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What is the difference between saving and investing?

• Saving is setting money aside in cash accounts (generally bank savings or cash management accounts) for immediate expenses, emergencies and short-term plans. The money earns interest, which is added to your assessable income and taxed at your marginal rate.
• Investing is putting money into assets to grow in value, deliver returns and build long-term wealth and security. There is a wide range of investments to choose from, each with different features and benefits. Your age and stage of life will affect the investments you choose.

Funding a Child’s Education

Dean and Jenny are in their 30s and have a four-month-old baby, Alice. To ensure they’ll be able to afford Alice’s education, Dean and Jenny decide to start a dedicated savings plan. They estimate that by the time Alice is 11 they will need to have saved $84,000 (in today’s dollars) to meet her annual private high school fees of around $14,000 for six years.

Borrowing to Invest (Gearing)

Sarah wants to save for a deposit on her first home. She already has savings of $40,000 and decides to take out a margin loan of a further $40,000. With double the money to invest, she has the potential to earn a greater return than if she just invested her own money. However, Sarah understands that borrowing to invest (a strategy known as gearing) also means she has the potential to lose a lot more – and if her chosen investments don’t perform well, she will have to repay the loan regardless.

Setting Up Your Superannuation For Your Future

When the time comes to retire, it would be nice to feel confident that your life after work will be comfortable and that you’ll have the time and money to enjoy many things you weren’t able to do while working.

The Age Pension provides only a very basic retirement allowance that most people would find difficult to manage on. This is why it is so important to take control and set yourself up for your future now, by making regular personal contributions to your superannuation fund.

Superannuation Salary Sacrifice

John earns $75,000 pa and his tax rate is 30%. He wants to put away an extra $5,000 a year towards his retirement, but he’s not sure whether the tax advantages to be gained from investing in super are worth tying his money up. His other option is to invest outside super.

Super – Investing in Growth Assets

Helen and Christian each want to invest $100,000 into superannuation. Helen chooses a conservative option with a projected earning rate of 6% pa. Christian is a bit more relaxed and opts for a growth-oriented option, which contains specific growth assets such as shares and property and has a projected return of 8% pa. While his projected return is higher than that of the conservative portfolio Helen has chosen, which invests mostly in cash and fixed interest, Christian’s choice involves more risk.