Should small business owners just suck it up when tax changes hit? After listener feedback, Ben McEachen from Hope Mornings and accountant Pete Burrows from Lower Russell and Farr take a fresh look at what working for yourself really costs. Pete shares the tight early years, the unpaid admin nobody sees, and how uncertainty taught him to lean on his faith. You’ll learn how to test a business idea against your current wage, when it’s time to walk away, and why no small business owner should go it alone.

Key Takeaways:

• Absorbing Change Without Support: Small business owners often have to absorb tax and policy changes they didn’t ask for, usually without any help to adapt.
• Benchmark Against Your Wage: A business idea is worth testing against the salary, leave and entitlements it would replace, not just against whether it sounds good.
• The Hidden Workload: Much of running a small business is unpaid work done behind the scenes, from BAS and bookkeeping to paying staff properly.
• Know Your Exit Before You Start: A time frame or dollar target for getting out helps owners avoid throwing good money after bad as industries change.
• Small Business Can Be Lonely: Mentors, networking groups and contemporaries matter, because owners carry pressures that people on wages rarely see.
• Faith in the Lean Seasons: The uncertainty of self-employment can push owners to lean on faith and trust when the bills are due and the money isn’t in yet.

Notable Quotes:

1. “You need to know your way out of a room when you walk into it.” — Pete Burrows
2. “It does make you lean a bit on your faith and just trust in the sense that, you know, I don’t know how I’m gonna pay the bills this month.” — Pete Burrows
3. “The benchmark should be what your job is now.” — Pete Burrows
4. “You as a small business operator, more than me as an employee, might actually be more painfully, sometimes joyfully aware that you’re not in control as much as you’d like to be.” — Ben McEachen
5. “Just like in life, you’d probably need more friends than you think you need in business.” — Pete Burrows

Got a question, comment or personal story to share? Send it through at hopepodcasts.com.au. Ben and Pete will get stuck into it on a future episode.

Pete Burrows is an accountant for small business and individuals with Lower Russell and Farr in Penrith, Western Sydney, Australia.

Ben McEachen hosts Hope Mornings on Hope 103.2FM in Sydney, Australia.

Support the show, a product of Hope Media: https://hope1032.com.au/donate/2211A-pod/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should Australia raise the GST? It has sat at 10% since July 2000, and the Grattan Institute has made the case for 15%. Ben McEachen from Hope Mornings asks accountant Pete Burrows from Lower Russell and Farr what a higher GST would mean at the checkout, why it can hit lower income households hardest, and what loving your neighbour has to do with tax. You'll learn how a rate rise flows through to your shopping, where you'd feel it most, and the questions worth asking before saying yes or no.

Key Takeaways:

• Spend Tax, Not Earn Tax: A GST taxes people when they spend rather than when they earn, which is why a higher rate is usually paired with income tax cuts.
• Smaller Than It Sounds: Because shelf prices already include GST, lifting the rate from 10% to 15% adds a little under 5% to items that already carry it.
• Exemptions Are the Big Shift: Households would feel it most if GST were extended to things that are GST free today, such as fresh food, health and education.
• Who Carries the Cost: The GST is a regressive tax, so lower income households feel price rises more unless welfare or income tax changes offset them.
• A Faith Lens on Tax: Loving your neighbour and caring for the vulnerable turn the GST debate into a question of who can absorb extra costs and whether public money is used well.
• Spending Matters Too: More tax is no excuse for poor spending, yet the states fund hospitals, schools and roads with very few ways of their own to raise money.

Notable Quotes:

1. "The theory with the GST or a consumption tax is you tax people when they spend, not when they earn." — Pete Burrows
2. "Increasing taxes isn't an excuse to have poor spending habits." — Pete Burrows
3. "It's always easy to ask for more tax. It's probably harder to justify what it's spent on." — Pete Burrows
4. "When it comes to talking about GST, Pete, it raises issues around is public money being used well and who can absorb extra costs?" — Ben McEachen
5. "You can't just say no. But if you want to say yes, you need to explain how it's going to be best for the country and everybody in it overall." — Pete Burrows

Got a question, comment or personal story to share? Send it through at hopepodcasts.com.au. Ben and Pete will get stuck into it on a future episode.

Pete Burrows is an accountant for small business and individuals with Lower Russell and Farr in Penrith, Western Sydney, Australia.

Ben McEachen hosts Hope Mornings on Hope 103.2FM in Sydney, Australia.

Support the show, a product of Hope Media: https://hope1032.com.au/donate/2211A-pod/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is taking out insurance a sin, or just wise? Hope Mornings host Ben McEachen and accountant Pete Burrows tackle the questions they couldn’t get to on their recent livestream. Is retirement Biblical? What should someone renting do with a $150,000 inheritance a year out from retirement? Should a Sydneysider buy regional now or wait? Plus, join Ben and Pete live on Thursday 3 December for a Christmas special. You’ll hear why housing comes before investing, and why a windfall shouldn’t be spent on day one.

Key Takeaways:

* Insurance Isn't Distrust: Taking out insurance can be part of how God provides when something goes wrong, rather than a sign of weak faith.

* Cover Protects Others Too: Insurance isn't only about you, because policies like car cover and CTP protect other people when accidents happen.

* You Never Retire From Serving: Paid work may stop, but volunteering, cooking a meal or minding the grandkids are still acts of service.

* Plan Retirement Years Ahead: Thinking five to ten years out about what you'll do, and who you'll do it with, shapes the retirement you end up with.

* Housing Comes First: Before a windfall is invested, it helps to know where you'll live and what it costs, because rent can swallow a retirement income.

* Regional Property Still Carries Risk: Buying in the regions before you move can lock in a price, but higher yields often come with higher vacancy risk and questions about services.

Notable Quotes:

1. "Every year you don't die or something doesn't flood or there's no fire insurance seems like a waste of money." — Pete Burrows
2. "The insurance might be there as part of God's provision for looking after you once that accident or whatever occurs." — Ben McEachen
3. "You definitely don't retire from loving God." — Ben McEachen
4. "The people that are in your circle generally influence your behaviour and how your retirement ends up." — Pete Burrows
5. "You can't live inside your ETF." — Pete Burrows

Support the show, a product of Hope Media: https://hope1032.com.au/donate/2211A-pod/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.