It's already October and we all know what that means, TAX time is almost over!

This year I was a little confused and thought it was the end of September which we had to file our tax return by (I was in Beijing this time last year!). But I'm glad I did it early, I've already received my tax return and having to see a healthy looking number in my bank account makes me feel fantastic =) Let's ignore the fact that that number only looked healthy for about a week....

Anyway, please remember to check the blog regularly for updates, there's some really useful success tips there too.

And also don't forget to join the Official Your Success Club Facebook Group to interact with other members and share your thoughts and experiences. It's still young at the moment, but with a bit of TLC I believe it will flourish =)

Until the next issue,

Selina Lai

PS. Don't forget to check out the Success Tip below!

Today's success tip comes from Peter Gow.

Having run several multimillion dollar business, Peter now consults to some of Australia"s fastest growing businesses and is now the director of Creative Capital.

What do you think are the essential qualities or attributes of a successful business owner?

Successful business owners come in all shapes and sizes. It's hard to identify the one or two key attributes that drive their success. However, I would say the following attributes are important:

• having the ability to lead and inspire people
• having the confidence to back their own judgement
• having the ability to develop key relationships or partnerships
• being commercially aware and focused on profitable returns
• being confident and taking the initiative in the market
• having the ability to juggle a range of opportunities
• being creative in the way they solve problems.

Many successful CEOs use experienced mentors or coaches and surround themselves with good advisers and the right team members. It makes all the difference and helps when facing the tough decisions.

Whether it's something new or something more complex than usual, it always pays to have an experienced person to go through the pros and cons with you and help you to make more informed decisions.


This website contains even more great tips from Peter Gow.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE NOW

Interest Rate Cut: RBA Cuts Interest Rate by 100 basis point to 6.00%

This one is for all the readers in Australia... (but applies in theory to everybody in the world)

Happy days for consumers! I don't think many people were expecting a 100 basis point interest rate cut today. For the people who know me, I've been against fixing interest rates especially with the tightening credit market and the outlook of the Australian economy over the past 3-6 months. The cost of funding for banks has been increasing due to the tightening credit market and it's very obvious since the market was pricing in an interest rate cut for this month. To tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting a 100 basis point interest rate cut, so I'm just as surprised as you.

What does this mean? It's obviously good for anybody on a variable interest rate rate, but not so good if you recently fixed your interest rate. Most variable interest rates are currently around ~9%, so with this official interest rate cut we should see variables interest rates to drop to around ~8.25%. (Yes, banks are not expected to pass the full 100 basis point interest rate drop... so be happy that they are even passing between 70-80% of it to us) The other good news is we should expect the banks to slowly pass on the rest of the interest rate cut over the next 12-18 months as the credit crisis lessens.

With this news I reckon its a very good time to look into adding or starting your property portfolio, especially if you've been holding out for something drastic to happen... Hopefully you've been saving up lots of cash for a deposit. All I can say is that you're not going to get another moment like this in the next 10 years, property prices in Australia have pulled back so much and interest rates are now falling for with more expectations of future interest rate drops.

If property is not your cup of tea, I think its also a great idea to get educated and learn about the stock market. There's a lot of undervalued stock and many of the 'blue chip' type stocks are cheap compared to 12 months ago (20-50% discount) I think the next 12-18 months there will be a sign of recovery especially considering the market has fallen ~35% over the past 12 months. Obviously wait for the sign to happen before putting your live savings into it, if you don't know what signs to look for... It might be a good time to learn now.

I don't believe there will be another time in the next 10 years that properties or stocks will ever be this cheap again, so do consider taking advantage of this moment especially if you've been cashing up over these rough periods!

Until next time, all the best with your investing!


Yong-Long



PS: The Australian dollar is suffereing, it's currently around ~0.71 AUD/USD. (who knows what it'll be when you're reading this) It's fallen from record highs of ~0.96-0.98 about 6 months ago... so you may want to hold back from finalising any long overseas holidays (definitely not a good time to go, unless you exchanged your money already 3-6 months ago).

PSS: Obviously these are my thoughts, so don't take my word for it, this is what I'll be investing my time doing over the next 12-18 months. I suggest you educate yourself about property, stock market or finance etc. and start implementing some strategies. At Your Success Club you've got everything you could ever want  on those topics, so make the most of it!