. So how can you aim to profit in this new economy? Get in the driver’s

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Matthew Carberry

Jan 10, 2018
3 min

How to create the ultimate bucket list

What do you wish you could tick off your bucket list? Meet Sebastian Terry, the man who’s living his dream life – and motivating others to do the same. If you knew you only had a short period of time to live, what would you do differently? That was the question that Sebastian Terry, author of 100 Things: What’s On Your List?, asked himself following the death of a close friend at a young age. “After considering my friend’s life, I realised I probably wasn’t living my own to t

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Your top five New Year’s financial resolutions

Matthew Carberry

Jan 4, 2018
4 min

Your top five New Year’s financial resolutions

Overspent this year? Here’s how to put your finances back on track – and even get ahead. Despite the best intentions, many of us will finish this year on a low note financially. Wouldn’t it be great to start the New Year for once without having to play catch-up? Now is the perfect time to start planning your financial strategy for the year ahead. Here are our top five financial resolutions that you can make right now, so you’ll be in a better position by next December. Resolu

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How to be financially prepared this Christmas

Matthew Carberry

Nov 7, 2017
3 min

How to be financially prepared this Christmas

With Christmas just around the corner, here are 5 tips to help plan ahead and avoid a financial hangover on New Year’s Day. Think back to last Christmas and consider where the extra expenses came from. Was it petrol for the drive to the holiday destination? Gifts for new children in the extended family? Wine for the constant gatherings? And don’t forget the taxi or Uber fares for the journeys home from nights out. However you look at it, Christmas is a pricey time of year. If

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Matthew Carberry

Oct 1, 2017
4 min

Women and cancer: what you need to know

Being faced with cancer can have a devastating impact on women and their families. That’s why it’s so important to reduce your health risks – and also know how to avoid the financial shock that a cancer diagnosis can bring. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, with fundraising activities held across Australia to raise money and awareness to support women affected by breast and gynaecological cancers. It’s also a time for women to reflect on their own lives. For example,

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Matthew Carberry

Aug 10, 2017
2 min

Protecting your savings

At any stage in life, protecting your savings and the income you receive to fund these savings is critical to the achievement of any of your financial goals. When people think of insurance they often think of protecting their valuable assets, such as car insurance, home and contents insurance or health insurance. Additionally, whether you are young with no mortgage or dependants, have a young family, or established and have been working for a number of years, it is hard to im

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Matthew Carberry

Jul 12, 2017
2 min

Different types of insurance

‘What would happen if you were injured, fell ill or died? No one likes to think about it, but have you considered whether your family would be protected? Could you get by financially if you were no longer able to work either for an extended period of time or permanently? And what if you died? Wealth protection is an essential part of every financial plan. Without income, trauma, life and TPD insurance, the wealth you’ve built up can rapidly erode as a result of an accident o

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Matthew Carberry

Nov 17, 2016
3 min

Savings and the silly season

Don’t let the Christmas holidays undo your great work throughout the year. Be aware of spending patterns to turn silly season into savings season. Last Christmas, a CommBank research study1 said, Australians would spend $17.8 billion in five weeks from December 1 2014 to January 6 2015. Unsurprisingly, the spending would be mostly on gifting and holidays, but other major expenses included Boxing Day sales and entertaining friends and family. During those five weeks, the study

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Common mistakes made in planning for your ideal retirement

Matthew Carberry

Oct 12, 2016
2 min

Common mistakes made in planning for your ideal retirement

The thought of retirement planning seems to be looming in the back of many Australian’s minds, but is consistently pushed back when life events arise. Retirement planning has recently been highlighted in several surveys, with responding Australians providing worrying results for their futures after work. An ideal lifestyle depicted by many Australians in their retirement may not come to fruition, as a direct result of lack of planning. Australian’s money will be depleted afte

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Matthew Carberry

Nov 24, 2015
4 min

Is your retirement timing right?

During your downtime over the upcoming holiday period, it could pay to consider how your retirement might look and when it will likely happen, no matter how far away it might be. This helps to answer one of life’s big questions – when exactly will you retire? Fortunately, these days there are a lot of options in terms of timing of and transitioning into retirement. In this story we look at the three big areas of consideration – wealth, emotional health and practical issues. W

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Assets & Liabilities: What’s Your Current Financial Reality?

Matthew Carberry

Sep 24, 2015
2 min

Assets & Liabilities: What’s Your Current Financial Reality?

"As soon as we start listing our current assets and liabilities, we come face to face with both our good and bad financial decisions." When it comes to money, what we don’t know can hurt us. I’ve seen this truth play out time and again when people tell me they want to get serious about their finances. They want to invest. They want to make plans for the future. “Great,” I’ll say, “so what can you tell me about your current finances?” The most common response? A blank stare. I

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Matthew Carberry

Aug 13, 2015
4 min

Debt Vs The People

If debt is holding you back from achieving your financial goals it’s time to take a fresh look at a proven strategy for getting ahead. If you have a home loan, car loan and a credit card – as many Australians do, it’s a fair bet that a good chunk of your pay is being eaten up by interest charges. That’s money you could put to better use, such as growing your savings, paying other bills and expenses or enjoying a better lifestyle. There are a variety of ways to trim the intere

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Matthew Carberry

Feb 21, 2015
4 min

Confident Investor

In recent years, with the global economy going through a relatively chaotic phase, we’ve seen plenty of screaming headlines like “$40 billion wiped off Australian share market in one day!” “Markets brace as crisis in Europe flares up again.” These headlines might be great for selling newspapers, but they’re not much use to us as investors and can seriously mislead us. In the face of all these apparent disasters, it’s very easy to panic and make snap decisions. That’s only nat

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