Australia’s eight most famous money tipsters share their secrets…and their picks

They are the creme de la creme of  Australia’s money advisers, with years of experience watching markets go up and down. In some cases, you’d need to pay a fortune for their personal help.

But Together Australia can bring you their latest tips for free. We’ve researched the advice they give to their followers to bring you some of the best advice on how to  take advantage of the current financial climate across home loans, property, investments, and small business.

Scott Pape // Home Loans

Barefoot Investor Scott Pape doesn’t hold back when giving advice to his readers and this is no exception. “Don’t be a frog … if you were in hot water before COVID hit, don’t just sit there bubbling away.

“You should be seeking help and advice. We’re still early on in this crisis, and you have more options than you think. And if you want someone independent (and free!) to walk beside you and carefully lay out your options, call the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 and speak to a financial counsellor (like me) immediately”.

Effie Zahos // Home Loans

 Editor-at-Large of Canstar, Effie Zahos echos Mr Pape’s sentiment and encourages people suffering financial hardship to take any assistance the bank is willing to offer.

“If you are ahead on your loan repayments, ask your bank if they can use the excess as loan repayments…If you think you could have trouble ahead, let them know… they could restructure your package or perhaps change your loan to interest- only for a time, or increase the term of your loan which lowers repayments. There could be a solution” she told Canstar.

Mark Bouris // Property

Founder of Yellow Brick Road, Mark Bouris is passionate about people owning property and seeking the right advice when doing so. He encourages brokers to make this advice space their own and consumers to ask all the important questions.

“I think one of the greatest things that is going to come out of COVID is a far greater appreciation of the value of having your own digs and doing things in your own place that allow you the flexibility to work from home etc. I really think that’s very, very important,” he said in a webinar marking National Finance Brokers Day.

Julia Lee // Investing

Burman Invests’ chief investment officer Julia Lee, often offers advice on where could be best to invest next and where to be wary of. Offering some food for thought, Ms Lee told the Sydney Morning Herald: “Clear winners have been the companies thriving because of the migration to online and from people spending more in the home category”.

When asked about the worst performing stocks, she told ‘Financial Standard’ “telecom and utilities have overall become less favourable with investors, particularly traditional shelters from the storm companies like Telstra, which pays dividends during good or bad economic times”.

Jun Bei Lui // Investing

Jun Bei Lui recently spoke with ‘nestegg’ about the success of the buy now, pay later sector. This includes companies like Afterpay and Zip Pay which seem to be weathering the recession better than anyone could have predicted. “They have certainly demonstrated incredible earnings momentum across their business in the past six months. Not many companies and sectors have gone through 100+ per cent growth in the global pandemic-affected FY20,” Ms Bei Liu said.

She encourages investors to be brave and step carefully when buying into the buy no, pay later sector “As long-term investors of those businesses, we believe the share price will continue to track higher. But given the strong rally, investors can afford to be tactical with the current market volatility”.

Her final word on the topic echoes a Warren Buffet phrase: “Be sure to be brave to step in when others are fearful,” Ms Bei Liu said.

 Peter Switzer // Investing

Peter Switzer is one of Australia’s leading business and financial commentators, his advice can be summarised into a sentence. “Buy quality companies when the market is down and buy for the long term.”

Mr Switzer gave the following advice regarding stocks on ‘Switzer Daily’: “If you’ve bought in and gained and don’t want to sell your shares, make sure that they’re companies that will be good long-term performers. That means if a surprise big sell off happens, you can buy more of these great companies, that in the fullness of time will justify your financial commitment to them,”.

Michael Wayne // Investing

Medallion Financials owner Michael Wayne suggests in an article for ‘Money Mag’: “Just because a company is large and well-known today doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll remain that way into the future. Investors in shares need to overcome familiarity bias and focus on the future”.

In the same article Mr Wayne suggested investors look into ‘Pushpay’, a tech stock that is currently flying under the radar. It handles donations to organisations like religious groups.

Mr Wayne also spoke to Finder in April and gave four finance stock picks: Macquarie Group, Magellan Financial Group, Sydney Airport Holdings, and IDP Education. He said: “Financial market facing businesses get hammered during periods of market turmoil. Once trading conditions normalise, prices tend to stabilise and recover quickly,”.

David Koch // Small Business

Sunrise host and small business owner David Koch remains positive about small businesses coming out the other side of the pandemic and encourages small business owners to seek government assistance.

In a video on ‘Kochies Business Builders’ Mr Koch said: “Yes, we are in a recession. Yes, it’s going to be a deep recession. Yes, it’s going to be probably the deepest recession any of us have ever gone through but there’s the financial resources there in terms of the government to support us and get through”.

“It’s not all doom and gloom” he says.

He also highlights that it is important for small businesses to understand that: “These low-interest rates could be around for 2-3 years”. His final message from the ‘Kochies Essentials’ video was to “stay nimble in small business and try and stay positive”.