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19 May 2025
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We’d love to hear your thoughts on Firstlinks and how we can make it better for you. If you’d like to help us out in a just a couple of minutes, please take our short survey.
We each have a unique inflation experience but does it feel as if your own cost of living has gone up more than the official CPI? Australia has taken a step change in the cost of goods and services but what about yours?
Thank you for the hundreds of responses to our Reader Survey and to give as big a sample as possible, we are leaving it open for a few more days. Here is a sample of the results so far.
It is many years since we ran a Reader Survey to find out more about our audience. To celebrate our 500th edition, as your present to us, please provide feedback that will help to improve our content for years to come.
From thousands of comments received about future policies for Australia, we have selected 70 highlights showing a diversity of views, illustrating the challenges as Treasurer Chalmers heads to his first Budget.
Over 800 responses and thousands of comments is great feedback. Readers of Firstlinks hold strong opinions on gas, taxes, inflation, child care and cost-of-living concessions, and now the Governor is buying in.
The first Labor Budget in a decade comes at a critical time for the new government, facing policy decisions on many fronts. Take our Reader Survey on these six questions and let us know what you would do.
Amid thousands of comments, tips include developing interests to keep occupied, planning in advance to have enough money, staying connected with friends and communities ... should you defer retirement or just do it?
All Baby Boomers are now over 55 and many are either in retirement or thinking about a transition from work. But what is retirement like? Is it the golden years or a drag? Do you have tips for making the most of it?
In almost 1,000 responses, our readers differ in voting intentions versus polling of the general population, but they have little doubt who will win and there is widespread disappointment with our politics.
Apparently, the major parties both have a 'plan' for the future, but they look like more of the same. What are the issues we should be debating? Who do you expect to win the election? What is bothering you?
Labor has announced a $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program, aimed at slashing the cost of home batteries. The goal is to turbocharge battery uptake, though practical difficulties may prevent that happening.
The famed investor says the rapid switch from globalisation to trade wars is the biggest upheaval in the investing environment since World War Two. And a new world requires a different investment approach.
The boss of Australia’s fourth largest super fund by assets, UniSuper’s John Pearce, says Trump has declared an economic war and he’ll be reducing his US stock exposure over time. Should you follow suit?
Every crisis throws up opportunities. Here are ideas to capitalise on this one, including ‘overbalancing’ your portfolio in stocks, buying heavily discounted LICs, and cherry picking bombed out sectors like oil and gas.
While many chase high yields, true investment power lies in companies that steadily grow dividends. This strategy, rooted in patience and discipline, quietly compounds wealth and anchors investors through market turbulence.
The Australian stock market has had almost 40 dips of 10% or more since 1920, with many of these triggered by weakness in the US. What would have happened in each case had you 'bought the dip'?