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Noel Whittaker

Does your will treat your super fairly?

When writing your will, take care to understand the tax consequences of the benefits paid to your beneficiaries, especially when a life policy is involved. Your estate could be left with a hefty tax bill.

There’s more than one way to fund a retirement

If you’re 40 or under you won’t have access to the age pension, and perhaps even your super, until you are 70. Unless you’re prepared to work until then, you'll need enough money outside super to live on.

The richest man in Babylon also lives in Australia

One of the greatest books on accumulating wealth ever written uses the basic premise that part of all you earn is yours to keep. Australia's compulsory superannuation system is helping you.

How much money do you need to retire?

It's the most common question asked by potential retirees. Working an extra couple of years, having a zest for life or retiring early might affect both savings balances and lifespans.

Beware of the curse of liquidity

Shares are an excellent long-term investment, but the ease with which they can be bought and sold can be both a blessing and a curse. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

My 8 rules for both wealth and health

The same strategies we use to keep our bodies in shape can also be applied to building our finances. These eight simple principles can set you on a path to achieve better health and wealth.

Latest Updates

Superannuation

Superannuation’s structural failings

Politicians are fighting over access to super, but they may be arguing about the wrong thing. The system’s three fundamental flaws have been hiding in plain sight for decades, costing Australians far more than they realise.

Planning

The great wealth transfer myth

Why do some families preserve wealth for generations while others struggle to? As the great wealth transfer unfolds, the determining factor is often not the structure of the estate, but the preparation of those who will inherit it.

Investment strategies

What comes after bank hybrids?

For years, bank hybrids have been a cornerstone of portfolio income. With tens of billions of dollars now disappearing from the market, investors face a critical question: what comes next, and are the obvious replacements enough?

Investment insights from the US

What happens when knowledge becomes a commodity? The latest themes emerging from the US tech sector suggest AI could reshape company moats, disrupt incumbents and create winners and losers in unexpected places.

Investing

Can Berkshire thrive without Buffett?

Warren Buffett's departure marks the end of an era. But the more important question for investors is whether Berkshire's culture, discipline and capital allocation framework can survive without the man who built them.

Retirement

The Bengen 4% Rule: Lost in translation

For years, retirees have been told to focus on withdrawal rates. But the real question is far simpler: how many dollars can you safely spend? The answer may be very different from what conventional retirement wisdom suggests.

Interest rates

Super low interest rates came with side effects

For more than a decade, investors lived through an era of near-zero interest rates. With bond yields now surging, it's worth asking whether cheap money solved economic problems, or introduced a much larger set of risks.

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