Erin Benjamin had just celebrated her 30th birthday. She was working in a fast-paced, high profile job in financial services and recently married with plans to start a family. Then Erin had a stroke.
“All of my plans and ambitions disappeared in a matter of minutes,” says Erin. “My work, my possibility of becoming a mother and my ability to do three of my favourite things – run, read and write – were gone, without any clear idea of what I ...
Continue Reading →Be honest, how do you feel about 30 June? Not so much the day itself, but the implications that come with it. It marks the end of the Financial Year, which means tax time, which means getting your affairs in order, which means booking in with the accountant, which means a mad rush to try and find all your receipts, which means silently cursing yourself for not being more organised during the year, which ultimately makes you want to curl ...
Continue Reading →You might remember that last month one of my tips for what to do with your money during the Covid-19 crisis was NOT to cancel your insurance (if you want to re-read that blog, click here). Well, this month I wanted to reiterate that message by sharing just how close one of my clients came to making this mistake.
The client (we’ll call her Jane) was a woman in her fifties who had held cover for quite some time. However, ...
Continue Reading →Are you like me and suffering from serious information overload at the moment? It seems like everyone you speak to has an opinion about how quickly things will return to ‘normal’, what the economic impact is going to be long-term, and whether you should invest in a lifetime’s supply of toilet paper.
Let’s face it – none of us have been through anything like this before. So no-one is going to have all the answers. But what you can do is ...
Continue Reading →I have a confession to make – I had a very different blog planned for this month. But in a matter of weeks, the world has completely changed. We are all facing into an unprecedented challenge, which is not just a threat to our physical health, but also our mental health and happiness.
It’s never been more important to acknowledge the effect stress and social isolation can have on our mental state.
With that in mind, I’ve put together some ideas for ...
Continue Reading →With International Women’s Day just around the corner, I thought it was a good time to talk about the financial challenges that many women experience.
You’ve probably heard the statistics about how Aussie women retire with half the super savings of men. But this is only part of the story.
Yes, women are also more likely to live longer than men, and often retire earlier than men. Which means there is a serious risk that women will outlive their retirement savings and ...
Continue Reading →Welcome to a new year and a new decade! One of the things the Monarch team particularly looks forward to each new year is seeing how our clients have progressed along their financial journey. Life is always throwing surprises at us – some good, some not so good – but when you have a solid financial plan in place, you don’t have to be worried about what the future may bring.
Which brings me to the topic of our first blog ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Tatiana Coulter
The countdown to the holidays is on. It’s the time of year when work starts to wind down, and you hear people say, “That can wait until after Christmas,” or, “I’ll get to that in the New Year”. But there are some things that are just too important to put off, even for the sake of a few weeks.
Six months ago, I met with a couple who wanted help with their insurances. They listened to my recommendations, but then they ...
Continue Reading →When it comes to your finances, we often talk about the importance of asking an expert – a financial adviser. But how do you find one? And how do you measure their expertise?
Recommendations
By far the best place to start looking for a financial adviser is by asking your friends and family. If someone has a great experience with a product, shop or service, they’ll be only too happy to refer you to it. The same definitely goes for financial advice.
You ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Tatiana Coulter
You might have noticed there have been a few reports in the media (again) about life insurance commissions. As you know, I’m extremely proud of the work the Monarch team does and firmly believe in the role financial advice plays in helping people secure their financial future. Which is why I felt it was important to outline just some of the ways we add value to our clients…
What we do – Build a strategy
Our role is not simply to get ...
Continue Reading →
