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21 September 2026
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Retail investors face an increasingly complex product environment, but simplicity may be the most overlooked advantage in building a portfolio you can actually live with.
Despite advances in investing technology, the most fundamental step - the application process - often frustrates investors. Will 'tokenisation' be the solution to identify fraud, and what's the impact of Optus?
Complex products beyond the purview of ASIC are being offered to retail investors based on tax and return advantages beyond the ability of investors to assess, making them manifestly unsuitable.
Despite advances in technology in many parts of asset management, that most fundamental step - the application process - often bewilders investors. Time for the industry to step up and coordinate a solution.
The increasing complexity of super would leave the fathers of Australia’s system wondering what has happened to their brainchild. Advisers and clients are struggling with the complexity before the looming deadlines.
The driverless car is experiencing something that financial markets have always struggled with: the vagaries of human behaviour. Can Google deliver insights to help finance theory, or can we expect more crashes?
Australia has a world-class superannuation system, but it is also the most complex. From insurances to estate provisions to the many different forms of contributions and withdrawals, we should try to 'keep it simple'.
Extracts from Peter Costello's talk to super fund executives, where he criticises their self-interest and poor handling of the super policy debate. And from a prior speech, he backs Nick Sherry's call for simplicity.
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.
Fear of running out has become a defining retirement anxiety. Why do some retirees die with substantial wealth while others deplete their nest egg? Evidence suggests the answer is more complicated than we think.
Tax rules have changed, but many investors are still using yesterday’s strategies. Insurance bonds may offer advantages for those seeking greater control, tax efficiency and certainty about their wealth.
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.
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.