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28 February 2026
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Is travel a luxury or a priceless investment? Reflecting on decades of family adventures and solo journeys, this explores how intentional travel creates cherished memories, meaningful connections, and personal growth.
A healthy couple entering retirement can expect at least one of them to live for 30 more years. What do the 30-year asset performance charts say about returns, ignoring the pessimism that the future will be worse?
My wife and I are back in Europe, 40 years after our first backpacking trip through the continent. Though we've returned many times in between, we reflect on what's changed about European travel, the good and bad.
A key attribute of great investors is the ability to abstract away the specifics of a particular domain, leaving only the important underlying principles upon which great investments can be made.
In a sentence or two, global experts across many fields are asked to summarise the biggest surprise of 2021, and enduring challenges into 2022. It's a short and sweet view of the changes we are all facing.
'Sophisticated' investors can be offered securities without the usual disclosure requirements given to everyday investors, but far more people now qualify than was ever intended. Many are far from sophisticated.
We expect portfolio managers to invest in their own funds and executives to own shares in their companies so they have 'skin in the game'. Should government leaders have more investing and business experience?
Immersed in the business and finance worlds at an early age, Hetty Green became one of the most successful investors of all time. Her story shows that the best advice is often timeless.
The ability to buy and sell cheaply and quickly in small parcels is both the biggest drawback and benefit of shares. But it encourages people who should not go near the market to use it as a casino.
Anyone can do their own personal investing, but what makes the skill required different from other professions? It's not easy even for the experts to consistently beat the market.
Many of Australia's bank directors lack crucial skills in technology, operations and HR as part of a broader shortage of experience that is as important in dodging scandals as in business success.
Financial adviser education, training and legislating ethical standards will help improve 'best interests' practices, but what about adviser experience? This important quality is near impossible to regulate.
The renowned investor says 2025’s real story wasn’t AI or US stocks but the shift away from American assets and a collapse in the value of money. And he outlines how to best position portfolios for what’s ahead.
The post-World War Two economic system is unravelling, leading to huge shifts in currency, bond and commodity markets, yet stocks seem oblivious to the chaos. This looks to history as a guide for what’s next.
Our cost-of-living pressures go beyond the RBA: surging house prices, excessive migration, and expanding government programs, including the NDIS, are fuelling inflation, demanding bold, structural solutions.
The capital gains tax discount is under review, but debate should go beyond its size. Its original purpose, design flaws and distortions suggest Australia could adopt a better, more targeted approach.
A more rational taxation system that supports home ownership but discourages asset speculation could provide greater financial support to first home buyers.
This is my last edition as Editor of Firstlinks. I’m moving onto a new role though the newsletter will remain in good hands until my permanent replacement is found.