# 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) --- [ ![father and child playing on monkey bars](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog/intro-the-question-every-blended-family-wants-answered-but-never-asks-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/the-question-every-blended-family-wants-answered-but-never-asks "The question every blended family wants answered (but never asks)") ## [ 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) --- ### The question every blended family wants to be answered is often 'Does a child in a blended family lose their rights to an inheritance if their step-parent dies? ### A Contractual Will Agreement might provide the answer to this difficult question. Many blended Australian families wanting greater certainty in their estate planning choose to make a *Mirror Will* with their spouse - effectively leaving everything to each other. - [ blending families ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/blending-families) - [ LGBTQIA+ ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/lgbtqia) - [ inheritance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/inheritance) - [ modern estate planning ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/modern-estate-planning) - [ Protective Wills ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/protective-wills) - [ Mirror Wills ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/mirror-wills) - [ Mutual Wills ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/mutual-wills) - [ 🌳 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) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/the-question-every-blended-family-wants-answered-but-never-asks) [ ![father putting sock on young child sitting on grass](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/intro-legal-consequences-of-borrowing-with-others-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/whats-really-at-stake-when-you-borrow-with-others "What's really at stake when you borrow with others?") ## [ What's really at stake when you borrow with others? ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/whats-really-at-stake-when-you-borrow-with-others) --- ### Get clear on what's at stake when you borrow with others ### Understanding 'joint and severally liability loans' and what it means for you. You might think when you take out a joint mortgage with someone else you’re only responsible for your ‘half’ or share of the loan. Think again because this is not the case. - By signing a mortgage contract with someone else, you’re each agreeing to pay off the whole debt if the other can’t – or won’t – pay it. - [ joint and severally liability ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/joint-and-severally-liability) - [ ⚖️ Estate Law & Succession Planning ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/estate-law-succession) - [ 🏠 Wealth Builders & Home Finance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/wealth-builders-home-finance) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/whats-really-at-stake-when-you-borrow-with-others) [ ![carnival ride merry go round](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/intro-think-before-you-refinance-the-mortgage-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/think-before-you-refinance-the-mortgage "Think before you refinance the mortgage") ## [ Think before you refinance the mortgage ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/think-before-you-refinance-the-mortgage) --- ### Refinancing isn’t for everyone or every financial situation. ### Refinancing a mortgage can put you at a better interest rate, but still, increase your debt. Before you jump on the refinance-the-mortgage ride; so here are six occasions when it might not be right for you - [ retiring with debt ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/retiring-with-debt) - [ refinance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/refinance) - [ 🏠 Wealth Builders & Home Finance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/wealth-builders-home-finance) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/think-before-you-refinance-the-mortgage) [ ![The four moneyisms segments](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog-assets/moneyisms/moneyism-4-segments-sapience-financial.png) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/moneyisms "Moneyisms") ## [ Moneyisms ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/moneyisms) --- ### Both successful people and unsuccessful people have very different patterns of thinking about money. ### Not surprising I hear you say, but where do these money attitudes come from? Is it about finding new ideas or more about losing the old ones? - [ moneyisms ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/moneyisms) - [ money habits ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/money-habits) - [ money talk ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/money-talk) - [ 🧠 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/moneyisms) [ ![Australian currency](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog/intro-understanding-lenders-mortgage-insurance-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/understanding-lenders-mortgage-insurance "Understanding lenders mortgage insurance") ## [ Understanding lenders mortgage insurance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/understanding-lenders-mortgage-insurance) --- ### LMI: the good the bad and the ugly. Using lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) is one way to buy a property without having the 20% deposit which is typically required by most lenders. - [ managing the mortgage ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/managing-the-mortgage) - [ refinance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/refinance) - [ LMI ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/lmi) - [ lenders mortgage insurance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/lenders-mortgage-insurance) - [ 🏠 Wealth Builders & Home Finance ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/wealth-builders-home-finance) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/understanding-lenders-mortgage-insurance) [ ![ship mounted telescope](https://mail.sapience.com.au/images/blog/intro-federal-budget-summary-2018-19-sapience-financial.jpg) ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/federal-budget-summary-2018-19 "Federal Budget Summary 2018-19") ## [ Federal Budget Summary 2018-19 ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/federal-budget-summary-2018-19) --- ### Quick Federal Budget Summary. ### The 2018-19 Federal Budget has an emphasis on retirement planning and contains several important considerations which may affect both retirees and pre-retirees, explored further below. - [ federal budet highlights ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/all-tags/federal-budet-highlights) - [ 📰 Sapience General Archive ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/insights/sapience-general-archive) [ Read more … ](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/federal-budget-summary-2018-19) 1. [ New Severity Based Insurance](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/new-severity-based-insurance) 2. [ How to survive a financial train wreck](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/how-to-survive-a-financial-train-wreck) 3. [ What to teach your children about money, before they are 10](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/what-to-teach-your-children-about-money-before-they-are-10) 4. [ Would you prefer to talk with your teenager about sex or money?](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/having-the-money-talk-with-the-kids) 5. [ When is it possible to get early access to my super?](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/when-can-i-get-early-access-to-my-super) 6. [ Who gets your super and its life insurance, when you die?](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/nominating-who-gets-your-super-and-life-insurance) 7. [ How to split expenses as a Couple](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/how-to-split-expenses-as-a-couple) ### [ Modern Small Business Leadership](https://mail.sapience.com.au/blog/modern-small-business) Page 30 of 49