Alyssa Mates – Newsletter, Fourth Edition. Walk to the water… We've been on a bit of a journey together these past couple of months – feet on the earth, eyes in the morning light, sitting in silence. This month I want to take you somewhere even better. I want to take you to the beach. There is something that happens when you walk along the...

We meet a lot of couples in their late 40's and early 50's who, on paper, are doing everything right. They've got a financial planner. They've got investments ticking along. They've got a super balance they check once or twice a year that they quietly hope is "enough." They sit down for their annual review, nod along to graphs projecting their...

Rewards points, loyalty programs, buy-now-pay-later services, fast food apps, and the latest trend – getting discounts at restaurants and bars by scanning a simple QR code – seem like great perks. Who wouldn’t want $10 off their meal or drinks, right? But have you ever stopped to think about what’s really happening? These seemingly harmless...

We hear a version of this story more often than you'd think. Two people, together a long time. Good people. Not reckless, not careless, just never actually taught how to run a household's money as a team. One of them tends to hold the anxiety – checking the balance, doing the mental maths at night, trying to keep the wheels on. The other tends to...

I've lost count of how many times I've heard a broker say it. "Don't worry, my service is free." Said with a smile. Said with confidence, usually from behind a nice desk, in an office that looks like it costs more to run than most people's mortgages. And technically, they're not lying. You don't pay them a fee out of your pocket. The lender pays...

Ask someone how they're going with money, and almost everyone says the same word. Fine. Not because it's true. Because it's easier than explaining the calculator sessions at 11pm, the redraw that quietly became grocery money, or the "I'll sort it next payday" that's been said for the last six paydays running. That's the part people miss with money...