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28 September 2026
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Current sharemarket rhyming with post-1973, 32 years of performance data, thinking irrationally and small v large caps.
Who is the greatest market analyst of all time? Towering above all is Mark Twain with his immortal line: “no occurrence is sole and solitary, but is merely a repetition of a thing which has happened before, and perhaps often ...”
Future returns from different asset classes are always uncertain and subject to contrary forecasts, but there are useful lessons from the past. As Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest, "What is past is prologue."
Each day, we respond to problems quickly, automatically and often gullibly, giving undue attention to details that stand out easily. Critical information is often ignored. The best investors are those who can hear through the noise.
There are reasons why small cap stocks have a history of long term outperformance, although recently, the preference for defensive large cap yields has dominated.
This extract from Harvard Business Review looks at how meaningful work for retirees can help avoid the problems that a rapidly rising dependency ratio will cause. In the US, 10,000 baby boomers turn 60 every day.
Conventional wisdom encourages retirees to preserve superannuation. But if those likely to qualify for the Age Pension later in life spend a little more today, it may deliver higher lifetime income and a more stable retirement.
Treasury’s latest CGT reform draft delivers a win for testamentary trusts and deceased estates, exempting estate-derived gains from the 30% floor. However, questions on death and divorce rollovers remain unresolved.
Reversionary pensions have long been a staple of SMSF estate planning, but are they still the best option? Meg Heffron revisits a once-clear favourite and asks whether changing super rules have shifted the balance.
For generations, Australian investors have backed banks, miners and dividends. But has that loyalty come at a cost? A look at the numbers raises an uncomfortable question about where future returns will come from.
The fight over testamentary trusts looked settled. Then the draft legislation arrived. Hidden in a technical detail is a question that could force many families to rethink wills they thought were already future-proof.
The 4% rule has long been retirement's gold standard. But after a difficult period for investors, fresh analysis suggests a more conservative approach may significantly improve the chances of making savings last.