Australians appear to be far more pessimistic about retirement before they get there, than after they arrive.
The latest findings from Vanguard reveal that retirees were considerably more likely to express positive sentiment toward retirement than working-age Australians. In some respects, retirement may turn out better than many people fear.
The ...
In July I wrote about Treasury's consultation paper on the proposed 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts, and the direction it set for testamentary trusts. The paper promised an exemption from the minimum tax and left the mechanics for later. Later has arrived. The exposure draft legislation is out, and it does two things a discussion paper could ...
Rebalancing has been one of the simplest rules in investing. Set your target asset allocation, let your portfolio move away from it as markets rise and fall, then periodically sell what has done well and buy what has lagged.
It sounds almost mechanical and this is why it works. Setting a structure instead of leaving buying and selling to chance can ...
Recent national accounts confirmed a disturbing reality for Australia: immigration-led population growth but flat-lined living standards.
Australia’s economic growth has been increasingly reliant on population growth rather than real reforms to improve productivity and living standards. This is not a new trend. It has been deteriorating for several ...
The market has rewarded investors for owning the companies that grew into today’s index leaders. But the next phase of the AI cycle may test whether owning the winners of the last cycle is enough. The active-passive investing debate is often framed around fees, market efficiency, and recent performance. Those issues matter, especially after a decade in ...
One of the foundational assumptions in investing is that share prices adjust quickly when important information becomes public. A company reports earnings ahead of expectations, the shares rise and the good news appears to be fully reflected immediately.
Yet, decades of research suggest the process is not always so neat. Companies that deliver ...
For years, the debate has raged between advisors and their clients. Should we go to the trouble and expense of getting a corporate trustee for our self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF), or should we just be individual trustees? After all, we as the members are still all involved in any decision making either way, so what’s the real difference – other ...
Somewhere in the paperwork there was a box, and you almost certainly did not tick it. ‘Unhedged’ is the default on most international share funds and the standard setting inside most super options, and it reads like an administrative detail, something to do with plumbing, safely left to the professionals. It is not plumbing; it is a currency position. ...
For years, active fund managers have offered a plausible defence against the rise of passive investing.
The traditional argument for active management is that when volatility rises, stock returns diverge and uncertainty increases, skilled managers should be able to exploit inefficiencies and outperform. On the other hand, passive funds simply buy the ...
Many Australian investors continue to maintain portfolios heavily concentrated in domestic blue-chip stocks. Historically, that approach has come at a significant cost.
Over the 12 months, the Australian market has returned less than 1% whilst the US market has returned ~20%. And over the last 20 years, the Australian market has produced a compound ...
As a Financial Planner and SMSF Specialist Advisor with over two decades helping families take control of their super, I’ve seen it all. Every week I speak to people who’ve been approached about setting up a Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF). Some of those approaches are genuine, but many are not.
Too often, what looks like helpful advice is really a ...
Australia’s housing-affordability debate usually centres on prices, deposits and interest rates. Less attention is paid to mortgage terms.
Thirty years has become the conventional Australian home-loan term, but there is nothing sacrosanct about that number. If the price of housing has structurally increased relative to household income, it is ...
Australians appear to be far more pessimistic about retirement before they get there, than after they arrive.
The latest findings from Vanguard reveal that retirees were considerably more likely to express positive sentiment toward retirement than working-age Australians. In some respects, retirement may turn out better than many people fear.
The ...
In July I wrote about Treasury's consultation paper on the proposed 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts, and the direction it set for testamentary trusts. The paper promised an exemption from the minimum tax and left the mechanics for later. Later has arrived. The exposure draft legislation is out, and it does two things a discussion paper could ...
Rebalancing has been one of the simplest rules in investing. Set your target asset allocation, let your portfolio move away from it as markets rise and fall, then periodically sell what has done well and buy what has lagged.
It sounds almost mechanical and this is why it works. Setting a structure instead of leaving buying and selling to chance can ...
Recent national accounts confirmed a disturbing reality for Australia: immigration-led population growth but flat-lined living standards.
Australia’s economic growth has been increasingly reliant on population growth rather than real reforms to improve productivity and living standards. This is not a new trend. It has been deteriorating for several ...
The market has rewarded investors for owning the companies that grew into today’s index leaders. But the next phase of the AI cycle may test whether owning the winners of the last cycle is enough. The active-passive investing debate is often framed around fees, market efficiency, and recent performance. Those issues matter, especially after a decade in ...
One of the foundational assumptions in investing is that share prices adjust quickly when important information becomes public. A company reports earnings ahead of expectations, the shares rise and the good news appears to be fully reflected immediately.
Yet, decades of research suggest the process is not always so neat. Companies that deliver ...
For years, the debate has raged between advisors and their clients. Should we go to the trouble and expense of getting a corporate trustee for our self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF), or should we just be individual trustees? After all, we as the members are still all involved in any decision making either way, so what’s the real difference – other ...
Somewhere in the paperwork there was a box, and you almost certainly did not tick it. ‘Unhedged’ is the default on most international share funds and the standard setting inside most super options, and it reads like an administrative detail, something to do with plumbing, safely left to the professionals. It is not plumbing; it is a currency position. ...
For years, active fund managers have offered a plausible defence against the rise of passive investing.
The traditional argument for active management is that when volatility rises, stock returns diverge and uncertainty increases, skilled managers should be able to exploit inefficiencies and outperform. On the other hand, passive funds simply buy the ...
Many Australian investors continue to maintain portfolios heavily concentrated in domestic blue-chip stocks. Historically, that approach has come at a significant cost.
Over the 12 months, the Australian market has returned less than 1% whilst the US market has returned ~20%. And over the last 20 years, the Australian market has produced a compound ...
As a Financial Planner and SMSF Specialist Advisor with over two decades helping families take control of their super, I’ve seen it all. Every week I speak to people who’ve been approached about setting up a Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF). Some of those approaches are genuine, but many are not.
Too often, what looks like helpful advice is really a ...
Australia’s housing-affordability debate usually centres on prices, deposits and interest rates. Less attention is paid to mortgage terms.
Thirty years has become the conventional Australian home-loan term, but there is nothing sacrosanct about that number. If the price of housing has structurally increased relative to household income, it is ...
