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30 December 2025
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Hayne challenges all advice, marketplace lending face off, sole purpose test confusion, stop dividend focus, new Pension Loans Scheme, more on franking.
It was not supposed to be the Financial Advice Royal Commission, but there is significant focus on advice, including a little-discussed reduction in the ability to pay advice fees from a super fund.
An inducement offer by a super fund is currently active, and it is creating confusion about what marketing is permissible, given that previously, regulators held such to be in violation of the sole purpose test.
Marketplace or peer-to-peer lending is well established overseas and growing rapidly in Australia, but investors should understand the risks and the returns, as described in the first part of this debate.
In the second part of this debate on marketplace lending, a market participant explains the steps taken to mitigate the risks in lending for consumer credit.
The main focus in retirement planning should be on the entire return from a portfolio, not just the income generated, and this might help some people in managing changes due to Labor's franking credit proposal.
Access to regular payments from the Pension Loan Scheme is now available to any property owner of pension age irrespective of whether they qualify for the pension. It can be a valuable extra planning tool.
The design of superannuation is part of a social contract, and people who do not understand the long-term context are often offended that super funds should be tax-free in retirement. Don't blame Peter Costello.
Retirement isn’t a clean financial arc. Income shocks, health costs and family pressures hit at random, exposing the limits of age-based planning and the myth of a predictable “retirement journey".
The superannuation system has succeeded brilliantly at what it was designed to do: accumulate wealth during working lives. The next challenge is meeting members’ diverse needs in retirement.
Two years ago, I wrote an article suggesting that the odds favoured ASX shares easily outperforming residential property over the next decade. Here’s an update on where things stand today.
I am a professional real estate investor who hears a lot of opinions rather than facts from so-called experts on the topic of property. Here are the largest myths when it comes to Australia’s biggest asset class.
In an interview with Firstlinks, CEO Mark Freeman discusses how speculative ASX stocks have crushed blue chips this year, companies he likes now, and why he’s confident AFIC’s NTA discount will close.
It might not be quite an ‘everything bubble’ but there’s froth in many assets, not just US stocks, right now. It might be time to stress test your portfolio and consider assets that could offer you shelter if trouble is coming.