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Here’s what you need to know today

• The US and European Union reached a trade deal. America’s threatened 30% tariff on European imports has been cut to 15%. In return, the EU agreed to buy US$750 billion of American energy, make major purchases of US military equipment, and invest an additional US$600 billion in America. (Reuters)
  
  

• Meanwhile, the US and China are expected to extend their tariff truce for another 90 days. The current truce is set to expire on 12 August. (Bloomberg)
  
  

• Australian logistics software platform WiseTech Global has appointed a new CEO, Zubin Appoo. Appoo worked at WiseTech between 2004 and 2018 and returned earlier this year as founder Richard White managed personal scandals and surrounded himself with trusted, long-time lieutenants. (AFR)
  
  

• Google has threatened to sue the Australian government if YouTube is included in a social media ban for children under 16. The tech giant has argued the ban restricts Australia’s implied constitutional freedom of political communication. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded, criticising the “threats that are made by the social media companies." (SBS News)
  
  

• Britain’s age-verification law for websites showing adult or harmful content has begun, and the FT reports there has been a surge in VPN use. Proton VPN reported a 1,400% increase in UK use while Nord reported a 1,000% increase in UK subscriptions. (Financial Times)
  
  

• Australian uranium miner Boss Energy saw shares fall 40% as it warned of challenges at its Honeymoon uranium project in South Australia. This news follows the resignation of CEO Duncan Craib last week. (Capital Brief)
  
  

• All eyes are on the Federal Reserve this week as it meets to set America’s interest rates. The White House has demanded “dramatically lower” rates, focusing pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has indicated the Fed will hold rates steady. (Financial Times)
  
  

• Ukraine launched a drone attack on St Petersburg while Russian President Vladimir Putin was visiting for a parade honouring Russia’s navy. The drone attack shut the St Petersburg airport for 5 hours. (ABC News)

What the…?

Last week, Australian venture capital firm Square Peg backed its youngest founder, Liam Fuller at just 17 years old. Fuller is the co-founder of Source, an AI-powered procurement platform that analyses a retailer’s sales data and inventory to make buying decisions. The company raised $2.1 million as part of its seed round. (Capital Brief)

Investing is a lifelong journey

Here’s what you can learn today.

What every Australian should learn

Community Question: What’s one thing you wish you could teach every young Australian about money?

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

What you spend is more important than what you earn. In other words, it comes down to how much you can save. The person earning $100,000 per year and saving/investing $40,000 will be far better off over the long-term than the person earning $300,000 per year but only saving/investing $20,000.

A few reasons why I think this lesson is so important for young people:

• You can’t out-earn bad spending habits. No matter how much your income grows, if your spending grows just as fast (or faster), you’ll always feel like you’re chasing your tail.

• It’s not about being stingy, it’s about making sure you always have a buffer in your cash flow to save or invest.

• Spending more than you earn leads to debt. That’s when things become a real problem. Credit cards and buy-now-pay-later schemes can make it easy to spend money you don’t have.

Put simply…

• If you are earning more than you are spending, you likely have savings, investments, and plenty of options.

• If you are spending more than you are earning, you likely have debt and stress.

While careful and detailed budgeting is some people’s cup of tea, most people couldn’t be bothered. So instead, automate your saving and investing to make sure it’s one of the first things to happen when you get paid, then you know that whatever is leftover can be spent. That way you will never spend more than you earn.

Think its time to speak to a financial adviser? Fill out the form on our website and we’ll connect you with Matt or another of our hand-picked financial advisers.

A message from PocketSmith 

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