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Home / Author: Noel Whittaker

Noel Whittaker

We should be encouraging self-sufficiency

The majority of Australians using negative gearing earn less than $80,000 a year, and it's part of a long term wealth creation strategy that should be encouraged, especially with such uncertainty about pensions and super.

Adapting to new pension asset testing

The government has announced changes to the pension asset test and taper rate effective 1 January 2017. While good news for many less affluent recipients, it means wealthier pensioners will receive less, or none at all.

Ensure your children are insured

Serious illness is something we think will happen to somebody else and insurance, like making a will, is easy to put off. It’s only when the problems start that we realise it’s too late to do anything about it.

Do you plan to be a ‘have’ or a ‘have not’?

Regardless of age, there's always something that can improve your preparation for retirement, especially given doubts about the sustainability of Australia’s tax and welfare systems.

FoFA is not in anyone’s best interests now

Government plans to amend FoFA are in tatters, due mainly to ill-informed comments about the nature of financial advice. 'Best interests duty' goes way beyond 'duty of care' used in other professions.

Set yourself to benefit from compounding

If you get onto the compounding bandwagon from a young age, the balance of your superannuation, as well as other savings, come retirement will astound you. It's a shame more people aren't maximising the opportunity.

Latest Updates

Superannuation

Super crosses the retirement Rubicon

Australia's superannuation system faces a 'Rubicon' moment, a turning point where the focus is shifting from accumulation phase to retirement readiness, but unfortunately, many funds are not rising to the challenge.

Economy

Should Australia follow Trump's new brand of capitalism?

A new brand of capitalism may be emerging - one where governments take equity in private companies. Is it state overreach, or a smarter way to fund public goods without raising taxes?

Gold

Why gold may keep rising - and what could stop it

Central banks are buying, Asia’s investing, and gold’s going digital. The World Gold Council CEO reveals the structural shifts transforming the gold market - and the one economic wildcard that could change everything. 

Investment strategies

Fact, fiction and fission: The future of nuclear energy

Nuclear power is back in the spotlight, including in Australia. For investors exploring the sector, here are four key factors to consider in this evolving energy landscape. 

Taxation

The myth of Australia’s high corporate tax rate

Australia’s corporate tax rate is widely seen as a growth-killing burden. But for most local investors, it’s a mirage - erased by dividend imputation. So why is it still shaping national policy? 

Taxation

Should we change the company tax rate?

The headline 30% corporate tax rate masks a complex system of dividend imputation and franking credits that ensures Australian shareholders are taxed only once, challenging traditional measures of tax competitiveness. 

Investing

Noise cancelling for investors

A lot of the information at an investor's fingertips today has little long-term value. The modern investing greats are not united by access to faster information, but by their ability to filter out what doesn’t matter.

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