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21 November 2025
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A reader sent in an excellent question on the merits of lifetime annuities versus long term indexed bonds for post-retirement income. Jeremy Cooper and Elizabeth Moran make the case for each.
We’ve asked two industry professionals to state their cases for and against these two investment types that are growing in popularity: Listed Investment Companies and Exchanged Traded Funds.
A reader wants to know how to access company floats before their listing on the ASX. Roger Montgomery explains it's probably a closed shop, but you can often wait until the market becomes bored and buy better.
With the 'tapering' finally announced last night, it's as important as ever to understand what's happening. So when Rick Cosier asked some of the questions many would like answered, Warren Bird obliged.
Australian equity income funds have become extremely popular as investors look for yield and income, but are they arbitrage funds by another name? Rudi Minbatiwala of the Colonial First State Equity Income Fund responds.
The search for yield has driven retail investors into billions of dollars of hybrids that could not be sold to wholesale investors at these levels. Is the full picture being told to the retail market?
Retirement isn’t a clean financial arc. Income shocks, health costs and family pressures hit at random, exposing the limits of age-based planning and the myth of a predictable “retirement journey".
With fertility rates at a record low, many say young people aren’t having kids because they’re too expensive. Turns out, it’s not that simple and there are likely other factors at play.
Passive ETFs have become wildly popular just as markets, especially the US, reach extreme valuations. For long-term investors, these ETFs make sense, though if you're investing in them to chase performance, look out below.
The Big Four banks shrugged off doomsayers with their recent results, posting low loan losses, solid margins, and rising dividends. It underscores their resilience, but lofty valuations mean it’s time to be selective.
AI is booming, but like the 19th-century gold rush, the real profits may go to those supplying the tools and energy, not the companies at the centre of the rush.
Economic experts, including the RBA, get plenty of forecasts wrong, but that doesn't make such forecasts worthless. The key isn't to predict perfectly – it's to understand the range of possibilities and plan accordingly.
Wealth keeps growing, yet few ask “how much is enough?” or what their kids truly need. After 23 years in philanthropy, I’ve seen how unexamined wealth can limit impact, and why Australia needs a stronger giving culture.