20 August 2026

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Does your will qualify for the discretionary testamentary trust exemption?Are you making these SMSF mistakes?Lithium's latest drop and what it means for ASX investors Retirement spending is not one-size-fits-all Why have Australian living standards 'fallen' and how do we fix it?

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Home / Author: Michael Collins

Michael Collins

5G mobile promises to connect and speed up everything

5G technology has amazing potential to step-change our lives with lower costs and higher speeds, but security and political concerns could delay, distort and add costs to its deployment.

Michael Collins
28 March 2019

Cloud computing is an unheralded success

Favourable economics and greater security foster the sharing of remote IT resources, and it has revolutionised how companies meet their computing requirements. The cloud's share will only get bigger.

Michael Collins
28 February 2019
1

Fintechs could challenge savings banks

Fintechs want to inject themselves between banks and their customers in the most profitable areas. Most will fail but others will chip away and the banks must respond, while the regulators keep a close watch.

Michael Collins
28 November 2018
1

Blockchain revolutionises the cyberworld

If you're still getting your head around blockchain, read this quick summary on the potential of distributed ledgers. The technology is not without problems but cannot be ignored.

Michael Collins
29 August 2018

The Chinese consumer and rising political risks

Consumers are now having a bigger impact on China’s economic growth to the benefit of multinationals, but foreign companies can face boycotts when pursuing Chinese consumers.

Michael Collins
21 June 2018

Robots and AI will automate workplaces at a frenzied pace

The political ramifications of classifying robots as 'electronic persons' and the loss of jobs might nullify automation’s economic benefits for society.

Michael Collins
6 June 2018

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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.

Rachael Rofe
19 August 2026

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.

Shani Jayamanne
19 August 2026

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.

Retirement Researcher
19 August 2026

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.

Russel Chesler
19 August 2026

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?

Nick Kelly
19 August 2026

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.

Trevor Schmid
19 August 2026

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.

Larry Swedroe
19 August 2026

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