Collins Hume Blog

Insights from Northern Rivers Lending Specialist, David Seymour

During his time in corporate banking David was rated #1 Commercial Manager in NSW, involved in some exciting pilot projects around business development success roadmapping, mentoring and customer management initiatives which live on today.

Originally from Tamworth, David has called the Northern Rivers home since 1980. In all his roles he has enjoyed the challenge of starting small and building a success.

"I'm a people person and I value the importance of relationships," says David. "They help us achieve our goals and aspirations and I get to meet some really good people in the process." 

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A budget, an election and the legislation that hasn't made it through

Next month, on 2 April, Parliament reconvenes for the Federal Budget and it's likely that an election will be called very soon after that (18 May 2019 is the last possible date for the election of the House of Representatives). Any legislation that has not passed when the election is called basically goes back to the drawing board and may never be enacted.

With the focus of politicians firmly on the impending election and the asylum seeker debate, and the Government now in an untenable position following the loss of its majority in the lower house, tidying up outstanding business legislation was not the priority in February, and as a result, several key pieces of legislation are in limbo.  Read more…

What would happen if…

The downside of not planning is the potential for hard-earned assets to be squandered, family fall-outs, and money handed to the Government that could have been distributed in accord with your wishes. If you are a business owner, then the stakes are even higher.

As a population, planning is more important than ever because: 

• The ageing demographic – 1 in 7 of us are now aged 65 and over (3.8 M)
• The baby boomer generation represents only 25% of the population but hold 55% of the wealth
• We are entering a period of intergenerational wealth transfer from the baby boomer generation
• Over the last 25 years there has been an explosion of wealth in Australia

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Easterly Point Environmental

Easterly Point Environmental is a specialist consultancy firm experienced in providing a range of environmental services to clients in the private and public sectors including assessment and management of contaminated land; contaminated land auditing, and radiation surveys and assessments.

Based in the Northern Rivers, business owner and principal Marc Salmon is a contaminated land auditor in New South Wales and Queensland, a CEnvP site contamination specialists, and a member of the Australasian Radiation Protection Society, and was EIANZ's 2017 Environmental Practitioner of the Year. 

Marc has been working with Peter Fowler for over a decade. "Since becoming self-employed in 1998, I have worked with a number of accountants, but Peter is the first who has taken the role from 'tax advisor' to 'business advisor and strategist'. I consistently recommend people in small business/start-ups to call Peter".  Read more…

What are comparison rates?

Several years ago the federal government thought that it was a great idea to make lenders disclose not only the actual rate that they were charging, but also what their effective (or the true cost of a loan) interest rate is. This was done to allow consumers to understand more fully what a loan would cost, and how the various lender offers compared to each other – therefore a 'comparison rate'

The issue is that when you see an advertised rate / comparison rate it is based on one single scenario – usually a loan of $150,000 over a term of 25 years. So, if your loan does not match that scenario the comparison rate is not correct for your circumstances. Your actual comparison rate may be higher or lower. A loan that seems cheaper may well not be when your individual requirements are assessed.

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