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Edition: 496

1-8 out of 8 results.

Welcome to Firstlinks Edition 496 with weekend update

  • 16 February 2023
  • 4

Ask 400,000 people to toss a coin and there will be 200,000 tails and 200,000 heads. If the game continues, one person versus another, after 15 tosses, about a dozen winning flippers will remain. They become the tossing experts explaining their success. They have an instinct for it. Is funds management different?

$5 million cap punishes 30 years of super saving

The ATO Commissioner called large super balances "accidents of history" but the industry has rolled over on a $5 million cap. Wealth compounds remarkably over decades and long-term saving should be encouraged.

Should I maximise my pension by investing in the family home?

Additional investment in the family home to maximise the age pension becomes a straitjacket. To voluntarily plan this outcome comes at a high price in terms of reduced income and loss of discretion over your own affairs.

Banks are punishing the most vulnerable

Interest rates are up again, with promises of more to come, but a major story is being glossed over in all the reporting. Large institutions have a feeding frenzy when people become vulnerable or get into trouble.

Meg on SMSFs: Is it better to wait until July to start your pension?

The 'transfer balance cap' will increase to $1.9 million from 1st July, but only those who don't start pensions until then will get the full increase. Many retirees are wondering if they should wait to start pensions in their SMSFs.

There are good reasons interest rates need to rise

  Interest rates are political dynamite in Australia given high home ownership and household debt. But increased rates are not bad for everyone and they are what's needed after the serious central banking errors of the past decade.

Five proposed changes to superannuation

The taxation of superannuation in Australia is complex, inequitable and subject to regular change. These features reduce the long-term confidence of Australians in their superannuation system. We should do better.

Defining contrarianism in three stocks

Contrarian investing is not about doing the opposite to everyone else no matter what, it’s having courage in your convictions in a disciplined investment process. Here are examples of contrarian investing in practice.

Most viewed in recent weeks

The growing debt burden of retiring Australians

More Australians are retiring with larger mortgages and less super. This paper explores how unlocking housing wealth can help ease the nation’s growing retirement cashflow crunch.

Four best-ever charts for every adviser and investor

In any year since 1875, if you'd invested in the ASX, turned away and come back eight years later, your average return would be 120% with no negative periods. It's just one of the must-have stats that all investors should know.

Preparing for aged care

Whether for yourself or a family member, it’s never too early to start thinking about aged care. This looks at the best ways to plan ahead, as well as the changes coming to aged care from November 1 this year.

Our experts on Jim Chalmers' super tax backdown

Labor has caved to pressure on key parts of the Division 296 tax, though also added some important nuances. Here are six experts’ views on the changes and what they mean for you.        

LICs vs ETFs – which perform best?

With investor sentiment shifting and ETFs surging ahead, we pit Australia’s biggest LICs against their ETF rivals to see which delivers better returns over the short and long term. The results are revealing.

Family trusts: Are they still worth it?

Family trusts remain a core structure for wealth management, but rising ATO scrutiny and complex compliance raise questions about their ongoing value. Are the benefits still worth the administrative burden?

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