Our Voice

According to the 2016 Taking on Inequality Report by the World Bank Group, the most recent estimates indicate that 10.7 percent of the world’s population lived on less than US$1.90 a day, compared to 12.4 percent in 2012. Whilst that number is thankfully trending downwards, (down from 35 percent in 1990), 10 percent of 7 billion is still an enormous number of people living from hand to mouth. Many of those individuals are women and children. Thankfully, there are organisations like Kiva, that have built businesses with a mission to connect people through alternative lending models as a means to alleviate poverty.

A 2015 paper entitled the ‘Stressed Household Finance Landscape Report,’ indicates that ‘31.8% of households in Australia are financially stressed (financial stress is defined as not being able to meet financial commitments as they fall due).’ As levels of household debt in Australia continue to rise, we pose the questions in this Blog, ‘How many weeks worth of your regular, mandatory financial commitments do you have saved in an emergency fund that provides a savings buffer in case you fall upon hard times.

Consider your credit rating to be like your financial fingerprint. Your rating (and your credit report) are a record of your capacity to consistently meet your financial obligations. Essentially, your rating and report is a measure of the level of risk associated with doing ‘business’ with you. That ‘business’ might include personal, home and car loans, credit cards, store credit, mobile phone and other utilities. Managing your credit rating and doing regular checks of your credit report ensure that you will find it easier, and in some instances get charged a better interest rate (where relevant). Your rating forms the foundation of your capacity to build financial independence, your ability to access credit and your financial wellbeing.

When you’re starting a business, the checklist is familiar and well-worn.
World-beating idea: check. 
Finance and line of credit: check.
Office or factory premises rented: check.
Professional advisers hired: check.
Insurance cover: check.
Except, perhaps, for that last item.

Insurance has its own myths and misconceptions: the important thing is to make sure they don't become expensive mistakes. Here are five of the most-common.

Starting a small business is one of the most exciting career moves you can make, and potentially also one of the most daunting. We’ve put together the ultimate checklist to point you in the right direction and help you set yourself up for success.

Here at Imalia, we want to demystify insurance so that you are clear about how it works so that you can make better, more fully informed decisions about how you protect yourself against risk and cover yourself and your family in case the unexpected does happen.

The debt that you might acquire as a result of your intimate relationship (marriage or de facto), as opposed to a debt that you take on consciously, has been termed ‘sexually transmitted debt.'

Listening to the news, and the politicians, it is easy to feel concerned about how Western cultures are going to find a way to ensure that economies continue to grow.

In 2016, a survey was conducted by women, about women in the tech industry in Silicon Valley and the results were both shocking and disappointing. But more about that in a moment.