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12 November 2026
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Owen on big bank failings, your Factfulness results, sustainable returns, SMSF pros, S&P scorecard shortcomings, choice paralysis, and super problems.
The history of the Big Four banks is littered with bad strategies by overpaid executives, taxpayer-funded rescues and a lack of competition. As the banks clean up the Royal Commission mess, Macquarie has overall done better.
We had an outstanding participation rate for the Factfulness quiz. Our readers did well compared with Australia and the rest of the world, but perhaps not as well as expected.
A better approach to sustainable investing is to actively select for better ESG scores and identify companies with a positive impact. Fund managers have an important advocacy role.
In considering whether setting up an SMSF is the right decision for you, weigh up compliance obligations and cost with the main advantages SMSFs offer over other super funds. The 6 key positives are enumerated here.
The SPIVA Scorecard suggests that most Australian actively-managed funds underperform comparable market indexes, but this analysis can be challenged by a number of key assumptions.
Contrary to traditional economic models, excess choice can be bewildering to consumers. Some customisation-from-scratch businesses are failing, and half-way solutions might be better.
Increases in longevity, and the numerous changes to the super system since inception, have mostly worked against self-funded retirees. Meanwhile, politicians and bureaucrats enjoy far superior retirement benefits.
As a consequence of the Royal Commission, banks have tightened their lending criteria, especially for loan serviceability. Here are some practical ways to improve your investment loan application.
What if the best superannuation strategy isn't about earning more, but acting before your options disappear? Several overlooked planning windows are narrowing, with consequences that can last for decades.
From the maths of retirement, estimating spending and picking the right asset allocation to survive a poor decade, here are the questions every retiree – current or future – should be able to answer for themselves.
A decades-old estate planning tool has survived one tax crackdown only to be caught by another. The surprise isn't who the reform is targeting, but who could end up paying the price for drafting choices made years ago.
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.
A simple estate plan can create a ticking time bomb. One overlooked clause can pit spouses against children, delay inheritances, and potentially leave a family facing an unexpected tax bill worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Bond markets are adjusting to a new reality, but not in the ways investors expect. With markets repricing and capital competing for attention, investors may need to rethink where resilience and opportunity lie.