http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au en-us Tue, 04 Aug 2026 01:22:31 +1000 Rocketspark http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13138/joining-sorella/ I am very pleased to share that I have joined Brad Scott as Client Director of Sorella, a specialist division within EWM Group  dedicated to women of influence, wealth, and legacy.Over the years, I have come to notice that the most meaningful changes rarely feel sudden. They tend to arrive after a long period of quiet consideration, a sense that something is ready even before you can quite name it. That is how this decision has felt for me, and what stays the same is the thing that has alw... Fri, 24 Jul 2026 17:45:46 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13138 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13133/the-strength-that-learns-to-stand-alone/ Recently I met Janet, someone who was sharp, capable, and almost impossible to read. She was not overwhelmed. She was not looking for reassurance. She simply worked through her financial position with her adviser and accountant, ticking through what needed attention, giving facts, but never quite giving herself. It was not until a couple of quiet questions, asked at the right moment, that something shifted. A pause settled over the room. And slowly, in small pieces, Janet beg... Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:55:13 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13133 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12975/my-nonnas-kitchen/ Some of my earliest memories are not of classrooms or playgrounds. They are of a kitchen table. My Nonna lived in the centre of town in far north Queensland, in a sugar cane community where everybody knew everybody, and where reputation and loyalty meant everything. From the time I was six years old, I would sit at her kitchen table and watch the world come to her. The table itself had a story. My great grandparents had arrived from Italy in the early 1920s, ma... Fri, 03 Jul 2026 16:04:29 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12975 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12876/when-memory-holds-more-weight-than-the-numbers/ This week I sat with a family who have held the same investment property for 42 years.  It hasn't produced a real return in over a decade. When I asked why they were keeping it, the answer was immediate. "It's been good to us."  Most people assume that's a financial decision. It isn't. It's a story decision.  Families don't just inherit assets. They inherit meaning. This property isn't simply a property.&nb... Thu, 18 Jun 2026 14:10:08 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12876 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12866/discretionary-trust-minimum-tax-changes/ On 28 May I joined Kat Feeney on ABC Brisbane alongside Neal Dallas, a lawyer with Business Depot, to talk about something that has been coming up in a number of conversations I am having with clients at the moment. The Federal Government has announced its intention to introduce a 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trusts from 1 July 2028. It was part of the 2026–27 Budget, and I want to be clear: as I write this, it is not yet law. But if you have a discretionar... Fri, 12 Jun 2026 10:30:40 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12866 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12824/when-the-ground-shifts-beneath-your-financial-life/ Every so often, something happens in the wider world that causes people to pause and look inward. Not at the headlines themselves, but at their own situation. The 2026 Federal Budget has been one of those moments.In the past few weeks, I have sat with clients and families carrying a quiet unease. Not panic. More a dawning awareness. The structures they had put in place, trusts, investment portfolios, future plans, suddenly felt less settled than they had before.  I kept hearing the sam... Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:44:51 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12824 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12784/the-story-beneath-the-numbers/ We are taught to think of money as maths. Add one dollar to another and you have two. Subtract one and you have one. Simple. Clean. Rational. But the longer I sit with people and listen, the more I see that money behaves nothing like logic. Money behaves like a story. It carries memory. It carries identity. It carries longing, fear, hope, and history. And the meaning it holds for each person is shaped by their past, their relationships, their culture, and the chapter of life ... Mon, 25 May 2026 21:06:54 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12784 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12745/why-family-and-money-are-inseparable/ There is an old saying in Italian families; “you never come between an Italian and their money, nor an Italian and their children”. I grew up hearing this. And the older I get, the more I understand why those two things, money and family, are spoken of in the same breath. They are not separate. They never really were. In my Nonna's kitchen, I watched this play out quietly and consistently over many years. Women would arrive at her table carrying financial problems that we... Mon, 18 May 2026 10:29:01 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12745 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12731/to-the-mothers-and-the-women-who-hold-families-together/ Mother's Day always makes me think about the quiet strength that runs through families. The women who carry so much, often without being asked, and rarely without grace. Whether you are celebrating today, being celebrated, or simply holding someone in your heart, I hope the day brings you a moment of warmth and stillness. From my family to yours, happy Mother's Day. Helen ... Sun, 10 May 2026 16:20:00 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12731 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12687/a-long-weekend-and-a-moment-to-pause/ Some of my favourite conversations happen when life slows down a little. Over a cup of tea, without the usual rush of the week. The Labour Day long weekend is one of those welcome pauses. Helen Russo Advisory will be closed from Saturday 2 May through to Monday 4 May, returning on Tuesday 5 May.If something is on your mind over the break, a family conversation you have been turning over, or simply a sense that it might be time to talk, you are welcome to leave a message via the contact form... Sat, 02 May 2026 19:42:47 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12687