three ways to get ahead financially in 2017 · 2017-01-24 · three ways to get ahead financially...

Three waysto get aheadfinanciallyin 2017

- . . • ; ,

Choon KwaResolution Wealth Partners

The most common New Year'sresolutions involve living ahealthier lifestyle and goals toget ahead financially. Yet, as lifegets busy again, our resolutionsare often forgotten by March.

So how can you ensure that you stickto your goals and achieve them?

1. PrioritiseIt is important to know what yourpriorities are so you know what you'reworking toward. So think about it,what are your financial priorities?Reducing debt, saving for yourchildren's private education, retirement,your next holiday, or a new car?

Understanding your priorities cansave you money. For instance, directinvestments in sharesand property, investmentfunds, insurance bondsor regular savingsplans may be useful forfunding children's futureeducation expenses. Forretirement savings and tax benefits,salary sacrificing to superannuation isa useful strategy.

Whatever your stage of life, establishingyour priorities and planning for thefuture goes a long way towardsachieving your goals.

2. Be strategicSound financial management is a lotmore than simply minimising tax, orjust buying another blue-chip shareor investment property. It requires anunderstanding of your core values,your goals in life (both financial andnon-financial), and a mapfor how to get there.

Understandingyour priorities

can saveyou money."

A strategic plan needs to bespecific to each individualand tailored to yourcircumstances. Importantly,your plan needs to beimplemented effectively andreviewed on a regular basis to ensure itevolves as your circumstances change.

Developing optimised financialstrategies will help deliver the bestfinancial outcome with minimal risk in

the most cost and timeefficient way.

3. Find the time

Like good health,financial success requiresdedication, time and effort.

As professionals, we manage our workwell but when it comes to managingour finances we often feel we lack thetime and discipline needed to achieveour goals. But lack of time is not agood reason. In the same way thatyour patients rely on you for sound

health advice, you can outsourceyour financial management needs byspeaking to a qualified financial advisor.

It is important to have an adviser whounderstands the challenges facingmedical professionals and who willwork with you in developing strategiesacross wealth creation, investment

portfolios, tax planning,superannuation, riskmanagement andestate planning. Mypartner, Sam Pizzata,and I have beendelivering financial

solutions to medical professionals formany years and we would be happy tofind solutions for you.

Contact us on 9389 1881 or [email protected] today.

"Sound financialmanagementis a lot morethan simply

minimising tax...

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March, 2017Medical Forum, Perth

Section: General News • Article type : News Item • Audience : 5,000 • Page: 11Printed Size: 2641.00cm² • Market: WA • Country: Australia • Words: 2419Item ID: 739605733

Licensed by Copyright Agency. You may only copy or communicate this work with a licence.

FORUMHAVE YOU HEARD?

Time AHPRA changed its waysDoctors are concerned that reports toAHPRA against health professionals aretoo easily vexatious (whether colleaguesor patients) and investigated for toolong, which along with other behaviours,constitutes bullying. These issues wereraised in testimony to a Senate Committee,set up following the high profile case of theQueensland neurosurgeon who returned toFrance. AHPRA received 3147 notificationsabout medical practitioners in 2015-16 (12%from other medical practitioners); 33% werefully investigated (the rest were closed onassessment); 3.2% of complaints led to apanel hearing and 3.5% to a tribunal hearing.In 2014-15, 17 doctors (23% of complaints)felt compelled to contact the Ombudsmanabout AHPRA's handling of notificationsagainst them. AHPRA says its target isto complete each investigation within sixmonths. One would have thought for anorganisation that has been operating for fiveyears and has sat through one inquiry wherelongevity of complaint handling was singledout as an issue, that a rundown of the age ofoutstanding complaints would be a simple,important response. Instead it came up withthe median age of open notifications at 137days (and mentioned a five-day reductionfrom the previous year). According to AHPRAit is working diligently to "bring those timeframes within reasonable expectations."The College of Anaesthetists argued thatjustice delayed is justice denied. The Collegeof Psychiatrists argued that timeliness ofinvestigation is both vital and frequentlyabsent. The Australian Dental Association(ADA) argued that practitioners not onlyinvested time in defending complaints,they experienced shame, humiliation andpsychological stress, particularly where thecomplaint was later deemed unfounded(two thirds of complaints). The Committeewas not convinced that AHPRA's processeswere adequate for the purpose of identifyingcomplaints made vexatiously. "Alongsidetimeliness, the committee notes that the level

and style of communication with both notifiersand practitioners has been one of the keyconcerns raised about AHPRA's managementof complaints. [...] Many people havesuggested there is a need for more change."With no appreciable action taken to resolvethese matters, the Senate Committee'sfindings were taken as an ineffectual white-wash.

Doctors on the hustingsAs far as our head count could determinethere are three medical doctors standing forelection at the March 11 state poll. Dr AlidaLancee and Dr Michael Watson are standingas independents in Premier Colin Barnett'sLegislative Assembly seat of Cottesloe.Alida is running a high-profile campaign onend-of-life choices, while Michael is tacklingbureaucratic culture in health and education.Long-time Liberal MP Dr Graham Jacobs hasbeen in the WA Parliament since 2005 andthis year contests the new seat of Roe. Well-known Kimberley health worker Dr Julie Owenis standing for the Legislative Council regionof Mining & Pastoral.

New thinking on painThe Australian Pain Society's annual scientificmeeting is being held in Adelaide on April 9-12and there will be a lot of rethinking problems,the new world order in drug use for chronicpain and the word neuromodulation crops upmore than a few times in the program. Thetitle of the meeting is Expanding Horizons.WA is represented on the podium byA/Prof Juli Coffin (Notre Dame University)and UWA's Dr Ivan Lin who are giving a jointplenary session on musculoskeletal painin Aboriginal Australians. Juli is a Master ofpublic health and tropical medicine and Ivan isa physiotherapist in Geraldton and researcherat the WA Centre for Rural Health.

No relief for post-surgery painPutting opioids in the pain managementspotlight, the team at SCGH is mounting acampaign encouraging GPs to reduce highopiate doses for patients needing elective hip

Hard facts or tipsy distraction?Elections are always good times for therelease of embarrassing reports. TheExecutive Officer of the McCusker Centrefor Action on Alcohol and Youth released areport which reveals data of alcohol-relatedharms in the various electoral districts. Itwas certainly good for a headline and aquick search for how your district fared.Of course, it doesn't stop there. It canbecome a search on less scientific groundsthat takes on darker social complexionswhich may drain some of the significanceof the findings. The results, however, areliterally, very sobering. Alcohol abuse is atserious levels whether you're living in the"leafy suburbs" as reported in The WestAustralian, or strolling down a street in anyone of the entertainment districts aroundthe state. Check the report out on theMcCusker website.

or knee joint replacement surgery. Hospitalpain specialist Dr Lindy Roberts told MedicalForum post-operative pain was becomingtoo difficult to manage as some patients haddeveloped a high tolerance to the drugs andopioid-induced pain sensitivity. Surgeonsmay not undertake elective surgery unlessthe dosage drops given that the results forpatients are not as good, with poorer functionand an increased risk of complications suchas infection and need for revision surgery."We are not going to leave GPs withoutassistance if they need it, and we havearranged for the SCGH pain clinic to provideadvice over the phone if the GP is havingtrouble."

Stubborn back painAustralian researchers are building areputation for telling it how it is. This study,published in the BMJ, looked for consensuson the efficacy of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for back pain.A systematic review with meta-analysis of 35kosher randomised placebo-controlled trialsfound that NSAIDs reduced pain and disabilitybut not significantly more than placebo. Infact, six patients needed to be treated for oneto achieve clinically important pain reduction,with the risk of gastrointestinal reactions 2.5times higher during the median NSAID trial of7 days. According to a report of an interviewwith researchers at the George Institutein Sydney, "Previous research has alreadydemonstrated that paracetamol is ineffectiveand opioids are not much better [...]. Thefindings are likely to impact on current clinicalguidelines that continue to recommendparacetamol as a first-line analgesic, afterNSAIDs, followed by opioids." Ref: 'Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for spinalpain: a systematic review and meta-analysis'

Parent support waiversPublic health physician Dr Bret Hart haswritten in this edition on the correlationbetween a child's education and their long-term health outcomes (see p28). There isconcern among some doctors that healthcare in the ante-natal and early childhoodphases appears to be a victim of cost-cutting.Given the news in December that the StateGovernment has a new tender process,which saw the peak body Ngala lose somecentral contracts for parenting and children'sservices, there is pause for thought. TheCommunity Services Minister Paul Milesannounced $5.6m in tenders to communitygroups in metro and regional WA, includingShire of Mundaring, Ngala, Communicare,Meerilinga and Anglicare. Ngala receivedextra funding for its 24-hour phone service.It is to be seen whether Ngala's loss costs thekids of WA.

Excellence comes at a priceThe Community Services Minister has beenbusy. Before the writs were issued for theMarch 11 poll, Paul Miles opened a $455,000Centre for Parenting Excellence to encourage,no less, best practice in parenting servicesand to monitor parent support needs andservice outcomes. A steering committee of12 including CEOs of Ngala and Centrecareand Prof Stephen Zubrick from Telethon Kids

12 I MARCH 2017 MEDICAL FORUM

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ion*beneath the

Is Reality TV a mental health issue?It might be that we are growing curmudgeonly here, but irritation starts around the time ofthe Australian tennis Open with the promos for such 'real' delights as MKR and hits crisiswith the mass media saturation of shows such as The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Marriedat First Sight and the latest, Bride and Prejudice. Up until this last steamy deposit they werebut mild(ish) irritants until we learnt, at close quarters, that at least for the latter, people'sFacebook accounts were being trawled for any sign of 'deviate' relationships. The hunt wason for conflict, tension and drama. We heard from a source that she was approached onnumerous occasions by the producers seeking out said conflict, tension and drama in herrelationship with a foreign national. Were Mum and Dad happy? Yes! Were friends supportive?Yes! Were they happy? Yes! Would they take yes for an answer... NO! Is this really healthytelevision? We don't think so, but talking to Curtin academic Amanda Lambros some goodcan apparently come from it. She thinks these shows can raise awkward issues for couplesand families unused to talking about such things and can open communication, which canonly be a good thing. However, she added that people must remind themselves that these TVshows were numbers games and the last thing they were was reality.

has been appointed. Could be good ... couldbe half a million dollars of unaccountablefunding. Who's watching?

Commissioner to head bushThe new Assistant Minister for Health,Dr David Gillespie, who is by the way agastroenterologist by profession beforebecoming a Nationals MP in 2013 and aformer director of training at Port MacquarieHospital, is introducing legislation tocreate an independent National RuralHealth Commissioner to advocate (and

BY THE NUMBERS

hopefully adjudicate) for regional, rural andremote health. Dr Gillespie is enthusiasticto receive frank advice on regional andrural health reform so it is hoped thatthe first Commissioner will be someonewho's prepared to call a spade a shovel.The Minister said the Commissioner's firstpriority was the development of the medicalgeneralist pathway - "giving consideration tothe nursing, dental health, Indigenous health,mental health, midwifery and allied healthneeds in regional, rural and remote Australia".

$430,499MEDIBANK PRIVATE'S HIGHEST BENEFIT PAID FOR A SINGLE CLAIM.IT WAS A FOR NEONATAL IN NSW. THREE NEONATAL CASES INQUEENSLAND, WERE NEXT WITH CLAIMS TOTALLING MORETHAN$1.076M

2016 Financial Year

Hospital benefit

Prosthesis benefit

Medical benefit

MPL total benefits

[excluding ancillaries]

MPL total hospital admissions

Benefits paid

$2.48b

$488m

$517m

$3.48b

Source: Medibank Private Health Cost and Utilisation

Report released January 24, 2017

2013-2016

Up 9.7%Up 15.1%Down 1.3%Up 8.6%

Up by3.8%

> Former RFDS executive Nick Harvey hasbeen appointed CEO of St John of GodFoundation.

> Peter Forbes, former CEO of MDA National,is the new chair of the Lions Eye Institute.

• Prof Julie Quinlivan has been appointedDirector of the Professional Services Review(PSR).

> The work of three WA doctors wasrecognised in the Australian Day Honours list.Geriatrician Prof Leon Flicker became anOfficer (AO) of the Order of Australia, whilerural GP proceduralist Dr Susan Downesand radiologist Prof Makhan SinghKhangure became members (AM).

• The Australian Digital Health Agency hasannounced its advisory committees. FromWA, Stephen Wragg (WAPHA, PharmacyGuild) and A/Prof Helen Slater (CurtinUniversity Physiotherapy) are on theClinical & Technical committee; StephanieNewell (ADHA board member) is chair ofthe consumer committee; Robyn Daniels(lawyer WA Health) is on the privacy andsecurity; Rob Bransby (retiring HBF CEO) ison audit and risk.

• Mt Lawley obstetrician and gynaecologistDr Pierre Smith was named Doctor of theYear at SJG Mt Lawley Hospital's annualawards night.

• Aegis Aged Care Group and Regis AgedCare have both signed contracts forsignificant aged care developments - Aegis,a $30m 133 bed facility in Canning Vale andRegis a 153 single bedroom complex at PortCoogee.

• Mr Russell Bricknell will be BaptistcareWA's new CEO from April. Mr WayneBelcher is the new CEO of BraemarPresbyterian Care.

• Telstra Health has been awarded a$10m WACHS contract to roll out a newcommunity health information system basedon its Communicare package.

• An award-winning miniaturised opticalimaging probe known as the microscope ina needle and developed by UWA researchersled by Prof David Sampson and ProfRobert McLaughlin (formerly at UWA) hasbeen licensed to Miniprobes (now run by ProfMcLaughlin).

MARCH 2017 I 13

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three ways to get ahead financially in 2017 · 2017-01-24 · three ways to get ahead financially...

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