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Edition: 447

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Welcome to Firstlinks Edition 447 with weekend update

  • 24 February 2022
  • 15

Last year, two of my close friends died, both in their late 60s. Putting aside the personal tragedy, their estates were left to their wives who had not been heavily involved in managing their investments. Both are strong women capable of handling the stress. One wife turned to the financial adviser her husband had worked with, but the other was forced to quickly pull together the financial pieces. We all need to be prepared.

Follow the market trajectory and stop the usual mistakes

It gives me pain to hear the finance industry telling people to invest in ‘balanced’ portfolios to reduce risk. At no stage do they ever tell people the opportunity cost so they repeat the same stupid mistakes.

Who is Stephen Jones, aspiring Minister for Financial Services?

Stephen Jones is the Shadow Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, and if Labor is elected, he is likely to become the Minister. What do we know about him? This is an edited transcript of his views.

The future of media: It's game on, now!

Anyone investing in media must understand the momentous change and disruption underway. During a span of just 21 days, US$85 billion of M&A centred on video games, which is now bigger than the movie industry.

Why are some companies vulnerable in 2022?

Most analysts are blaming inflation, rising rates and the threat of war for the current market weakness, but many companies were vulnerable well before these concerns as a result of stretched valuations.

Is DDO change to hybrids a drawback for investors?

Major changes are underway in the methods used to distribute bank hybrids. Investor cannot rely on the previous ways of buying hybrids at IPO and now must be 'sophisticated', react quickly and know a broker.

Is your portfolio in need of rebalancing?

Taking a 'total return' approach rather than focussing only on income allows investors to build  portfolios in line with their goals and risk tolerance using rebalancing back to their target asset allocation.

A colossal waste of time, but it's fun

From a financial view, most earnings calls and stock picks are a waste of time. For most people, their investing would be better served in an index fund. So why bother with it? The best reason is because you enjoy it.

Most viewed in recent weeks

Building a lazy ETF portfolio in 2026

What are the best ways to build a simple portfolio from scratch? I’ve addressed this issue before but think it’s worth revisiting given markets and the world have since changed, throwing up new challenges and things to consider.

Get set for a bumpy 2026

At this time last year, I forecast that 2025 would likely be a positive year given strong economic prospects and disinflation. The outlook for this year is less clear cut and here is what investors should do.

Meg on SMSFs: First glimpse of revised Division 296 tax

Treasury has released draft legislation for a new version of the controversial $3 million super tax. It's a significant improvement on the original proposal but there are some stings in the tail.

Ray Dalio on 2025’s real story, Trump, and what’s next

The renowned investor says 2025’s real story wasn’t AI or US stocks but the shift away from American assets and a collapse in the value of money. And he outlines how to best position portfolios for what’s ahead.

10 fearless forecasts for 2026

The predictions include dividends will outstrip growth as a source of Australian equity returns, US market performance will be underwhelming, while US government bonds will beat gold.

13 million spare bedrooms: Rethinking Australia’s housing shortfall

We don’t have a housing shortage; we have housing misallocation. This explores why so many bedrooms go unused, what’s been tried before, and five things to unlock housing capacity – no new building required.

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