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8 October 2026
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There's an ongoing debate about income inequality and personal income tax. Looking at the numbers, 45% of Australian adults pay no personal income tax, while 1.5% of adults pay 26% of income tax.
A look at history shows government deficit years and fiscal tightening have generally been good years for stockmarket returns. 2013-4 will most probably be a deficit year, as is 2012-3.
For much of the last 2,500 years, one ounce of gold has been able to buy items worth the equivalent of around USD500 in today’s dollars adjusted for inflation. But retail buyers are rushing to buy physical gold at current levels.
The debt debate continues. Should a government be using or reducing debt to overcome its country's financial woes? What works, what doesn't, under what circumstances, and how much should we worry about it?
If we ignore the media hype and look at the facts, 2012 was in fact a wonderful year for the equity market. Not only great returns, but surprisingly low volatility and few large down days. 2012 was the calmest year since 2005.
Bond markets are adjusting to a new reality, but not in the ways investors expect. With markets repricing and capital competing for attention, investors may need to rethink where resilience and opportunity lie.
What if the warning signs are already everywhere? From supermarket aisles to company failures, investors are being bombarded with recession signals. But most face a different risk that can be just as dangerous for portfolios.
The tax bill might be yours, but the event that caused it may not be. A key Division 296 calculation can sometimes attribute earnings in ways that many SMSF trustees won't instinctively expect or fully appreciate.
Negative gearing changes formally begin in 2027, but the first consequences may already be here. A subtle shift is quietly influencing who can borrow, how much they can access and which property strategies still stack up.
The biggest threat to markets may not be what investors are watching. The numbers have stopped adding up and supply is harder to measure, with forecasts becoming simple guesses. A more fragile reality is being masked.
Australians are investing more than ever, yet a surprising divide is emerging between those building wealth effectively and those making costly mistakes. Surprisingly, the gap has little to do with income, age or starting capital.
A case study shows that the ‘30% minimum CGT’ is a poorly conceived tax that adds significant complexity to an already over-complex system. A less complicated model would create a much fairer progressive tax scale.