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17 September 2025
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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.
ASFA’s latest estimates reveal that home-owning couples need at least $690,000 in super for a ‘comfortable’ retirement, yet only around 30% of people meet these thresholds, and the shortfall may deepen.
The $3 million super tax has many rethinking their super strategies, especially issues of wealth transfer on death. This reviews the taxes on super benefits and offers investment alternatives.
Subdividing can offer a lucrative first step into property development. Yet it comes with legal, planning and unexpected tax considerations that should be understood from an early stage to avoid surprises.
Lately, there's been a push by Government for lifetime income streams as a solution to retirement income challenges. We run the numbers on these products to see whether they deliver on what they promise.
Australia is in the early throes of an intergenerational wealth transfer worth an estimated $3.5 trillion. Here's a case study highlighting some of the challenges with transferring wealth between generations.
Nominating beneficiaries with your super fund is the only way to direct your death benefits to the people you want to receive it. The steps you take will depend on your circumstances and who your intended beneficiaries are.
Life expectancy statistics are often interpreted as the likely maximum age of a person, but that's not right. The odds favor people outliving life expectancy estimates - an important consideration for financial planning.
Facing up to a terminal diagnosis can also lead to worries regarding financial stability. People in this situation could have a number of options regarding their super assets.
The financial advice sector is experiencing a form of market failure where demand for the type of advice now favoured by the industry is limited by the cost of supplying it. Here's how the industry can best move forward.
Few of us will reach 80 years old without some kind of mental impairment that will cloud our financial decision-making. It's wise to take such decision-making out of our hands while we have the mental capacity to do so.
The number of financial advisers in Australia has almost halved at a time of greater need than ever. What has happened to the industry and its clients as yet another Quality of Advice Review takes place?
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.