You don’t need an inner-city address, Caren will help you tackle money matters in the ‘burbs, through a better understanding of all the important issues – investing, superannuation, budgeting, tax, insurance, mortgages, gearing, shares, managed funds, small business, food, home, fashion, travel, and much more.

A fun and entertainingly educational forum, specifically designed for Australian “suburbanites".

Monday, April 26, 2010

A Tale of Two Cultures

I’ve lived in the suburbs and I’ve lived in the city, and the greatest difference I noticed was the two very distinct cultures. For this reason, I can understand why most people feel strongly about one lifestyle over the other.

Personally, I do enjoy both, but I’ve ultimately chosen to settle in suburbia because I believe it suits my personality best.

I’m unashamedly parochial – I like eating at local restaurants, buying local produce, and shopping locally. I positively love the fact that it only takes me 10 minutes and one set of traffic lights to get to work, that I can always find (free) parking, and that I can get a great haircut and colour for $95.

I’ve deliberately foregone proximity to the CBD in favour of a ¼ acre block and a pool in my backyard. Not to mention the smell of barbecues and freshly mowed grass in Summer.

Melbourne is a terrific city, and some of my favourites places to travel include cities like Bangkok, LA, Hanoi, and Singapore City; proving that you can take the proverbial girl out of the burbs, but you can’t take the burbs out of the proverbial girl!

So what does all that have to do with money? Well, again, I guess this comes back to the culture differences. Money and success are typically associated with a city culture, often to the neglect of my lovely suburbia.

Even though we have so much information available to us these days about finance, there’s surprisingly little that specifically tackles “money matters in the burbs”.

That’s where I come in… I’ve been a Financial Planner for over 16 years and I’ve lived in the outer-eastern suburbs of Melbourne most of my life. So I feel I’m pretty well equipped to help you navigate the world of money as it apples to suburbanites.

Over time, I’ll endeavour to cover all the issues that matter to us out in the burbs – the sharemarket, property, superannuation, budgeting, borrowing, paying off the mortgage, managed funds, savings plans, paying for private school education, tax, credit cards, fashion, travel and household spending, Wills, Powers of Attorney, life insurances, gearing, cashflow, Self Managed Superannuation, Small Business and so much more.

I’ll also try and help put financial events into perspective as they occur. Rather than wading through all the various media reports, and trying to understand the jargon, you’ll be able to read my blog for an easy to understand explanation of what’s going on and how it affects you.

Most importantly, everything you read will be easy to understand and hopefully a lot of fun. So let’s get started!!

C