Hey Subscriber First Name,

With Black Friday sales coming up at the end of this month, it seems timely to bring up a question that does buzz around a bit: Can you claim your work handbag as a tax deduction?

Short answer: yes. But before you buy the bag you've been eyeing off, the ATO has clear guidelines on what qualifies.

The rules:

• The bag must be used to carry work items - laptop, tablet, work papers. The ATO looks at the size of the bag, so a large tote that fits a laptop is much more likely to get the greenlight than a clutch.

• You've got proof of purchase.

• If the bag costs under $300, you can claim the full deduction in one tax year.

• If the bag is over $300, you can spread it over several years for depreciation (check with your accountant on this).

What to keep:

• Original receipt

• Evidence of work use

• If it's mixed use, a record of the work percentage

The ATO has a full guide on bags for work with all the details.

Flourix Fundamentals

How we approach investing at Flourix Wealth

Investing is a big part of what we do for clients. But we're not picking the latest hot stock or chasing TikTok investing trends. We keep a close eye on market conditions, with our finger on the pulse of how markets are valued, taking a measured and considered approach to investing.

Let me explain how we do it.

We get market research insights from the Investment Committee at GPS, our financial licensee. These are extremely bright investment analysts (I affectionately call them the propeller-heads) who crunch the data and give us a clear monthly gauge showing how attractive or overpriced the market is at any point in time.

Example market value guage 👇

Intentional investing approach

We carefully consider when and how to enter the market, based on:

• Your goals - whether you're investing for retirement, a house deposit, or building long-term wealth

• Your experience and comfort level with investing

• Your sleep-at-night factor - how much market movement you can handle without panicking

• Your time horizon - are you investing for 3 years or 30 years?

• Market valuations - whether the market is priced high or low

We mostly use passive investment vehicles - diversified index funds and ETFs (more on these in a future F Word).

But we take an active approach to how money enters the market.

Say a client has $100,000 ready to invest. Rather than investing it all on day one, we usually begin with somewhere between 25% to 55% in the first month, then stage the rest over the next 6 to 12 months.

This is called dollar cost averaging, and it's a core part of our strategy. We invest a set amount each month, building investment exposure gradually. No gambling everything on one market moment.

We also keep room to respond if the market moves. If there's a 5% dip, we might accelerate the investment schedule and bring some of that later money forward to take advantage of lower prices.

We totally get that investing is new to a lot of people and we do our best to empower all our clients.

There's a lot of noise out there about investing - in the media, online, on socials. So many ways you can invest, so many opinions, and a lot of emotion tied up with money. We take this approach so our clients don't panic when the markets move. We're the steady head when emotions can run high.

For Book Loves

Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel

Hit reply if there's something on your mind about money or your financial future. I read every email.

Here's to your financial confidence, 

Rachel

Principal Adviser
CFP®, CA

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