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6 November 2026
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Investors are often told not to let tax policy drive their investment decisions. Yet, under the new CGT rules, portfolio construction, volatility and even how assets are owned may have an outsized impact on their final outcome.
Recent CGT reforms tax real gains by indexing capital gains to inflation. However, the reform fails to index losses, leading to higher tax on assets that do not keep pace with inflation, creating inefficiencies in the tax system.
The notion of 'you can afford more risk' assumes that losses can be replaced. Above a $2.1 million super balance the law says otherwise, and a worked example shows the refill takes decades, or never happens.
The 'cost base reset' for the new super tax is being sold as protection for pre-July gains. A worked example shows $1M of protection is worth about $25,000, and the real deadline has not passed.
The Budget's negative gearing changes defer deductions rather than deny them, yet a worked example shows quarantining can reduce the tax benefit's present value for buyers of established dwellings.
The Compensation Scheme of Last Resort fails families hit by First Guardian and Shield losses, as well as advisers who are being wrongly blamed for the saga. It’s time for a fair, faster, universal super levy solution.
It was a joy ride while it lasted but the free money era could not last. The consequences of the misallocation of capital into poor companies is now playing out and shareholders face billions of dollars in losses.
Family trusts are used to hold wealth, with benefits like asset protection, tax planning, capital gains tax discount and ability to carry forward losses. But there are disadvantages that must be weighed up.
The most common advice in a market selloff is to hang on for the long term, but that assumes a well-laid, well-maintained plan. That may not be the case for some investors and selling may be worthwhile.
The collapse of Virgin Australia not only hit shareholders, but their bond investors received between 9 and 13 cents in the $1. A widely-diversified portfolio can tolerate losses better than a concentrated one.
The Government hailed the Early Access Scheme as a great success, but Australians should not have withdrawn super to meet their obligations. Economic stimulus and a secure social safety net should provide for them.
Anyone with capital gains from property or shares should take this EOFY opportunity to find offsetting capital losses. There are many benefits from cleaning out the portfolio stuff-ups.
A high-profile dividend cut and a prominent fund manager’s apology have reignited a long-running debate. If investors can access similar exposures more cheaply and efficiently elsewhere, what exactly is keeping LICs alive?
What if the best superannuation strategy isn't about earning more, but acting before your options disappear? Several overlooked planning windows are narrowing, with consequences that can last for decades.
From the maths of retirement, estimating spending and picking the right asset allocation to survive a poor decade, here are the questions every retiree – current or future – should be able to answer for themselves.
A decades-old estate planning tool has survived one tax crackdown only to be caught by another. The surprise isn't who the reform is targeting, but who could end up paying the price for drafting choices made years ago.
Bond markets are adjusting to a new reality, but not in the ways investors expect. With markets repricing and capital competing for attention, investors may need to rethink where resilience and opportunity lie.
Housing tax reforms have sparked warnings of market turmoil and promises of greater fairness. But after modelling nearly two decades of property data, the results suggest winners and losers may not be who many investors expect.