The big moments that impacted your hip pocket in 2019
A surprise election win, tax breaks and interest rate cuts were some of the biggest events to impact our wallets in 2019.
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The shock election win, tax breaks and triple interest rate cuts were some of the biggest standouts that impacted our hip pockets in 2019.
As we sign off for another year at MoneysaverHQ and reflect on the past 12 months it’s a time to reassess our finances and work out if we are actually any better off than we were this time last year?
In short, probably not.
Many of us who had built up wealth were petrified of former Opposition Leader Bill Shorten potentially running the country and removing negative gearing and dividend imputation credits.
Then shadow treasurer Chris Bowen said prior to election day: “if you don’t like our policies, don’t vote for us”, which is exactly what the Australian people did.
Shortly after the Coalition win, millions of Australians lapped up significant tax cuts of more than $1000.
And don’t forget to throw in the mix three official interest rate cuts, adding up to 0.75 per cent. Remarkable really.
While it’s wonderful for borrowers paying off their massive mortgages, it’s been heartbreaking for savers relying on interest returns on their cash in the bank.
While it’s easy to think we’ll wipe the slate clean in 2020 and start afresh with our finances, reality is it’s not as simple as that.
We’ve had significantly high petrol prices throughout the year and our necessities such as groceries and electricity have continue to increase.
Just this month health minister Greg Hunt also revealed our private health premiums would climb by an average of 2.92 per cent in 2020.
This has continued to be a cost that climbs annually and has resulted in masses of Australians ditching their cover because they see it as a waste of money.
Then take a close look your income.
No payrise in the past 12 months? For most of us, this is the case.
Employers are feeling the squeeze more than ever and this flows to employees.
Our everyday costs are going up but our wages are not.
In fact, they have remained flat for years now, resulting in households having to be savvier than ever to squeeze in extra charges without having extra cash.
We’ve shied away from credit too, but don’t be fooled by this.
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We still have a $43.3 billion owing on personal credit cards attracting exorbitant interest rates, in many cases, of more than 20 per cent.
Buy now, pay later schemes have boomed in 2019 and will continue to do so for some time yet, but I believe they are setting us up for poor financial habits.
If you want something you don’t have to save for it. You can get it now.
So hold onto your hats for 2020, because for the time being we are still going to feel strain on our budgets.
Merry Christmas!