What to do with a redundancy payout
Make sure you plan your next move carefully to make the most of your payout
3 min
You wouldn’t really call a redundancy a career highlight given you’re losing your job. But you’re being compensated for that loss with a lump sum of money – in some cases up to a year’s salary or more.
Experts agree that a redundancy is not necessarily the career death knell it may at first appear.
For many, a redundancy and the payout that comes with it, can be the opportunity for a new start; perhaps a career overhaul, the chance to start a business, a slide into early retirement or the opportunity to boost your superannuation or pay down your mortgage. It could even be a long-awaited extended overseas holiday.
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The opportunity a redundancy brings really depends on where you’re at in life, your age – and the amount of money you receive.
“It can very much be a re-start,” says Steve Mickenbecker, money expert at finance comparison site, Canstar. “People (who get a redundancy) tend to re-visit life goals, they ask themselves ‘What do I want to do? What do I value?’. The beauty is you’re being paid a sum that gives you some breathing space to work this out.”
What you do with your redundancy payout will depend on whether you need to live on the money while you look for another job. If you’re on the job market, you may need to make the money last an uncertain amount of time.
If this is the case, the first step should be to make a personal budget, which you can do using online tools and calculators, or with the help of a money coach or financial advisor. Beyond that, your options are simple – invest it or spend it – says Noel Whitaker, a finance columnist and author of Retirement Made Simple. However, the best financial roadmap will vary from person to person.
“I would start by talking to an advisor or your accountant at the outset who can explain the tax implications associated with a redundancy payout, which can be complicated,” Whitaker says. “The best thing you can do regardless of which option you take is to stay as flexible as possible. For instance, you can pay down your mortgage, or you can put your money into your mortgage off-set account, if your loan has one, so you can still access it should you need it.”
He says age also plays a factor. If you are older, you may want to put it in your super knowing you won’t be losing access to it for long, an option that is less attractive to someone in their 30s, for instance, who will not be able to access that money for several decades more.
Bryan Ashenden, the head of financial literacy and advocacy at wealth management company, BT, breaks down the figures on investing versus super.
“With an investment, you will get the benefit of not only the dividend or return, but also capital growth depending on how you invest the money,” Ashenden says. “For example, a $20,000 investment may generate a four per cent income return (or $800 per annum) but may also provide a capital growth of five per cent per annum (or $1000). So, after one year, your $20,000 investment is worth $21,000 and your $800 income return could either be re-invested or perhaps used towards repaying some of your home loan principal or interest.
“If invested via super, with the same rates of return, the $800 income return would be worth $680 after tax, but because it is locked in the super system until you access it, it can be reinvested (with the $1000 capital growth), meaning you have $21,680 as a net investment after one year.”
The added benefit of investing via super, he says, is that when you access the funds after the age of 60, the money comes back to you tax free. For some, the temptation to invest in a small business venture could also be alluring. But that could be a high risk option.
“There are a lot of challenges (to small business) in today’s environment,” says Small Business Association of Australia CEO Anne Nalder. “It’s not a booming period, with inflation tipped to go close to eight per cent by the end of the year and interest rates also going up.
“If you are going to invest in a small business, look at the potential growth areas and go into something you’re good at, familiar with and passionate about.”
Ultimately, while taking a holiday is a ‘sunk cost’ it could be just the refresher you need before making your next move.
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Continued stagflation and cost of living pressures are causing couples to think twice about starting a family, new data has revealed, with long term impacts expected
2 min
Australia is in the midst of a ‘baby recession’ with preliminary estimates showing the number of births in 2023 fell by more than four percent to the lowest level since 2006, according to KPMG. The consultancy firm says this reflects the impact of cost-of-living pressures on the feasibility of younger Australians starting a family.
KPMG estimates that 289,100 babies were born in 2023. This compares to 300,684 babies in 2022 and 309,996 in 2021, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said weak economic growth often leads to a reduced number of births. In 2023, ABS data shows gross domestic product (GDP) fell to 1.5 percent. Despite the population growing by 2.5 percent in 2023, GDP on a per capita basis went into negative territory, down one percent over the 12 months.
“Birth rates provide insight into long-term population growth as well as the current confidence of Australian families,” said Mr Rawnsley. “We haven’t seen such a sharp drop in births in Australia since the period of economic stagflation in the 1970s, which coincided with the initial widespread adoption of the contraceptive pill.”
Mr Rawnsley said many Australian couples delayed starting a family while the pandemic played out in 2020. The number of births fell from 305,832 in 2019 to 294,369 in 2020. Then in 2021, strong employment and vast amounts of stimulus money, along with high household savings due to lockdowns, gave couples better financial means to have a baby. This led to a rebound in births.
However, the re-opening of the global economy in 2022 led to soaring inflation. By the start of 2023, the Australian consumer price index (CPI) had risen to its highest level since 1990 at 7.8 percent per annum. By that stage, the Reserve Bank had already commenced an aggressive rate-hiking strategy to fight inflation and had raised the cash rate every month between May and December 2022.
Five more rate hikes during 2023 put further pressure on couples with mortgages and put the brakes on family formation. “This combination of the pandemic and rapid economic changes explains the spike and subsequent sharp decline in birth rates we have observed over the past four years,” Mr Rawnsley said.
The impact of high costs of living on couples’ decision to have a baby is highlighted in births data for the capital cities. KPMG estimates there were 60,860 births in Sydney in 2023, down 8.6 percent from 2019. There were 56,270 births in Melbourne, down 7.3 percent. In Perth, there were 25,020 births, down 6 percent, while in Brisbane there were 30,250 births, down 4.3 percent. Canberra was the only capital city where there was no fall in the number of births in 2023 compared to 2019.
“CPI growth in Canberra has been slightly subdued compared to that in other major cities, and the economic outlook has remained strong,” Mr Rawnsley said. “This means families have not been hurting as much as those in other capital cities, and in turn, we’ve seen a stabilisation of births in the ACT.”
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.
