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5 October 2026
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How imputation really works, Hamish Douglass on high risk, guns in banks, manager attribution, new thinking on retirement, bond defaults, inside SMSFs.
Every day, an expert writes somewhere about the adverse impact of a reduction in franking credits due to a lower company tax rate. This tax rate has no impact on the after-tax returns received by Australian shareholders.
Global stock markets could face the most volatile period since 2008-09. The danger is that US fiscal stimulus could fan inflation and lead to higher-than-expected interest rates. Risks are asymmetric to the downside.
It’s worth deciphering how active 'active managers' are, whether their outperformance is sustainable, whether they cancel each other out and whether they are true to label. Know what you're paying for.
In retirement, it is the level of spending rather than investment returns which is the primary determinant of retirement outcomes, and there is a significant difference in spending patterns in later years.
Pension SMSFs will soon equal the number in accumulation, and the latest SMSF investment surveys reveal that changes in the 2016 Federal budget had a strong impact on investment patterns and flows.
Many retail investors have turned to unrated or high-yield corporate bonds in recent years, but conditions have been favourable. Watch for the once-a-decade spikes in default rates.
In the 1970s, bank branches had pistols in the teller drawers and cupboards, but behind the accidents and hilarious stories lies a grim truth that is a warning to Trump's crazy idea to arm teachers.
Conventional wisdom encourages retirees to preserve superannuation. But if those likely to qualify for the Age Pension later in life spend a little more today, it may deliver higher lifetime income and a more stable retirement.
For generations, Australian investors have backed banks, miners and dividends. But has that loyalty come at a cost? A look at the numbers raises an uncomfortable question about where future returns will come from.
The fight over testamentary trusts looked settled. Then the draft legislation arrived. Hidden in a technical detail is a question that could force many families to rethink wills they thought were already future-proof.
Reversionary pensions have long been a staple of SMSF estate planning, but are they still the best option? Meg Heffron revisits a once-clear favourite and asks whether changing super rules have shifted the balance.
A high-profile dividend cut and a prominent fund manager’s apology have reignited a long-running debate. If investors can access similar exposures more cheaply and efficiently elsewhere, what exactly is keeping LICs alive?
Investors have long accepted one portfolio rule without much question. A major tax shift could change that calculation entirely, forcing difficult trade-offs between risk, discipline and an overlooked cost lurking beneath.