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27 April 2024
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Is it worth venturing beyond cash and term deposits for steady income? This looks at the pros and cons of assets - including stocks, bonds, and hybrids - in providing yield and how they stack up against cash.
The number one aim of investing is to generate an after-tax return above inflation. All major asset classes failed to do that in 2022, though it's more mixed this year, so where does the best value lie for the future?
SMSFs offer unlimited investment flexibility and most trustees make their own decisions but the majority of investments fall into five categories. There remains a strong home bias despite global opportunities.
While bond yields are more attractive than they were a year or two ago, they're still not high enough to compensate for the risks of persistent inflation. Equities offer the best prospects for income oriented investors.
Asset allocation explains up 70% of total investment returns, making it of critical importance to SMSFs. Here are some guidelines for how they should go about it and the macroeconomic events that could influence allocations.
Unlike most other superannuation funds, UniSuper hasn’t piled into unlisted assets. Because of this, it has extra cash on hand and is taking advantage of opportunities opening up as rate hikes crunch economies.
The long-term retirement system allows super funds to buy illiquid assets, but they must be prudently managed. Measuring liquidity is complex but how do our five major funds compare and are their levels safe?
Benjamin Graham wrote that everyone should hold between 25% and 75% in equities, with the rest in bonds. That's a big range, but equities give the best long-term returns. The right level is the point where you sleep easy.
Mark Delaney of AustralianSuper manages more retirement savings than any other person in the country. He explains his views on illiquid assets, bonds versus equities, internal funds management and a coming recession.
Fund managers have more staff, more information, and more access to companies, yet individual investors have one advantage in their favour. Anyone selecting a manager should consider such constraints on performance.
Dividend paying stocks play an important role in income portfolios. But they can also run the risk of being too narrowly focused, which can limit both income potential and upside participation when equity markets rise.
Vanguard has thrown down the gauntlet to the superannuation industry by launching its Super SaveSmart accumulation offering. How does its current offering stack up against local juggernauts such as AustralianSuper?
The ATO has released all the superannuation rates and thresholds that will apply from 1 July 2024. Here's what’s changing and what’s not, and some key considerations and opportunities in the lead up to 30 June and beyond.
Life has radically shifted with my brain cancer, and I don’t know if it will ever be the same again. After decades of writing and a dozen years with Firstlinks, I still want to contribute, but exactly how and when I do that is unclear.
Australia will have 3.7 million more people in a decade's time, though the growth won't be evenly distributed. Over 85s will see the fastest growth, while the number of younger people will barely rise.
Being rich is having a high-paying job and accumulating fancy houses and cars, while being wealthy is owning assets that provide passive income, as well as freedom and flexibility. Knowing the difference can reframe your life.
Investor disgust, consolidation, de-listings, price discounts, activist investors entering - it’s what typically happens at business cycle troughs, and it’s happening to LICs now. That may present a potential opportunity.
The $3 million super tax will capture retired, and soon to retire, public servants and politicians who are members of defined benefit superannuation schemes. Lobbying efforts for exemptions to the tax are intensifying.