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5 August 2025
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Stockmarket still long way to recover in real terms, life insurance costs to rise, value of life annuities, smart beta and testing Ben Graham's principles.
Life annuities should be beneficial to rational decision-making individuals in retirement, yet in Australia the number of life annuities purchased remains small, albeit with some nascent signs of growth.
Prices often diverge significantly from that which is justified by the economic performance of the business, but in the long term, prices eventually converge with intrinsic values. It's the difference between voting and weighing.
Many people are claiming that after six years, the market has recovered its GFC losses, but it's worse than that. In fact, the All Ordinaries index today is barely above its 1968 peak in real terms after inflation, some 45 years later.
Smart beta strategies are rules-based, transparent and claim to outperform the market over the long term. But investors may need to tolerate short term underperformance (Photo: Adam chats to Harry Markowitz).
Superannuation members have been getting a great deal, but this is clearly not sustainable, and many superannuation funds are finding their insurance premiums rising significantly.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers aims to tackle tax reform but faces challenges. Previous reviews struggled due to political sensitivities, highlighting the need for comprehensive and politically feasible change.
The Labor government is talking up tax reform to lift Australia’s ailing economic growth. Before any changes are made, it’s important to know who pays tax, who owns assets, and how much people have in their super for retirement.
With Div. 296 looming, is there a smarter way to tax superannuation? This proposes a fairer, income-linked alternative that respects compounding, ensures predictability, and avoids taxing unrealised capital gains.
There are many ways to invest in stocks, but some strategies are more effective than others. Here are nine tried and tested investment approaches - choosing one of these can improve your chances of reaching your financial goals.
In selling the super tax, Labor has repeated Treasury claims of there being $50 billion in super tax concessions annually, mostly flowing to high-income earners. This figure is vastly overstated.
Markets have weathered geopolitical turmoil, hitting near record highs. Investors face tough decisions on valuations, asset concentration, and strategic portfolio rebalancing for risk control and future returns.