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Here’s what you need to know today

• Australia has been clear it will not pre-commit troops to support the US in a future war with China, after the US pushed Australia for a commitment as part of its review in the AUKUS submarine deal. (AFR)
  
  

• Australia isn’t the only US ally being pushed for a pre-commitment. Japanese defence officials have reportedly also been pushed for an answer by US Under-Secretary of Defence for Policy, Elbridge Colby. (AFR)
  
  

• Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese started his 6-day visit to China pitching Australian tourism and sport in an effort to rebuild cultural ties and start rebuilding relations. (AFR)
  
  

• The US shared more tariff rates over the weekend. Most notably was Canada’s 35% tariff and 30% for the European Union and for Mexico. All tariffs are slated to take effect on 1 August unless a trade deal is reached before then. (ABC News)
  
  

• A decade after Warren Buffett orchestrated a merger of Kraft and Heinz, the packaged-food giant is planning to split itself back into two companies. Since merging in 2015, the combined company’s share price has fallen more than 60%. (WSJ)
  
  

• The US Department of Defence has announced it will acquire 15% of MP Material, an American rare-earth minerals company. This unusual move comes as American policymakers grow increasingly concerned about China’s dominance of the world’s supply of rare-earths. (WSJ)
  
  

• Last week it was Meta paying hundreds of millions of dollars to poach top AI talent. Now Google has paid $2.4 billion to hire the executives and R&D team from AI startup Windsurf. Google didn’t buy the company, instead it hired the team and licensed the technology, similar to a deal it did with Character.AI back in 2023. (NY Times)
  
  

• Tesla has announced it will integrate Grok, the AI chatbot, into the latest version of Tesla’s software. It remains slightly unclear what functionality the AI chatbot will have enabled in a car setting. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• Also in Elon Musk news, SpaceX has agreed to invest $2 billion in Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI. This investment is nearly half of the Grok chatbot maker’s recent capital raise. (WSJ)
  
  

• Australia’s wealthy families are reacting to Assistant Minister for Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh’s confirmation that the Australian government would adopt a Productivity Commission plan requiring Australia’s 2,200 private foundations to distribute more than 5 per cent of their net assets each year. There is currently $11 billion tied up in these foundations. (AFR)
  
  

• Bitcoin has reached new all-time highs. The world’s largest cryptocurrency broke $118,000 USD for the first time ever. It has now more than doubled in the past 12 months and is up more than 1,000% in the past 5 years.

What the…?

For all of the stadium talk in Tasmania’s election campaign, we think the mainland media is under-reporting the most notable infrastructure promise of this campaign: Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s promise to build the world’s tallest chocolate fountain. (ABC News)

While details are scant, the project is intended to bring back chocolate tourism that has slowed after the Cadbury Factory stopped tours in 2010. The current world record is 12.27 metres (Guinness World Records)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

3 common financial mistakes

Community Question: What are some of the most common mistakes you see from clients when onboarding them?

We put this question to Matt Ingram, financial adviser and partner at Northhaven Financial Management

There are a few classic mistakes I see when reviewing a new client’s financial setup:

1. Share portfolios held in the higher income earner’s name in a couple

• When investments are held in the name of the higher income earner, any dividends or capital gains are taxed at their marginal rate, which is usually much higher. This can mean a big chunk of returns goes straight to the ATO rather than staying in your family’s ‘pocket’.

2. Money in an offset account on an investment property instead of the home

• Some clients park their cash in the offset account linked to their investment property, thinking they’re saving more interest since the rate is higher than it is on their home loan. However, the interest on investment loans is generally tax-deductible, while the interest on your home loan isn’t, meaning the home loan is generally more expensive after considering tax and should therefore be the one to offset.

3. Cash parked across several bank accounts earning little to no interest

• It’s easy to lose track of cash when it’s scattered across multiple accounts, especially if those accounts aren’t paying competitive interest rates. The intention of doing this is often right - clients are trying to take a ‘bucket approach’ to their finances. However, if not tracked closely, some accounts that attract little to no interest can grow large, which can mean missing out on hundreds or even thousands in extra earnings.

A few tweaks to how assets are structured and where cash is parked can make a big difference to your long-term outcomes. It’s all about being proactive, tax-smart, and making sure every dollar is pulling its weight.

Interested in speaking to Matt or another of our hand-picked financial advisers? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll put you in touch.

A message from Sharesight

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