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Noel Whittaker

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.

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.

Latest Updates

SMSF strategies

Meg on SMSFs: The CGT changes don’t impact super but what about Div 296 tax decisions?

New CGT rules could tip the scales in the super vs non-super debate. For those facing the Division 296 tax, the case for withdrawing has gotten more complex. A "comparison rate" tool may help assess decisions.

Planning

Testamentary trusts post-budget: Estate planning, tax reform and the ‘death tax’ debate

Proposed Budget changes to taxation are casting new uncertainty over testamentary trusts, prompting closer scrutiny of estate planning structures and the real implications of reforms still taking shape.

Taxation

Income tax and bracket creep

Examining how five "tax cuts" stack up against bracket creep. Why offsets and incremental changes may do little to ease rising average tax burdens, compared to structural reform through indexation over time.  

Exchange traded products

The limits of a quality investing approach in Australia

Quality strategies shine globally, but Australia's concentrated market tells a different story. Limited diversification and sector dominance can constrain the defensive outcomes investors have seen in broader markets.

Investment strategies

Balancing opportunity and complexity

As private markets expand, investors face a growing mix of structures, a stabilising private equity cycle and uneven AI disruption. Fresh questions are being raised about where the real opportunities now sit.

Investment strategies

Why strong returns matter as much as generosity

As EOFY approaches, structured giving offers a tax-effective way to support charities, while allowing donations to grow over time and play a longer-term role in family wealth and legacy planning outcomes.

Investment strategies

The most important investment decision you’ll ever make

Stock picking often gets the spotlight, but research shows asset allocation explains the vast majority of long‑term returns. Understanding your mix of growth and defensive assets is the real key to investment success.

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