Retirement villages and residential aged care facilities offer different lifestyles and services, and they aren't direct substitutes for each other.

In the following article, our Aged Care Specialist Leandro Bonin explores this important subject further, providing insights to help you start planning ahead and achieve your objectives.

Money you pay as a lump sum for your residential aged care room will be refunded to your estate – so what do you need to know about when and how your money is refunded.

Loud budgeting is a trend that may have started as a joke but is being embraced by those who want to share their financial goals and priorities and in doing so, also improve their chances of achieving them.

Refinancing your home loan has the potential to save you thousands, reduce your monthly repayments and free up your finances to achieve your goals. However, mastering the art of refinancing requires strategic planning, an understanding of the process and taking numerous considerations into account.

It’s a risky business being in business for yourself, so knowing how to identify and manage risk is an important part of running a thriving business.

If you are feeling a bit like the meat in the sandwich you are not alone. The ‘sandwich generation’ is a growing social phenomenon that impacts people from all walks of life, describing those at a stage of their lives where they are caring for their offspring as well as their elderly parents.

If you’re nearing retirement age, it’s likely you’re wondering if you will have enough saved to give up work and take it easy, particularly as cost-of-living increases hit some of the basic expenses such as energy, insurance, food and health costs.

For most of us, our mortgage is our biggest financial burden - and one that’ll be with us for decades. However, it’s important to remember that the life of a home loan doesn’t need to be as long as the contract suggests; you’re free to pay it off faster and take that financial load off your shoulders sooner.

It might sound like alphabet soup, but the CHSP and HCP are two Home Care programs funded by the government. CHSP stands for the Commonwealth Home Support Program and HCP is the Home Care Package Program.

While it seems we all like to think we are clever enough to outwit a scam, Australians collectively lost more than 480 million to scams last year.

Every year scammers get more sophisticated in the methods they use to part us with our money – or our valuable personal information.

Financial markets can be like finely tuned racehorses, poised to gallop ahead under ideal conditions but often highly reactive to unexpected events.

It’s often said that the markets love certainty. Investors feel more confident when economic conditions are stable and predictable.

As the end of financial year gets closer, some investors are thinking about the most effective ways to boost their super balance, particularly with an increase in the caps on contributions from 1 July.

Confused about aged care fees and what it all means? You are not alone. In this article we simplify the basics of aged care fees for you.

If you, or someone you love, need to make a move into residential aged care, understanding the fees and getting a clear picture of what it will cost is not easy.

Spare cash can be tight right now (cost of living crunch, anyone?). But if you’ve still got some savings plus a home loan, there’s a way you could make your surplus funds work harder.

Ever heard of an offset account?

The much-debated tax on superannuation balances over $3 million is inching closer and those who may be affected should ensure they have considered the implications.

Risk is not just associated with investing though - life can throw a curve ball or two and insurance is one way to manage risk in a broader context.

It’s a matter of weighing up your risks and thinking about what you would do if the worst happened.

You can’t stop the clock, so the saying goes, but humanity has spent a long time trying to slow down or even reverse the effects of aging.

Even today it can be hard to distinguish those measures that work from those that may not work and avoid those that may be downright dangerous!

If your relationship with your spouse ends, you should be aware of what can happen to the super entitlements of you both.

The Family Court and super-splitting laws generally enable super interests (accounts in super funds) or super payments (pensions or annuities) to be split by agreement or court order if a relationship breaks down.

Financial health is an important part of our lives. When we take care of our financial health we can better manage financial stress and achieve our financial goals.

The most important reason to consider taking out life insurance is to protect your family if you die or become unable to work.

There’s a good case for anyone with dependants or people who plan to have dependants to take out life insurance.