Financial Journalist

Adviser

Decades of Real-world Experience

About Patricia Howard

Patricia Howard is a financial adviser, author, and former senior financial journalist with decades of experience helping Australians navigate complex financial decisions.

She began her career at The Australian, reporting on the deregulation of Australia’s financial system. She went on to write for The Australian Financial Review and The Age, where she served as Banking Writer, building a reputation for explaining complex financial issues in clear, practical terms.

She was later appointed to The Age’s senior economics team in Canberra, working during a defining period in Australia’s economic evolution.

“From the very beginning, my focus has always been the same—help people understand money well enough to make better decisions.”

Patricia’s career then took a different path as she stepped away from journalism to raise her three sons—a time that brought its own financial lessons, grounded in real life rather than theory.

Several years living in Brazil, Mexico, and Kenya further shaped her perspective, reinforcing the importance of financial stability, opportunity, and not taking for granted the quality of life many Australians enjoy.

Returning to Australia, Patricia requalified as a financial planner and spent more than 20 years advising clients on superannuation, retirement, and wealth management.

Today, she is the Managing Director of Howard Osmond Wealth, where she specialises in helping Australians approaching or living in retirement make confident, informed financial decisions.

“It still surprises me how often simple financial mistakes can have life-changing consequences—and how avoidable many of them are with the right advice.”

Alongside her advisory work, Patricia has returned to her first love: writing. Her books are designed to make complex financial issues accessible, practical, and relevant to everyday Australians.

Her first book, The No-Regrets Guide to Retirement, was widely praised for helping readers approach retirement with greater clarity and confidence. Her latest book, The Bank of Mum & Dad, tackles one of the most emotionally and financially complex challenges facing modern families.

Why I wrote The Bank of Mum & Dad

For years, I had been thinking about writing this book.

As a financial adviser, I’ve had countless conversations with parents who want to help their children financially—particularly when it comes to buying a home. In many cases, the intention is generous and heartfelt. But the outcomes aren’t always what people expect.

What finally prompted me to sit down and write it was a conversation with my own son.

We were crossing a busy intersection in Melbourne, talking about his future—whether he might buy a home, and how I might help. What became clear very quickly was that his priorities were very different from mine at his age.

Where I had been determined—almost desperate—to buy a home as early as possible, he was thinking about travel, life experience, and taking his time.

Neither of us was wrong. We were simply coming at the question from different perspectives.

That moment stayed with me, because it reflects something I see often:

parents and children don’t always share the same goals when it comes to money—and that gap can create unintended consequences.

I wrote The Bank of Mum & Dad to help families navigate that gap more thoughtfully.

• To encourage better conversations.
• To highlight risks people don’t always see.
• And to help families make decisions that work for their situation—not someone else’s.

Because there is no single “right” way to help your children financially.

But there are certainly better—and worse—ways to approach it.