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Alex Denham

Raising the pension age is no reason to panic

The recent and proposed changes to the pension system have caused quite a stir. Instead of fuelling the panic, it could be a great opportunity for you to reassess retirement plans, focus on your super and make the most of it.

Face up to aged care changes now or face higher costs

Understanding aged care accommodation and the cost is an absolute minefield. The aged care rules are changing on 1 July 2014, and many people have four months to make plans before they are hit by higher costs.

Lending policies can spoil good SMSF strategies

It's one thing to know the super and SMSF legislation and devise an appropriate strategy, but it's quite another if it can't be implemented in practice. Especially when bank lending policies are involved.

Getting the most from your age pension

Your age pension entitlement is assessed under the Income Test, and it may be worth re-setting the deductible amount to improve your pension payments if it's been a while since the last calculation.

Could your kids accidentally hijack your retirement?

Your retirement could quickly become very different if an accident to your children left you caring for your grandchildren. Consider some strategies to manage your 'sphere of risk'.

Facing the daunting prospect of residential aged care

Anyone who has tried to understand the costs of residential aged care knows how complex it is. Here are tips to navigate the aged care minefield.

Latest Updates

Planning

Testamentary trusts have secured the CGT exemption

Treasury’s latest CGT reform draft delivers a win for testamentary trusts and deceased estates, exempting estate-derived gains from the 30% floor. However, questions on death and divorce rollovers remain unresolved. 

Superannuation

How much super should you have?

Average super balances are one of the most misleading benchmarks. They ignore your goals, spending and future needs, creating a false sense of security. Here is how I calculate exactly where I need to be at every decade.

Retirement

Retiring from work is easy, retiring into life is harder

Most people spend decades planning how to retire. Far fewer plan for what comes next. The biggest retirement challenge isn't always financial, and it often catches even the most prepared retirees completely off guard.

Shares

Right asset class, wrong index: the trap in Australian small caps

Most Australian portfolios are concentrated in large caps, with relatively little exposure to smaller companies. But what if the biggest risk isn't the economy, interest rates or valuations? For many, the risk is hidden in plain sight. 

Property

Are these assets the missing piece in Australian portfolios?

Many investors remain concentrated in shares, cash and property. Despite their popularity among institutional investors, real assets remain underrepresented in many SMSF portfolios. Could they be the missing piece?

Investment strategies

The biggest risk that buy-and-hold investors ignore

Investors spend decades learning how to stay invested, yet few have a plan for getting out. When a financial goal has a hard deadline, a worked example shows why a fixed derisking schedule should outrank buy-and-hold discipline.

Investment strategies

How passive investing is driving the decline of active fund alpha

Why have active managers struggled as passive investing has surged? Research suggests that flows into index funds and ETFs are creating structural headwinds, penalising the stock-picking strategies that once generated alpha.  

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