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Saturday, 22 January 2022
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Depending on personal circumstances, it may be time to rethink the bias to paying down housing debt over wealth accumulation in super. Do the sums and ask these four questions to plan for your future.
Let compounding do its work. It starts slowly. This is why many of those who start an investment programme (or fitness programme, dietary change, sport, or business) give up in the early stages.
Aged care should not be narrowly defined, as opportunities include home care, granny flats, retirement villages, land lease communities and residential aged care. Take advice and don't rush it.
We often focus on the implications for financial security of being unable to save enough for a comfortable retirement, but mental wellbeing is as important. Financial advice can help.
When more than half of retired Australians restrict their spending to less than the age pension and fear running out of money more than death itself, they may be denying a better lifestyle for themselves.
With limits placed on the size of a pension SMSF, there may be good reasons to establish a second SMSF and segregate assets and strategies for optimal outcomes, if the effort and cost is worth it.
Appointing an enduring Power of Attorney is one of those administrative tasks we often overlook, but it becomes increasingly important as we age. Make sure the attorney understands your needs.
The Royal Commission will change financial advice, focussing more directly on conflicts of interest and client best interests. What can you flush out of your adviser immediately?
Many people have changed their minds on whether the Royal Commission was a good idea. What the fact-finding reveals though is an age-old lesson in economics: outcomes gravitate toward incentives.
Despite the publicity and hype and almost a decade of operation, robo advice businesses in the US have gathered less than 0.1% of assets under management. Why is adoption much slower than expected?
A good financial adviser can become a life-long guide to financial security, which makes taking the time to select one a major part of an investor's plan. Make it a two-way conversation and learn how the adviser works.
Where both husband and wife are elderly and receiving an age pension, the structure of the will can significantly improve the pension and personal outcomes on the death of either person.
Most people entering retirement do not see a financial adviser, mainly due to cost. It's a major problem because there are small mistakes a retiree can make which are expensive and avoidable if a few tips were known.
Eligibility for the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card has no asset test and a relatively high income test. It's worth checking eligibility and the benefits of qualifying to save on the cost of medications.
The focus is on Magellan for its investment performance and departure of the CEO, but Douglass says the pandemic, inflation, rising rates and Middle East tensions have not played out. Vindication is always long term.
This is our annual checklist of what retirees need to be aware of in 2022. It is a long list of 25 items and not everything will apply to your situation. Run your eye over the benefits and entitlements.
The Warren Buffett/Charlie Munger partnership is the stuff of legends, but even Charlie admits it is coming to an end ("I'm nearly dead"). He is one of the few people in investing prepared to say what he thinks.