Poetry
“I love a sunburnt country… of droughts and flooding rains….
For flood and fire and famine, she pays us back threefold.”
So wrote our legendary poet Dorothea Mackellar, born in 1885. Her poem was published in 1908 when she was just 23 years old. What a beautiful legacy she left us. But it also reveals the challenging features of life in Australia. How will it pay you back threefold?
When the music stops
“Nothing lasts, good or bad. It is good to remember when think the good times will roll on forever. Be Prepared.
Debt became so great a problem for Australian family businesses and farms after bank de-regulation and privatisation, that I converted my Chartered Accountancy practice into a debt solutions consultancy. It is far more satisfying than “The round eternal of the cashbook and the journal”.
It has possible to bring the most aggressive and threatening bankers from every major bank to see sense and negotiate a lower payout that at first appears reasonable, when we are able to clearly explain the debt circumstances and likely consequences of them not doing so.
We never threaten to take them to court. That is one forum in which banks are almost certain to win because they have vast amounts of money to pay the cleverest lawyers. We have developed our own unique strategies and they work extremely well for borrowers.
Debt
Recovery from the lengthy and unprecedented drought and bushfires that descended on Australians in 2018 and 2019 and have built to a crescendo of flame and smoke in early 2020, will be difficult and lengthy. That it comes on top of what for some is overwhelming debt and a crumbling economy is perhaps the last straw, the one that might “break the camel’s back”. Don’t let it do that to you!
Meanwhile the moneylenders in our major banks are basking in record profits gouged from their customers. They made billions of dollars that bank customers have been charged over and above the cost of providing those services – or for no service at all. This is the price Australians have paid for being sold out by their MPs who first de-regulated banks so they could do what they liked then sold all the government ones to private profiteers.
Recovery
There are some key steps I would take to recovery. But everyone’s situation is different according to their age, skills, source of income, debt level and assets, particularly cash. Do not follow these blindly. Consider them carefully and find a good professional with whom to discuss them. Then use or modify the ones that might help you:
- Take control! Don’t trust anyone to make the decisions for you. Make them yourself after gathering all the advice you can and weigh up the alternatives..
- Do everything possible to generate income without being limited to what you normally do.
- The government will encourage you to spend which exposes you to risk. Leave boosting the economy to the government that has let it deteriorate.
- If you have suffered insurable damage consider engaging an insurance assessor to tell you what you should claim.
- Check out what fire and drought benefits are available from the governments if you are suffering losses and claim whatever you are eligible for.
- Remember that easy interest-only loans for a few years have to be repaid sometime and may have to be refinanced at high interest rates eventually. “Borrower beware!”
- If you have existing unmanageable & want some suggestions give us a call.
- Now is the time to improve your relationship with your bankers. We can help you do that if you wish.
- Prepare budgets for at least a few months ahead. Compare actual results each month to them and examine the differences. That enables you to constantly improve profitability and cashflow. If you are unsure how to do that ring and we will show you how.
Chat
We’ve been through enough troubles ourselves, including fires and droughts, to have a good idea of how hard it is. If you feel a chat with us at GBAC might help you bounce around some ideas and clarify your thoughts, give us a call
Planning your recovery is the best way to make it happen.