Reader feedback from our 2024 survey

Thank you to those who responded to last week’s reader survey. We love to hear what you think of Firstlinks and appreciate your engagement.

Some trends that have become clear already include:

• Over 65% do not use a financial adviser
• Favoured investments are Australian equities and cash deposits
• Articles are mostly easy to understand, quick to read, and credible
• Readers enjoy being able to comment on articles, and read others’ reactions
• Keeping Firstlinks free and independent is important
• Relatable, personal investing stories are well received
• Most popular topics are superannuation / SMSFs and retirement planning

I’ve included a selection of comments below. Do you have anything to add?

If you had planned to do the survey ‘later’ and haven’t quite got there, we’ll be keeping it open until Wednesday 17^th July.

Lastly, thanks to the majority of readers who recommend Firstlinks to friends and family. If you know someone who would benefit from regularly reading Firstlinks, please forward this subscription link to them.

Leisa Bell is Assistant Editor at Firstlinks.

Survey comments

• Firstlinks is a great source of information that helps guide me in planning my own investment. I have been reading Firstlinks for years since the days of Cuffelinks.
• Not all articles apply to my situation but I generally read them with varying degree of interest. Never too old to learn something new.
• Easy to understand and often give no value or knowledge to the reader .Keep them hard but useful.
• Relatable and educated articles. Like reading the comment sections as well.
• Variety of topics, mostly not pushing anything, free, short pieces and the reports on LICs at the bottom.
• Covers a multitude of issues. Allows access to authors of topics [if of interest] , allows reader feedback, provides factual info, w/out bias in most articles.
• I find the articles quite well written and easy to follow. Not particularly bogged down with too much detail unless the subject demands it.
• Needs a lot more focus if this newsletter is directed to the long term on market trends and the primary investment vehicles of ETFs and shares.
• Wide range of topics excellent authors and comments section is always really worth reading and contributing to.
• Not too many articles each week.
• Relevant and interesting.
• I like the super and retirement focus.
• Aside from articles that inform about my personal situation, I also skim read most of the other articles for general interest.
• The writing approach appears to be more considered, with great discussions in the comments. The overall feeling is that this is information being provided, as opposed to an attempt to sell the reader on a particular idea.
• Takes time to digest and time is not always available.
• Your focus on structuring of affairs and planning ahead for SMSF changes is excellent.
• It must be hard to come up with new ideas. Keep up as you do, I am not looking for changes, but I do miss hearing from Graham H.
• The occasional webinar would be useful depending on the topic. It is a very good newsletter already. Well done.
• Keep doing what you have successfully been doing & don't put it behind a paywall!
• Broad range of articles. I really like how people share personal experiences warts and all. James and Graham are best at this. (Mark Lamonica is also good at this). I don't do what they have done. But it is refreshing. Not just the standard stuff which is rehashed regularly. It makes me think. It sometimes opens up new ideas....that I can look into via Morningstar....and see how/if they work/don't for me.
• I reckon you have the mix pretty right. A broad range of subjects and presenters. Not everything is relevant...but that is what happens with a broad range. I don't know what I don't know. So...keep throwing stuff at me. Sometimes some of the articles are biased to the authors' company. I know you are aware of that. Not sure it is a huge problem. Keep up the great work.
• It's all about the curated articles. Some are very useful, others not. Which, I suspect, is what this survey is about.
• While I check the new articles every week I don't read that many. There are a lot of articles about retirement and SMSFs that are not relevant to me as a middle-aged woman with no intention to start an SMSF. More content relevant to women, people who are some way away from retirement and those with more moderate income/investments would be great. There also too many articles by fund managers justifying the outlook for their active funds or LICs, but I suppose that is necessary to keep the website content free.
• Steer readers towards long term investing. Avoid subjects and topics that are mainly short-term in nature and gambling such as Cryptocurrencies. In simple terms aim to be a high-class publication to attract high class readers.