Brad

About Brad Lonergan

Brad Lonergan is a Financial Planner in the Newcastle and Hinter region in NSW, Australia. His company is BMK Financial Services.

7 Tips For Success in a Competitive Job Market

If you’re finding it hard to get started in your chosen career—or your kids are doing it tough—you’re not alone. Many other young Australians are in the same boat, with a high proportion of young people working in part-time hospitality and retail jobs, even when they have uni degrees.

The latest AMP.NATSEM report shows that […]

Retirement Planning and Working Later in Life

Retirement Planning
Tips for taking a freestyle approach to work and retirement

The relationship between work and retirement is changing. Nowadays we expect a lot more from our later years than previous generations—we’re no longer satisfied with treading water and we want to go freestyle.

But with the pension qualification age increasing, people living longer and […]

How Can I Get a Home Loan To Own My Home Sooner?

Owning your own home doesn’t have to be the stuff of dreams. There are several strategies that could help you pay off your home loan sooner. And it doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing the things you love doing today.

The first step towards paying off your home sooner is to understand your loan—how much you owe, […]

Adopting Legacy Planning Over Estate Planning

What Is Legacy Planning?
Legacy planning – providing advice to intergenerational clients that extends beyond wealth transfer – is a critical strategy for retaining client relationships and assets for the long-term.
During the next several decades we will experience the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history. Every year for the next 50 years, $1 trillion will […]

Intergenerational Wealth Transfer Strategies

Intergenerational wealth transfer – or in simpler terms, passing on assets to your family, can be, and often is, a huge issue for all family members concerned. If done well and executed properly, it can make a real difference to the financial position of the recipients. If misjudged or poorly handled, it can cause […]

Investment Property Tax Tips

Things you can claim in this financial year
You may claim costs you’ve incurred to get tenants into (or out of) your investment property. This includes preparing a property for lease including the rental agreement, repairing or maintaining the investment property and even the cost of having a property agent manage the property. If you […]

How Can Property Investment Make Me Better Off?

If you’ve built up some equity over the years, it may be time to look at the options your property investment may give you.

Here are four possibilities that could help you:

You could buy an investment sooner.
Borrowing against the value of your home—which is one way you can access your equity—may enable you to buy […]

How Financial Advice Can Make My Dream Home a Reality

Only you can choose the best home for you. But finding a smart way to buy it will probably take some help. Just like engaging an architect to draw a blueprint of your dream home, you may like to consider speaking to a financial expert for advice on how to plan the best way […]

How Does Dropping Oil Prices Affect Investors?

There’s been a lot of commentary around the recent drop in oil prices, and what it might take for them to recover. Integral to this discussion is the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Saudi Arabia, which produce about 33% and 9% of the world’s oil respectively.

In this article, we examine the factors […]

Australian Investment Update – Newcastle Financial Planning

Australia delivers good company investment earnings
The eagerly anticipated Australian corporate earnings season for the first half of the 2014-2015 financial year unfolded during February. Coming into the season, market analysts were expecting earnings forecasts for industrial companies to be realised, with declines in resources sector earnings offset by better growth among industrial companies.

Overall, more […]