FOR 3 PEOPLE WHO ARE VERY HUNGRY OR MAKE THEM SMALLER FOR MORE POLITE FOLK , and SALMON MUFFINS

Mix the salmon with all the veggies, mustard, lemon and add a good grind of black pepper and salt, add a little (say one tablespoon) of corn flour, this helps bind the mixture together.

For three serves lay out the pastry and paint with the milk and egg that has been mixed together, make a dollop of the salmon mixture slightly towards one edge of the pastry leaving room to bring one side to the other. The egg mix makes it stick, so then make a fancy edge with the spoon end of a teaspoon. This will give you three pasties. If you want 6 pasties halve the pastry sheets and use less salmon mix on each one. Paint all over the top with egg mix and place on baking paper in a 185C oven for about 30 minutes (depends on your oven) but till pastry is looking scrumptious.

Garnish with fennel leaves. Serve with spinach salad made with toasted pine nuts , baby spinach, sliced avocado, fine slices of Spanish onion (that‘s the red one) and dress with a little olive oil and a dash of red wine vinegar . Add cherry tomatoes if you like and a few marinated olives.

Our second salmon treat is Salmon muffins:

We use Texas muffin pans but you could use the ordinary ones if you wanted finger food for parties.

Ok , same basic recipe as for the pasties,except for the pastry and add a cup of frozen peas and a couple of anchovies finely shredded.

Mix well together and add one egg yolk and keep the white aside, then add a sifted cup of self raising flour so that you have a sort of slightly sloppy batter.

Beat the egg white till stiff and fold into the batter, careful not to lose the air out of the whites. Now if you only have those very little eggs (you know the 50 gr ones) then use two eggs. We get big 80 to 90 gr ones from the farmers market so we only use one.

Spray or smear olive oil into your muffin pans, half fill your muffin pans and bake at185C till theyare done, a skewer should come out reasonably clean, but will have some sticky bits.

We like these hot or cold with salad, they make great lunch box items. Bill loves chilli sauce on them but then he likes chilli sauce on everything.

A nice fruit chutney or preserved lemons as a garnish is nice as well.

These will not break the budget and you get your fish dinner plus you can do ahead to reheat . You can make the Pasties one big pasty by using two sheets of pastry on the bottom and one on the top and serve cut into slices as a cold dish for a buffet. Looks quite posh with a few fennel leaves draped about.

I usually make both dishes at the same time as cooking temp is the same and most of the ingredients are used in both items. Does fill up the oven and we have easy options for the next few days and great when we have drop in visitors as we do during the holiday period. Just as good for the winter as well, with hot vegies or with a bowl of soup.

Ingredients:

We all should eat good fish, but with humble flat head costing over $30 a kilo and even up to $40, that’s way too expensive for everyday meals.

So how to have nice fish and not break the bank? Watch till quality canned salmon is on the special and buy a few big cans. Pink or red your choice, these recipes work just as well with either.

• 1 can salmon 450g, drained

• 3 sheets frozen puff pastry

• 1 egg and a little milk

• Zest and juice of one lemon

• 3 spring onions, finely chopped

• 1 leek, finely shredded

• 1 small carrot, grated or finely shredded

• Tablespoon of French mustard

• 1 small fennel bulb shredded, keep some of the leaves for garnish

• 1 stem of celery, finely sliced

• 1 tablespoon cornflour

Hope you enjoy Moss Financial Services P/L

Jen’s Christmas Recipe

As is our usual practice we do not send greeting cards but make a donation to those who have less than us. We also have created a tradition of sharing a family favourite recipe.

This year we have had lots of fun trying out our new oven and testing all the potential available. So we have been creating new recipes that work for us and save time, but are very tasty as our household likes tasty meals but not heaps of effort.

We also were taught when we were young that if you are going to light the oven, fill it up to get the most value out of the heat . Thrifty lot my ancestors.

So here are a couple of easy but not too expensive ideas we have come up with to have good leftovers and save time on busy days.

Jen’s Note, December 2010

How different the countryside looks compared to this time last year. Lots of green and full dams, gardens weighed down with blooms, albeit they are very wet as well. The political scene is different as well, the national parliament led by Queen Julia has us all bored to snores banging on about “gay marriage” which does not seemed to be too gay at all if anyone remembers the true meaning of the word gay. …….

Many people are still profoundly concerned about the cost of living and the threat of higher power bills and are hard pressed to see the benefit of a desalination plant that is likely to be flooded by high spring tides and prove to be useless. Rising interest rates and lawless behaviour on our streets are the things that worry many.

It has been fascinating the last few weeks as the local councils offer the annual hard rubbish collection to see how much that is put on the streets is seen as treasures by blokes with utes. The question is how many women next year will wait till he is at the cricket to drag that same rubbish out to be removed again. I suppose some will be recycled into outdoor spots for beer or ingenious homemade barbeques but I do wonder at the imagination that sees dismantled wall units that have clearly been out in the yard for years as worthy of reclamation. Still, it may be a trend to recycling that has not quite got the idea of practical uses, rather than just sticking stuff in the shed that may come in handy one day.

Having finally finished with the builders we have embarked of a general yard cleanup. We have come to the conclusion that our outdoor activity ambitions are greater than our capacity to carry them out, so a splendid range of surplus pots and other bits and pieces including old bathtubs that he was going to grow a range of special spuds in have been moved on to another life somewhere to tempt someone else to similar horticultural dreaming.

Not sure how we would have stored many of the promised kilos of potatoes he planned, but we will keep to herbs and veggies that we do use in large amounts like spinach and parsley and other herbs. Will try for tomatoes again this year but it will probably be too wet and we will have mould problems. Ahh, the challenges of veggie growing.

The share market has pretty well just marked time for most of this year but the main comfort has been that dividends have been paid to produce that precious item cash flow and income. Many people are still concerned that the market has not yet reached the dizzy heights of three years ago but the previous twenty years of return were really not the usual returns that are traditional for the share market in Australia.

So what can we expect for the next few years? Well I think we will return to the more normal performance that those of us with grey hair know to be the “real normal” which is now called the “new normal” by the young guns in the financial services industry.

China will for some time be our major consumer of our three key exports, iron ore, iron ore and iron ore. Yes they do take food and other commodities but iron ore is the major item. But some day China will have enough railroads and new multi-storey buildings and we will need another major buyer of iron ore; perhaps the most likely will be India.

When I was learning how to be an adviser the men that trained me had been investors themselves for many years and had run trustee companies and were directors of major financial services businesses. A couple of them even owned their own stock exchange seats before the Stock Exchange became a public company. So these fellows had deep experience of what markets can do and what is a reasonable expectation of returns for all classes of investment over long term periods.

I thought that you might like to know what these expected returns were. Well for shares , it was between 4% and 8% over any ten year period, and that was before franking credits, so such a return with franking credits is quite good. Residential property was 1% to 3% over ten years and the same over twenty years, so I would not expect any great rises in property prices for the next ten years as property is overpriced now. Fixed interest had an expected return of around 3% to 5% fully taxed, so you will never keep up with inflation on fixed interest.

Now why did I bring this up? Well last week I attended a seminar at which an economist spoke and was telling us about the “new normal”. Gosh, if you wait long enough everything comes back into fashion , but the trouble is it is never quite the same; new tax rates can considerably alter your real returns. What I believe is likely to be the outlook for the next few years is not flash but OK, unless the Koreans really do something very foolish as well they may.

The Europeans are going to come to terms with the idea of the Common Market not being truly a feasible concept. I think the Germans and French are just about over it and the Greeks, the Irish, Spain and Portugal will just carry on as they always have, drinking wine enjoying the sunshine and not taking themselves too seriously.

The rest of us will just do what we always do, heads down tails up and work. Aussies are among the hardest working folk on earth, I wonder sometimes where the idea that we all sit on the beach and vegetate came from. Perhaps it was those tourist promotions to overseas that give the impression that it is all sun and surf, no mention of floods and drought and bushfires.

Speaking of vegetating, we will be having a little more break this year than usual as both Rose and me had a nasty bug that has left us a bit run down so we decided that a little more time off will give us a flying start for 2011.

The office will close at 4pm Monday 20 December and reopen Thursday, January 27, 2011.

The phones and email will be monitored during that time.

We wish you all the very best you wish for yourselves for the holiday season

Jen, Rose and the canine receptionist Lina, who sends a very special big grin and tail wag

Lina the Canine Receptionist!

Moss Financial Services P/L
P O Box 143, Carnegie VIC 3163 Phone (03) 9578 7771 Fax (03) 9578 7781

Given that we have had a major downfall of rain this October we hope that your home is still attached firmly to the ground and has not floated off like Noah’s Ark. When I was young my grandfather used to say “all will all be the same in 100 years”. Now I never did quite understand what he was saying but my guess is that he meant that people do not change, there will always be optimists and pessimists and until recently that seemed to be a very reasonable point of view.

Recent studies in the USA have established that we become more optimistic with age. Now that is a very fine thing, but it does give pause for thought. We could never understand why retirees were being caught up in very risky investments; surely their experience over time would have taught them to be more cautious with their hard earned savings? Why did they believe the promises of wonderful returns when they had had the experience of good times and bad times?

Well it seems that the factor of age related optimism clouded their judgement. This is why so many people have lost their money with companies like Storm Financial. It appears that these people had a wish and belief that all would be well and they never considered, in making the decision to invest, how they would be if they lost most of their money, or lost their homes.

Although we understand that most people prefer to keep their financial affairs to themselves and in many cases for very good reasons when there has been concerns with various family members perhaps having problems with money management or substance abuse or just plain silliness with regard to money, it would be prudent not to rush into making decisions without considering the long term implications if the investment does not live up to expectations.

This is one reason why we believe that self managed super funds can be a problem as member trustees age and no longer keep abreast of changes in legislation or even just the day to day issues involved with having a fund of which you are the trustee and you take all the risk with compliance and investment choices. As we get older it can be difficult to keep up with all the change that is going on in the world and at times wonder if all the old rules we were brought up to think were wise and sensible for the society we live in to observe have been cast aside.

But I guess Grandpa was right at least about people, they do not change. Wise people remain wise and silly people remain silly, but what has changed is the speed and amount of information we receive each day. You see people every day texting or on their mobile phones downloading the latest news which they seem to accept as the absolute truth about any matter because they do not take the time to ask themselves is this really likely to be so or is it simply the poor reporting of an overtaxed journalist.

We have all become victims of information overload, but when it comes to investing it is wise to stop and think if you really understand what is being suggested and is the possibility of the suggested outcome realistic.

Recently we have had to replace several domestic appliances, partly because of the new kitchen but some simply because of age. We now have an assembly of appliances that squeak, beep, ring bells and generally make a fuss when we do not respond to their demands quickly enough. The final straw yesterday was when the washing machine just purchased last week demanded help because the load had become unbalanced.

It is wonderful to have all new appliances, especially as the drum fell out of the old washing machine as the new one was installed. ( I had hoped to use the old one for washing the canine receptionists’ various beds and mats), but I do wish that computer buttons were: (A) big enough to see without glasses (B) did behave as it is suggested they will in the operating manual or (C) they all came with a 10 year old boy to get the settings right so we can be confident that the fridge is at the right setting and the oven will clean itself and the washing machine will not have a nervous breakdown or reoccurring hissy fits.

Still I have been assured that I will save lots of money on power bills, that they will outlast the warranties, and what ever happened to lifetime promises of good service. Two years does not really inspire confidence, but they are all nice and shiny and full of promise so we will see if they all live up to the promises.

The Reserve Bank did raise interest rates on Cup Day and the banks were quick to follow. I am not sure that this was necessary as clearly the banks are doing rather well at present, especially the senior management. But it is not likely that the Government can do very much unless they are prepared to consider nationalising the banks again. Now that would be a very brave move and would not have an easy passage through the House.

We have had a good look at the Queensland Rail offer and think that you can do better with your money elsewhere. There is little interest from the major fund managers as it is thought the price is too high. Perhaps it will be better value in a few years time.

The rain has our veggie patch looking most promising; we hope yours is as well .Will try again this year for tomatoes, last year they cooked on the bush. The rain has done wonders for our roses; some have flowered for the first time in several years.

It is seven weeks to Christmas and I know many people are dreading the rush and bustle of getting everything ready and doing all the shopping. As I only buy presents for little kids, again this year I have done my shopping on the net . The shop I use is called Millie Molly Moo, it is in Portland Victoria and they are most helpful to aunties who are not that clued up on what is suitable for each age group. Lovely hand made toys and kids’ clothes, all very creative and really good prices.

This year we will be having all our family together at our house for Christmas so we are going to settle for a barbeque. That way the boys pitch in and no sweating over a hot stove, works for me.

Keep well and enjoy the sunshine

Jen, Rose and of course you know who, Lina the canine receptionist

Lina the Canine Receptionist!

Moss Financial Services P/L
P O Box 143, Carnegie VIC 3163 Phone (03) 9578 7771 Fax (03) 9578 7781

Well October is here and spring has well and truly sprung. We had the wettest September for 100 years and it seems as if the Southern Oscillation Index is indicating that the longest drought we have had for three generations may be slowly drawing to a close.

That is something to be very thankful for and also be grateful for the lessons we have all learnt about just how little water we can use if we have to. The dams are not all full yet and it would have made more sense if the government had kept the water restrictions in place till the dams were full again to capacity. But the governments are about getting themselves re-elected rather than having the courage to be thinkers for the generations to come.

The Australian dollar is quite high against the US dollar and there is speculation that it could reach parity, which is wonderful if you are an importer or want to travel overseas. But the downside is that it makes our exports more expensive to sell to other countries and it really does discourage tourists. We need to sell our goods overseas and we really need to have tourists visit in great numbers, as we depend on them to keep many small businesses alive and prosperous.

Given that small business is the major employer in our country and significant numbers of those businesses are regional and tourism based, having our dollar at parity with the US dollar maybe is not such a great advantage to those who are not importers and travellers.

It is also discouraging to businesses that are still trying to maintain some manufacturing base here. We are an innovative people but if all our good ideas have to go to China or India to be manufactured then it can make things just too hard for innovators to persist.

One thing that would push our dollar higher is if the Reserve Bank lifts the interest rates but that would most unhelpful in maintaining the steady growth we are having presently. The cost of money has a significant impact on the capacity of businesses to employ.

We will have a large group of young people looking to join the workforce early next year as they leave university and high school and seek work in the professions and trades as well as retail and other areas.

Potential employers will need to be able to access funds at a reasonable price to be able to provide jobs. It seems to me better to have people employed rather than collecting unemployment so that they can become contributors to the country and benefit themselves.

We are looking at the float of Queensland Rail, the price as yet is unclear and we will know further later in the month. Sometimes it is better to buy after the float than buy the float. We will wait and evaluate once pricing is known.

The share market in general is rising even though we do have days of retreat. In fact we expect that it will come back during October but after that things are looking pretty good. Our companies have been very diligent during the tough times in cleaning up their account books and reducing debt.

The only thing that may be a disappointment to passionate shoppers is that we think the days of the reduced prices on retail goods by Myer and David Jones are coming to an end. Having everything for sale at reduced prices has reduced their profits even though it has kept shoppers shopping. Most people must have all they need at present and it will take something special to get them spending again.

We understand that the recycle shops and charity shops are doing very well. Many have large signs asking for goods to sell in their windows as they cannot keep up with demand. Young people are discovering what many of us older folk knew long ago, that there is good value in the op shop if you shop carefully.

We still are using a chesterfield sofa and chairs that we bought from the Mission of St James & St John in Chapel Street in 1969; they have been recovered a few times and now have increased in value since they became antiques. We paid off the set by lay by as it was a whole $12.00. A friend staying with at us present is enjoying a small “mother’s nursing rocking chair we bought for $40 about ten years ago so there are good outcomes from recycling.

Although the economy is generally on the improve we still think it is wise to reduce debt and look to what savings we can all make in our daily living so that we can add to our super accounts or just savings accounts. Most people in the work force should have at least 6 months living expenses in a term deposit to carry them over in case they lose a job or have some other emergency.

You see many advertisements on TV now for life insurance; they seem to be offering very keen rates. This is because they are not doing individual underwriting. When you look at the costs it is usually less expensive to have your life cover organized by a financial adviser or insurance broker as they have access to keener pricing from a range of companies.

Life insurance is really about having a safety net in case you are ill and cannot work or suffer a calamity like a major health crisis or accident. Having quality life cover does give you choices about how you can manage these events. If you have not reviewed your life cover or do not have life cover a good spring resolution is to check out just what will work for you.

Enjoy the warmer weather, it has been a long cold winter and we all deserve some sunshine.

Keep well,

Jen Rose and you know who Lina the canine receptionist

Lina the Canine Receptionist!

Moss Financial Services P/L
P O Box 143, Carnegie VIC 3163 Phone (03) 9578 7771 Fax (03) 9578 7781

We still do not yet have a clear outcome from the Federal election and I wonder if the reason is that politicians have not been communicating with the electorate very well or whether or not there is a significant percentage of the population that is just so unsure of what to think that “donkey votes” skewed the outcome to all our detriment.

One thing that has puzzled me for some years now is why we do not have students demonstrating about some of the important issues that we all face as a nation or just even the issues that concern students. We do not even seem to have the student “rag days “that were part and parcel of a thinking student body. The need to push the boundaries and be passionate about something other than sport is an important part of a vibrant thinking community.

You would think that now is a time that students could really push thinking by raising issues of national importance while we had a “hung parliament”. Surely this is the time to push for change for better outcomes for investment into research and the sciences.

We have many overseas and immigrant students that have a clear understanding of the virtues of higher education and they have their heads down and tails up working fulltime in pursuit of their goals. That many are studying the sciences as well as business indicates that there is a passion for success which perhaps the children of our baby boomers and their grandchildren, who have been brought up with a sense of entitlement and very false idea that they will have success without the hard work, simply do not have.

If Australia is to maintain a positive and profitable relationship with the rest of the world as well as develop new jobs to replace the ones that have gone to lower labour cost countries we need our young people to do the training in the sciences that will create new industries that can save us from global warming or whatever climate change concern is current.

Once we had a world reputation of being a very innovative nation that found ways to do things better and with less labour than before. Now we seem to be a nation of over indulged sports “stars” and minor characters that are notorious for having charge of a microphone from time to time or the wherewithal to buy over priced clothing that covers rather small portions of their bodies and being photographed clutching glasses of fizzy alcoholic drinks.

Of course it just could be that my view is becoming a little old fashioned and I have not grasped the finer points of modern life. If we are to have a vibrant and happy population then we need to have the same virtues in our economy; challenging work that provides quality outcomes by way of goods and services. A well educated workforce that can carry out these tasks will be the basis for the prosperity that follows.

So perhaps I should not be concerned that the student population is not revolting and is focused on their education, leaving the protesting to those who have time to “blog” on the web and offer opinions that have a concerning similarity to the very worst of talk back radio. But it is a free country and we are all entitled to our own particular opinions of governments and other matters. Which brings me back to my point of do we have a government that listens or will we have a government that listens?

At this stage that remains to be seen, but at least we have had a robust political discussion for the first time in many years. With luck which ever party gets in we should have a more responsive attitude to public concerns.

With all the rain we have become used to Miss Lina the canine receptionist taking a puddle bath on her morning walks. Even the coldest weather does not deter her. Chasing balls does get her hot but we would prefer she did not pick muddy puddles especially when there are perfectly nice clean ones with grassy bottoms.

We have had so much rain that the star magnolia has flowered for the first time in a few years, such a treat along with a heap of violets and white daphne. It all does smell so good. Perhaps this year we will all have more success in our veggie gardens; last year our tomatoes did not thrive through lack of water and then what did grow cooked on the bushes.

Gardening is certainly the activity of optimists. Not sure I think that easing the water restrictions is such a good idea though, 40% capacity is a long way from full capacity for our dams, and although good rains are possible with the breaking of the drought it is never wise to count your chickens before they hatch. There is no guarantee that we will get the rain and might need to have the more severe restrictions reinstated.

But let’s all hope the rains come and the share market continues to make steady progress and we can finally buy asparagus that does not come from Peru and garlic that does not come from China or Mexico. Local and fresh is much better. It has been so cold we have missed out on a whole month of local asparagus. It is one of the things that are harbingers of Spring, like daffodils and wattle.

So let’s all look forward to sunshine, buttercups and roses as the song goes , hope you have mostly escaped the flu bugs that have been around and if you haven’t that you are feeling better very soon.

Jen, Rose and the wee snoozing critter at my feet Miss Lina the canine receptionist.

Lina the Canine Receptionist!

Moss Financial Services P/L
P O Box 143, Carnegie VIC 3163 Phone (03) 9578 7771 Fax (03) 9578 7781

Halfway through an election campaign it is very clear that Australians are not being offered what they really want as elected representatives. By any measure we are faced with a personality contest and very few carefully considered policies that give guidance to voters as to which party they think will provide the better outcome for the long term.

Gender aside, what we need is the best party and person for the job of leading the country with consideration of all our long term futures. Australia was once called the “Lucky Country” and indeed it was. Most anyone who could be disciplined enough to save for the deposit on a home could buy a home of their own and be confident that they could pay it off. Now because of the neglect of various governments over many years we have a housing shortage forcing house and land prices beyond the reach of that majority of Aussies who do not earn fabulous salaries, and get huge bonuses.

Neglect of infrastructure to run quality public transport and generate electricity plus roads and ports are now costing taxpayers billions, to say nothing of the failure to build dams to secure our water supplies.

The old saying a “stitch in time saves nine” clearly is not part of the current generation of politicians thinking. Neglect of real forethought and planning by state governments has damaged our capacity to really compete with efficiency. The idea of the public being given free rides as an apology for the failure of the trains to run does nothing to recoup the damage done to business for the lost time.

A recent trip I made into East Melbourne during the peak hour took one hour and forty minutes. I could have driven most of the way to Inverloch in the same time at the same time. Committees and looking in to things by both state and federal governments must be replaced by active political will to do the work that politicians are elected to do.

The idea of having 150 people involved in a citizens committee to look into a carbon management program has to be the most ludicrous thing ever proposed by any party. The cost of bring a bunch of amateurs up the speed on such a subject beggars the imagination. We elect politicians to do the job of managing the country, they are well paid for the task and it is time the shirking stopped and sensible well researched and costed action was taken to provide the outcomes of a solid economy, confidence in investment, and surety in the view the rest of the world takes of us.

That way we would again enjoy the confidence of the world‘s financial sector so that we can have well priced investment to build infrastructure and have investment in many of our new environmentally based industries. Australia has some leading edge technology that is leaving the country to be developed to commercial viability by overseas interests.

It is to be hoped that whatever party wins government encourages people to save for the future whether it is through superannuation or other investments. Up until the 1970s any life insurance you had for your family and personal security was a tax deductible item and I cannot but think that many people would be able to afford a proper life insurance program if this was so today. Dropping the state taxes on all forms of insurance would also assist. Perhaps it is high time we all started to be more forthright in contacting our elected representatives and demanding that they apply themselves to governing the country to our benefit and not to just winning the next election.

We desperately need leaders of vision and courage who can serve our country as we deserve it to be served. One of the reasons that China has become such a powerhouse in the world economy is that their leaders , whether you agree with their version of democracy or not have been prepared to do what is right for China and its people for the long term, not just the term of a government but for the generations to come.

They may not get it right every time but they do not allow other countries to dictate policy, nor are they led by the nose to adopt popular ideas just because the loudest voices are being bullies in the international forums.

As a nation we need to consider very carefully issues like who can buy up farming land and our mines or we will find ourselves poor tenants in our own land. These are the real issues, not carbon taxes.

If we as a country are really serious about climate change then may I humbly suggest that a quality public transport and freight system would relieve our roads of thousands of vehicles stationary and idling at railway crossing for up to 15 minutes at a time? Make all new building utilise solar energy as far as possible, build dams for water storage rather than desalination plants that take enormous amounts of coal generated power to produce potable water. The technology to make brown coal clean burning exists today and there is a small test plant operating at Yallourn currently. It was built to prove the technology to Chinese companies that wanted to buy the system.

This same system also produces clean drinking water from the de watered coal; we can do wonderful things in this country as we have been known for generations as a country of innovation. Taxing companies for producing carbon is as silly as trying to stop cows and sheep farting methane gas. Better to plant millions of trees to stabilise the water table, reduce salinity and return our land to higher levels of production.

I will now descend from my soapbox and hope that you are all keeping good health this nice chilly winter just like the ones we have in a non drought year, and look forward to nice spring veggies and flowers.

Lina the canine reception is sleeping peacefully and must be dreaming as she is peddling away and snoring. Very funny to watch, as Rose says, cosy doggie and very happy doggie.

With wishes for a new government that will be to all our benefit,

Jen, Rose and Lina who is sleeping on the job.

Lina the Canine Receptionist!

Moss Financial Services P/L
P O Box 143, Carnegie VIC 3163 Phone (03) 9578 7771 Fax (03) 9578 7781

The one thing you can be certain of these days is that you will face challenge and change. Kevin Rudd is contemplating his future, Julia Gillard seems to think hers is pretty well clear and several politicians are wondering just where they stand or if they will stand at the next imminent election.

Politics does have an effect on the economy, but the government of the day has an even greater impact on just how confident people feel about the state of the economy and how wealthy or poor most people regard themselves. The activities of a government also affect just how other countries and investors in those countries regard Australia as a suitable place to make investments.

Presently we have lost the faith of most of the overseas investors because of the harsh tax regime we have and the tendency of the current government to keep changing policy in line with how loud any group yells or because the program has been poorly thought through if it has been thought through at all. Even though we did seem to survive the Global Financial Crisis relatively unscathed a price will be paid for the squandering of the reserves that had been built up by the previous government that were simply given away instead of being invested into projects that built up much depleted infrastructure.

Well how are we set for the next year and beyond? The USA still struggles to bring it’s financial sector under control, we still are spending millions of dollars sending troops overseas to fight unwinnable wars with the tragic loss of young lives .We still face housing shortages and the cost of housing is still a significant barrier to entry for young people wanting to establish family homes. As has been the case now for many years it does appear that to afford a home both parents must work at least one full time and one part time.

The cost of child rearing is a problem that affects us all as business will face the added costs of mothers at home who in many cases are on paid child care leave. The proposal that day time child care costs should be tax deductible (which has been around for at least 35 years that I am aware of) may at last start to get traction.

PM Gillard has made some progress on the extra tax proposed for mining companies but there are still many details of this tax to be sorted out and it is by no means a done deal. The election may not be the smooth transition from one term to another that the Labour Party hopes for. The worst outcome would be a hung parliament that would force an election too soon after the first, which would guarantee an angry electorate to say nothing of the cost to the tax payer.

The share market is trying to find a solid base point to move forward as the events overseas have shown that many countries have significant problems to resolve from the GFC. Profits for most Australian companies are solid even if the share price is down.

The likelihood of growth in the economy is quite good although at a modest level if we can have stable behaviour from the government and keep interest rates at the current level.

So it will be steady as she goes for the next 12 months and now it is very clear that the farmers are enjoying the results of the drought having well and truly broken given that Lake Eyre has filled for the second time in twenty years.

As the water percolates into the underground storage then broad acre grazing and cropping can again produce the levels of food that we need to boost our exports. Many properties are now being managed in more economic and sustainable ways that will cement good practice for generations to come.

The sabotage of vegetable seeding and crops in the Bowen district will be responsible for high prices during spring this year. So you may like to think about planting some veggies like lettuce and herbs as well as spring onions and maybe tomatoes. You may even be able to set some seeds in the next few weeks indoors and then plant them out when frosty nights have passed.

At least the cold weather has brought good snow which will in turn boost the water reserves. We still are going through the building dramas. I am convinced that trades people and their activities are rather like gas. They expand to fill all available space.

We do hope that about 3 more weeks should see the end and then our home is ours again. Highly recommend the process for forcing you to get rid of junk and stuff you really do not need. The Salvation Army has done pretty well and will still benefit once I can convince someone to let go of some of his many books and tools he will never use again.

Do keep warm and well, the shortest day has past and you now have 17 minutes of extra light a day. Cook up lots of nice warming soup, and have friends in for soup and a chat instead of sitting on footpaths drinking coffee in the cold. Cannot for the life of me work out why you would sit out in the cold shivering to drink coffee.

Miss Lina is happy to inform you she now has her winter coat on , but we do wish she had taken her summer one off in one day instead of two weeks of shedding black hair in every nook and cranny.

Happy Financial New Year

Jen, Rose and of course Lina the canine receptionist

Lina the Canine Receptionist!

Moss Financial Services P/L
P O Box 143, Carnegie VIC 3163 Phone (03) 9578 7771 Fax (03) 9578 7781

As the end of the financial year draws near we have again seen the share market test new lows. This time however we cannot put all the blame on overseas events. This time it is largely the actions of our own government that is causing the falls. The word has gone out to overseas investors to sell Australia. The proposed 40% extra tax on mining companies has made investors fearful that such a gross tax will flow on to other business sectors like the financial sector or technology sectors.

One reason why the interest rates were not increased by the Reserve Bank last week was simply that although they keep banging on about inflation the reality is that there is no inflation and the more likely risk is stagflation. That means that we have poor growth prospects because business is not being supported sufficiently by genuine opportunity that comes from real demand, rather than government stimulus, school building programs and insulation programs.

Such activities give false indications of the true state of the economy and as they cannot be sustained, reality can come as a shock to businesses that based their projections on such programs. All round the world countries that had stimulus programs are closing them down as the governments cannot afford to maintain them.

For those of you who are considering making extra superannuation contributions you should do it soon rather than leave to the last minute. You should also be careful of the contributions caps. If you are not sure do contact us so we can help you make sure you do not exceed your caps and get a nasty tax bill.

June 30 falls on a Wednesday this year so you need to be sure that you have the super contribution to your super fund by Friday the week before. It takes some time for contributions to be processed by the trustees and if they are not completed in time then there is the risk of losing your tax deduction.

The financial world in Australia is expecting an early Federal election, possibly as early as August or September. There is a state election due in Victoria this year as well, so apart from the schools and churches having their fund raising stalls and sausage sizzles at the polling booth, which is a real benefit to those organizations, there is a desperate need to have a clear vision for the economy.

Having our biggest industries in conflict with the government is not doing our economy any good, nor does it do our overseas reputation any good with those who are keen to do business with Australian companies. Many overseas investors are now standing on the sidelines waiting to see which way our economy will go under the proposed resources tax. They are doing this because it affects their pricing on commodities that they would buy. If we are going to be too expensive they will go elsewhere and Aussie jobs will go with them.

June does always seem to be the wet and gloomy month of the year, but wandering around the garden this morning I was cheered to see buds on my daphne plants. Knowing that June 21 is the equinox and that we will start to get a minute a day  more daylight each morning, looking forward to longer days and spring is a most cheery thought .

Our new kitchen has given a whole new aspect to cooking again, so the weekend pot of chicken soup was a great joy. You know the sort of soup; lots of veggies and herbs and lots of chicken, we use about eight skinless thigh pieces and some macaroni. Jewish penicillin we call it; we both had sore throats but two days of good soup and we both feel like brand new.Lina the canine receptionist just loves chicken soup especially if she is having some when we are.

Looking at the weekend papers and all the people who get their pictures in the paper as a regular thing, it was interesting to see the rubbishy tack that they think enhances their lives and it made me think about what I really look forward to having. We like to eat the food of the seasons, so one of the delights I really enjoy is the return of navel oranges in the winter, and new seasons white onions to make sauce for tripe or fish.
Come August and it is the asparagus, cherries in November, home grown tomatoes in summer and fresh pears in autumn. Guess I will never be a fashionista. But looking forward to simple things that are within anyone’s reach is more likely to make people happy than the latest fancy handbag or shoes to fall off and break your ankle.

Our new back verandah is a delight as well; comfy old wicker chairs, hot coffee and the weekend newspapers plus a good cd playing and a snoozy dog at our feet. Beats getting in a plane to fly for several hours to sit on somebodies else’s verandah at great expense to do the same thing.

Builders and tradespeople do add a lot of comfort to life but gosh it is good when they all go home not to come back.

So keep warm, make a few pots of veggie soup, listen to some good music, borrow a few books from the library, put your feet up and relax and think about how lovely spring will be. Now don’t get too down hearted about maybe having to go out to vote in the cold, it will be good for your portfolio.
Best wishes and keep well,

Jen, Rose and Lina the Canine Receptionist

Lina the Canine Receptionist!

Have just spent a few days away whilst our kitchen is being renovated, it has been very interesting to see just how much angst has been generated in the business sector by a government that is driven by the concept that throwing money at a problem will fix it.

Rather like renovating, as distinct from build from scratch, there is always a problem that was not foreseen. In our case it appears we had been walking on air and lino for some time and the oven door falling off the stove and the dishwasher making odd grinding sounds were valuable warning of our impending fall. The solution of course was to totally replace the floor and subfloor so that all the nice new shiny appliances will not sink slowly into the ground with us following. Fortunately I had a fair idea that things were not well underfoot and so warned the builder of the potential problem.

So it should have been with the school building , insulation projects , alternative power project and many more that now have created more chaos than if some more time had been taken to properly plan just what would work , exactly what it would cost and what the worst and best outcomes could be.

The interest rate rise we had this week will only add to inflation. Most of the price rises in recent times have been from the rising cost of living, with more expensive food, fuel and utilities as well as school fees, medical insurance and cost of tradesmen. Not having built sufficient infrastructure to allow the building of more housing, plus maintaining a very high level of immigration, the situation is not helped by a government spending what it does not have to spend and actively discouraging saving. Add to that the worrisome state of aged care and health care and we can only despair for the future for our young people and the frail aged.

The rising prices for housing are simply because of lack of enough housing to meet the needs of the population. A simple example of supply and demand, it works the same as your fruit and veggie prices, if the banana plantations are knocked out by a storm then bananas become more expensive till the next seasons crop is available.

The federal budget is due and we can expect the usual ham fisted messing about with threats to your savings by claiming to provide more equality for “working families”. So far working families have been dealt some pretty hard blows to their super funds and savings in general. Limiting what people can save towards their retirement makes no sense at all and then to tax success in the resource sector with a Super Profit tax is totally weird. I have been in business for all my adult life and have read many, many annual reports from both public and private companies. Never have I ever seen a super profit that deserved to have an extra 40% tax liability. In fact I have never seen a super profit, just fair profits that are the result of good planning by well run companies with hard working employees.

Now I know I have got a bit off my bike but it grieves me to see that those who have worked hard and done their best to be thrifty and save for their old age by investing in Australian companies should be threatened by ill considered ignorant tax grabs that will push more people onto Centrelink payments than would have ever have been necessary previously.

Australian super funds are a major and valuable part of the investment scene. Every Australian who has a super fund invests in the Australian share market either directly or indirectly. Any tax regime that threatens the profitability of companies’ through reducing their potential to succeed and be totally competitive on the global markets should be considered a threat to working families’ savings and financial security.

One aspect that gave me great delight while I was on a few days holiday was to see how much the recent rains have improved the country side.  Farmers have started to restock and there is the real potential of good growth of fodder. Talking to some of them they are feeling much more sanguine about the future. They just hope our dollar does not get too high and they can enjoy a fair go in the export markets.

We enjoyed a really lovely sight one evening when sitting on the balcony and it was one of the few days that did not pour down with rain.  It was the mob of wallabies grazing the lawn in front of our villa and a young family of toddlers absolutely gob smacked to see the beasts within a couple of metres of where they were standing.

No TV program or computer game can every take the place of sharing space with nature going about its business of daily living.  These little ones were near us next morning when we were out and were full of the wonder of telling about the “wobblies”.  Their parents were very thrilled as well; they had managed to take some lovely photos with their phone of the children looking at the “wobblies”.

Their plan was to make the photo into a Christmas card, great idea. My best experience was to have a large flock of pink and grey galahs visit at breakfast, cheeky birds, at times total pests but they have style and a fine dress sense. Nature does put together wonderful designs, the flock of Eastern Rosellas flashing red and green diving onto the lawn to pick over the grass after the lawnmower man had moved on was fun as well.

My partner Bill has always reckoned that Winter starts on Anzac Day and this time he was right. It has now become quite cold at night so that is the time to dig out your best soup recipes, warm slippers and a good book  and relax and take time to enjoy the pleasures of Winter so that we can look forward to the Spring and the new joys that will bring.

Keep warm and well,

Jen, Rose and Lina the Canine Receptionist

Lina the Canine Receptionist!

As I write the share market is the highest it has been since November 2008.  Does this mean that the economy is in great shape?  I think not, but what it does mean is that there is more confidence in the belief that the economy will recover.

Many people are buying shares through their super funds before the May Federal Budget and others are taking the opportunity to buy very sound companies at very good prices. Will the Budget affect the markets? Well they always do in some way, and this time the Treasurer has been fairly candid about “hitting the wealthy”.

Just why they think that is a good idea is beyond me. I saw the damage that did during the Whitlam era when the wealthy were penalised simply for being successful. When this type of small minded behaviour happens it does far more damage to those who can least afford it than to anyone else.

What happens is this; the wealthy stop spending. So what happens then? They have small private dinners at home, they decide not to buy the designer clothes, and they decide to only have a facial every couple of months instead of every month. They postpone the house renovation and drop the regular fresh flowers every week and just have them for special occasions.  The cleaners come once a fortnight instead of every week and the landscape gardener is replaced by Jim’s Mowing once a month.

In short, the people who need the work that the wealthy provide lose out.  It also follows that stores reduce their inventories so that spur of the moment sale is lost when someone has to wait for their size to come in, or the new couch is cancelled once someone has a chance to rethink if they really need the new couch. They hang on to the current car rather than buy a new one and they go to cheaper restaurants and not as often as they did before.
That’s where the job losses will build from, not just from the effect of the global crisis. We must have the Federal Government take action to provide confidence in the economy by stimulating investment in infrastructure, such as the much mooted Broadband national network. We need to upgrade our ports, the railways and hospitals. Education needs to be improved so that our children do not leave school with the vocabulary of texting rather than the ability to express themselves and their ideas in sound terms .They need the mathematical skills and analytical skills to make their way in a world that may be very high tech, but still needs creative thinkers to keep our nation abreast with the rest of the world.

There have been lots of suggestions that the Budget will affect superannuation. Well that would not be a surprise;  I have given up keeping track of the changes in relation to super. If I remember correctly it was about 2000 changes between 1984 and the mid 1990’s and we lived through all that so I guess we will cope with the next lot.

The next few months will still be difficult for everyone who depends on others buying their goods and services. Those who are employed should be thankful and take the opportunity to build themselves a sound base of financial security by saving as much as they can and only paying cash for goods and services purchased and not using credit for non essential or indeed essential expenses.

It’ s surprising how much you can do without if you only spend cash and do not use your credit card. The people who are going to learn bitter ,but life changing lessons are those young people who  have had good jobs and spent everything that they earned and then topped that up with credit card debt. These are the very people who are most at risk of losing jobs and who will find it harder to become reemployed.

Older workers are going to remain employed for longer and employers find them stable and reliable. The show pony employee will be at risk if there are to be job cuts. All workers should aim to save at least six months living expenses as a backstop to provide for them if they lose their job. A new job will be harder to find and it is very possible that the salary will be lower than the previous job.

This recession will last longer than the previous ones over the past twenty years. The reason is that fundamentals in the financial systems worldwide have to be worked through and we also face increasing claims from underdeveloped countries to participate in the overall wealth of the world. Modern communication means that no nation is unaware of the lifestyle of the developed countries; they see that for the most part all the potential has to a certain extent been squandered by indulgent living by the people, who like the grasshopper in the fable, sang and played all day and did nothing to set resources aside to provide for the days when things were not so easy.

This is the time of the ants who work and put food aside for the bad times. They are the people who have money in the bank to take advantage of lower cost assets. They can buy the house that is worth 10% less than a couple of years ago , they can buy the shares that now are at low prices but paying very good dividends,  in short they have provided for poor times and then they can take advantage of good opportunities  that are now available.

If we can teach young people one lesson out of this recession it should be to always have some money behind you in the bank as a backstop. Spend less than you earn and like the Scout motto “Be Prepared” for anything that life will throw at you. Money does not solve all problems but it sure does make dealing with problems easier. Having money behind you gives you choices about where you live and what job you might take, but mostly it gives you peace of mind and  the opportunity to live with dignity and not be dependant on handouts from the government or relatives.
We have had some welcome autumn rain and more will be much appreciated. The cold days certainly turn our minds to nice hearty soups, and warm slippers. This may be a bear rally that we have seen, but the trend is to the market rising, albeit slower than most of us would like. There is light at the end of the tunnel and from all we can research it is not a train coming towards us.

Keep warm, and fingers crossed for more rain,

Jen, Rose and Lina the Canine Receptionist