# Blog ### Welcome to our Personal Finance Blog ![Pic of Senior Advisor Drew Browne](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/author-pic/ceo-drew-browne-round.png) Money bewilders most of us. How to spend it, save it, invest it, and how to best protect the person who makes it. These questions we all face daily — a puzzle we all attempt to understand and solve just about every day. Yet despite money's centrality to our lives and businesses, it's something we all grapple with, and mostly in private. - Money is the 'Lord Voldemort' of topics — feared by most and mentioned by a few. It's oddly uncomfortable to discuss socially and rarely even with our partners, parents, and children. Perhaps that's because managing our money and life's risks inevitably involves the fusion of both the emotional and practical aspects of our decision-making processes. **The most difficult of questions are those with both economic and emotional answers**. At Sapience, we're all about **The How**. Our educational **Personal Finance Blog** is for people who want to grow and remain wealthy. And while the journey toward wealth is clearly marked, you still have to be looking in the right direction. ### Explore Our Blog by Speciality Select a speciality below to view our curated specialist insights and practical strategies. [🧠 Evolutionary Finance](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/evolutionary-finance) [🌳 Family, Legacy & Aging](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/family-legacy-aging) [⚖️ Estate Law & Succession Planning](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/estate-law-succession) [🛡️ Specialist Risk & Insurance](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/specialist-risk-insurance) [🤝 Small Business Risk & Partnership](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/small-business-risk-partnership) [🌍 Social Leadership & Conscious Business](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/social-leadership-conscious-business) [🏠 Wealth Builders & Home Finance](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/wealth-builders-home-finance) [📰 Sapience General Archive](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/sapience-general-archive) ![Not made by AI sapience financial](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/icons/not-made-by-AI-sapience-financial-black.png) --- [ ![person relaxing on sofa with cat](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog/intro-if-you-expect-to-retire-you-need-to-upgrade-your-financial-literacy-now-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/if-you-expect-to-retire-you-need-to-upgrade-your-financial-literacy-now "If you expect to retire, you need to upgrade your financial literacy now") ## [ If you expect to retire, you need to upgrade your financial literacy now ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/if-you-expect-to-retire-you-need-to-upgrade-your-financial-literacy-now) --- ### So why do we need to be continually upgrading our financial literacy? ### Because there are increasing numbers of financial decisions needing to be made throughout our retirement, we all need to get used to making better financial decisions now. - [ budgeting ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/budgeting) - [ pre-retirement planning ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/pre-retirement-planning) - [ pensions ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/pensions) - [ super contributions ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/super-contributions) - [ savings ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/savings) - [ 🧠 Evolutionary Finance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/evolutionary-finance) - [ 🏠 Wealth Builders & Home Finance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/wealth-builders-home-finance) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/if-you-expect-to-retire-you-need-to-upgrade-your-financial-literacy-now) [ ![mother with a saucepan over her head watched by a confused baby](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog/intro-stay-at-home-parents-and-tpd-insurance-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/stay-at-home-parents-and-tpd-insurance "Stay at home parents and a glitch in TPD insurance") ## [ Stay at home parents and a glitch in TPD insurance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/stay-at-home-parents-and-tpd-insurance) --- ### The arrival of a new child, either by birth, adoption or some other happy moment brings life-changing times to someone's life. ### Baby proofing a home can feel like a never-ending job constantly scanning the horizon looking for risks to manage. From putting soft pads on hard corners of tables, using soft door guards to keep little fingers from getting caught and moving everything below waist height that's bright, shiny and reachable. - [ family health & safety ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/family-health-safety) - [ super ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/super) - [ total & permanent disability (TPD) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/total-permanent-disability-tpd) - [ family provision ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/family-provision) - [ 🛡️ Specialist Risk & Insurance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/specialist-risk-insurance) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/stay-at-home-parents-and-tpd-insurance) [ ![young family sitting on grass](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog/intro-spouse-contributions-tax-offset-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/spouse-contributions-tax-offset "Make a contribution to your spouses super fund and claim a tax credit yourself") ## [ Make a contribution to your spouses super fund and claim a tax credit yourself ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/spouse-contributions-tax-offset) --- ### When can you make a contribution to your spouses super fund and claim a tax credit yourself? ### If your spouse (wife, husband, de facto or same-sex partner) is a stay at home parent, is a low-income earner, or not working at the moment, chances are they’re not increasing their super and might have little or no super to fund their retirement. The good news is if you want to help you can put money into their super, and you might be eligible for a personal tax offset while helping to create a better future. - [ super ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/super) - [ getting more into super ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/getting-more-into-super) - [ spouse super contribution ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/spouse-super-contribution) - [ 🏠 Wealth Builders & Home Finance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/wealth-builders-home-finance) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/spouse-contributions-tax-offset) [ ![poker machines inside a registered club](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog/intro-your-mortgage-or-your-super-which-one-should-get-your-money-first-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/your-mortgage-or-your-super-which-one-should-get-your-money-first "Your Mortgage or your Super - which one should get your money first?") ## [ Your Mortgage or your Super - which one should get your money first? ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/your-mortgage-or-your-super-which-one-should-get-your-money-first) --- ### Feeling guilty about deciding between paying down your mortgage or topping up your super? After all putting extra money into your mortgage means you can pay off your debt quicker and save interest, but putting extra money into super builds your retirement nest egg. **Sounds like an impossible choice?** - [ super ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/super) - [ mortgage ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/mortgage) - [ savings decisions ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/savings-decisions) - [ risk appetite ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/risk-appetite) - [ 🏠 Wealth Builders & Home Finance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/wealth-builders-home-finance) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/your-mortgage-or-your-super-which-one-should-get-your-money-first) [ ![10 pin bowling alley and bowling ball](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog/intro-hidden-road-toll-victims-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/hidden-road-toll-victims "The hidden victims of our road toll") ## [ The hidden victims of our road toll ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/hidden-road-toll-victims) --- ### The hidden victims of our road toll We all read about the terrible road tolls that affect our modern life. Every day the same stark reality of yet another *death on the roads* tempts us to look away, forcing advertising agencies to use increasingly violent images to get our attention. But today with modern technologies and advances in trauma medicine, more people now survive car accidents. The cost of surviving can be devastating to the survivor and their family in both personal and financial ways. - [ total & permanent disability (TPD) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/total-permanent-disability-tpd) - [ crisis insurance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/crisis-insurance) - [ ⚖️ Estate Law & Succession Planning ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/estate-law-succession) - [ 🛡️ Specialist Risk & Insurance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/specialist-risk-insurance) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/hidden-road-toll-victims) [ ![wearing pink sneakers under white wedding dress](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog/intro-step-families-and-cinderella-situations-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/step-families-and-cinderella-situations "A Modern Day Cinderella Story") ## [ A Modern Day Cinderella Story ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/step-families-and-cinderella-situations) --- ### The Cinderella like tale of Munro-v-Munro and how a simple preventable mistake, broke the hearts of his two daughters To really understand this real-life story, to need to understand two simple legal facts about self-managed super funds: - The trustee of an SMSF has discretion who to give the balance of your SMSF account to when you pass away. - To remove this discretion and ‘bind the decision of the trustee to follow your instructions’, you need to sign a legally recognised Binding Nomination Form, making your wishes clear and override the discretion of the trustee. Sounds simple enough, right? - [ SMSF ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/smsf) - [ binding nominations ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/binding-nominations) - [ ⚖️ Estate Law & Succession Planning ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/estate-law-succession) - [ 🤝 Small Business Risk & Partnership ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/small-business-risk-partnership) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/step-families-and-cinderella-situations) 1. [ Who is your super beneficiary?](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/who-is-my-superannuation-beneficiary) 2. [ What happens if you unconsciously equate money with Status?](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/status-money-beliefs) 3. [ What happens if you unconsciously idolise money?](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/idolise-money-beliefs) 4. [ What happens if you unconsciously Avoid money?](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/avoidant-money-beliefs) 5. [ Can a person with diabetes get life insurance?](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/can-a-person-with-diabetes-get-life-insurance) 6. [ When young families lose a parent](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/when-young-families-lose-a-parent) 7. [ The question every blended family wants answered (but never asks)](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/the-question-every-blended-family-wants-answered-but-never-asks) ### [ Modern Small Business Leadership](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/modern-small-business) Page 28 of 49