Register to receive our free weekly newsletter including editorials.
12 September 2025
Recently trending
John Pearce, Chief Investment Officer, Unisuper: "Out of the (many many) investmentrelated emails I get, Cuffelinks is one that I always open."
Reader: " Finding a truly independent and interesting read has been magical for me. Please keep it up and don't change!"
Rob Henshaw: "When I open my computer each day it's the first link I click - a really great read."
Reader: "Great resource. Cuffelinks is STILL the one and only weekly newsletter I regularly read."
Reader: "Congratulations on a great focussed news source. Australia has a dearth of good quality unbiased financial and wealth management news."
Reader: "Keep it up - the independence is refreshing and is demonstrated by the variety of well credentialed commentators."
John Egan, Egan Associates: "My heartiest congratulations. Your panel of contributors is very impressive and keep your readers fully informed."
Reader: "It's excellent so please don't pollute the content with boring mainstream financial 'waffle' and adverts for stuff we don't want!"
Reader: "Is one of very few places an investor can go and not have product rammed down their throat. Love your work!"
David Goldschmidt, Chartered Accountant: "I find this a really excellent newsletter. The best I get. Keep up the good work!"
Noel Whittaker, author and financial adviser: "A fabulous weekly newsletter that is packed full of independent financial advice."
Reader: "The BEST in the game because of diversity and not aligned to financial products. Stands above all the noise."
Reader: "I subscribe to two newsletters. This is my first read of the week. Thank you. Excellent and please keep up the good work!"
Scott Pape, author of The Barefoot Investor: "I'm an avid reader of Cuffelinks. Thanks for the wonderful resource you have here, it really is first class."
Reader: "An island of professionalism in an ocean of shallow self-interest. Well done!"
Reader: "Best innovation I have seen whilst an investor for 25 years. The writers are brilliant. A great publication which I look forward to."
Ian Kelly, CFP, BTACS Financial Services: "Probably the best source of commentary and information I have seen over the past 20 years."
Ian Silk, CEO, AustralianSuper: "It has become part of my required reading: quality thinking, and (mercifully) to the point."
Reader: "I can quickly sort the items that I am interested in, then research them more fully. It is also a regular reminder that I need to do this."
Jonathan Hoyle, CEO, Stanford Brown: "A fabulous publication. The only must-read weekly publication for the Australian wealth management industry."
Eleanor Dartnall, AFA Adviser of the Year, 2014: "Our clients love your newsletter. Your articles are avidly read by advisers and they learn a great deal."
Reader: "Carry on as you are - well done. The average investor/SMSF trustee needs all the help they can get."
Steve: "The best that comes into our world each week. This is the only one that is never, ever canned before fully being reviewed by yours truly."
Professor Robert Deutsch: "This has got to be the best set of articles on economic and financial matters. Always something worthwhile reading in Firstlinks. Thankyou"
Andrew Buchan, Partner, HLB Mann Judd: "I have told you a thousand times it's the best newsletter."
Don Stammer, leading Australian economist: "Congratulations to all associated. It deserves the good following it has."
Reader: "Love it, just keep doing what you are doing. It is the right length too, any longer and it might become a bit overwhelming."
Large super funds hold unlisted assets such as infrastructure, property and private equity. It's likely many of these assets have not been revalued recently, inflating the price paid to members who exit.
For a pension fund with a tax rate of zero, it is better to receive an after-tax dividend of $100 than a company retaining after-tax capital of $70. Why aren't company directors asked about this tax inefficiency?
Noel responds to Chris doubting it is possible to take the heat out of the market with tax changes, but he’s fine if the 50% CGT discount does not kick in for at least five years.
The 50% CGT discount has little justification during low inflation and it encourages capital gains over income. The preferable system is the indexation in effect prior to 1999, and it will help housing affordability.
The tax treatment of depreciation and capital gains from the sale of property are important parts of the economic return, so know what happens when a CGT event is triggered.
A question from one of our readers on whether the (delayed) Tax White Paper will result in changes to the dividend imputation and capital gains tax systems.
A perfect tax system would not affect how people save and invest, but in practice, there are many ways that Australia's tax system influences investor behaviour.
Each generation believes its economic challenges were uniquely tough - but what does the data say? A closer look reveals a more nuanced, complex story behind the generational hardship debate.
Australia could unlock smarter investment and greater equity by reforming housing tax concessions. Rethinking exemptions on the family home could benefit most Australians, especially renters and owners of modest homes.
This goes through the different options including shares, property and business ownership and declares a winner, as well as outlining the mindset needed to earn enough to never have to work again.
Everyone has a theory as to why housing in Australia is so expensive. There are a lot of different factors at play, from skewed migration patterns to banking trends and housing's status as a national obsession.
The creator of the 4% rule for retirement withdrawals, Bill Bengen, has written a new book outlining fresh strategies to outlive your money, including holding fewer stocks in early retirement before increasing allocations.
This AI cycle feels less like a revolution and more like a rerun. Just like fibre in 2000, shale in 2014, and cannabis in 2019, the technology or product is real but the capital cycle will be brutal. Investors beware.