First and foremost, without financial security, decisions are made by others. Your lifestyle in retirement may be decided by the age pension. Your ability to assist others could be a direct concession on your own quality of life.
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Being asked to be an Executor is both a compliment and a sentence that may take some time to work through. And all because you are trusted.
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Telstra has slashed its final dividend after a sharp slide in profit for the year to June 30 and shareholders have been warned to brace for an even bigger impact on its bottom line next year as a result of the NBN.
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Sequencing risk – the risk of capital loss through unfavourable timing of investments – can play havoc with retirement funds, Chris Andrews, CIO of La Trobe Financial, sat down with Informed Investor to tell us more.
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There are many financial ratios that, when combined, can display the real financial circumstances of a company. Like tools in the garden shed, each has their specific use.
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When reading an Annual Report, know what information you are looking for and focus on it. This will help you not be overawed by the sheer volume of the data presented in this document.
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As more and more bond yields continue to head to zero and below around the world, the more it will drag every other yield as well.
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While the yield curve is flashing warning signs and issues around trade and Iran could cause short-term volatility, the excesses that normally precede US recessions – a spending boom, surging private debt and/or rising inflation/tight monetary policy – are absent.
Read MoreIf professional fund managers like Mirrabooka has seen their option-income almost halve, is it worthwhile creating income via an options strategy? Importantly how do you judge what is a sufficient yield to justify the strategy?
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Structurally, Passive Exchange Traded Funds and Active Exchange Traded Funds are similar, but they also have some differences that are important for investors to understand.
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I have been a self-managed retail investor for over 30 years so I am a little embarrassed to say that I have finally worked out a way to document every transaction in a capital account in a similar way that my bank statement tells me every transaction in my savings account.
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While the risks are higher this time around, my inclination is still to see the current period as just another global growth scare like those in 2011-12 and 2015-16 which will give way to somewhat stronger growth globally and higher share markets on a six to 12 month view.
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David Ferrall is the CEO of FinClear. FinClear has recently launched a HIN based platform model for financial advisers. In this video with Informed Investor, David discusses the multiple layers of fees a client pays inside the existing platforms models.
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Enduring guardianships and advance care directives are legal mechanisms that may join wills and powers of attorney as a routine subject in completing a financial plan.
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My nine most important lessons from investing over the past 35 years are that: there is always a cycle; the crowd gets it wrong at extremes; what you pay for an investment matters a lot; getting markets right is not as easy as you think; investment markets don’t learn; compound interest applied to investments is like magic; it pays to be optimistic; keep it simple; and you need to know yourself to succeed at investing.
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For many, super will be their largest investment. However, super differs from most other investments as it’s not necessarily distributed via your will when you die.
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The SHAPE Analyser, available for free at www.mylongevity.com.au identifies five key factors which help explain your own longevity – the rest of your life.
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The proportion of big global investors preparing for equity falls is the highest in the survey’s history while allocation to safe-haven cash has risen seven percentage points to a net 33% overweight.
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After taking a back seat over the last six months as negotiations appeared to make progress the US/China trade war is back on with the President Trump – “tariff man” – ramping up tariffs on Chinese imports again and threatening more and China moving to retaliate. This note takes a simple Q & A approach to the key issues.
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Seasonal patterns have long been observed in equity markets. Yet, despite the potential they provide for astute investors to profit from them – and in so doing arbitrage them away – they seem to persist.
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A Will is the main document to facilitate the distribution of a person’s assets after death.
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Deeming is a key concept in the income test to be met to access the Aged Pension. This is in addition to passing the assets test, being age-eligible, and qualifying as an Australian resident. But it does have some hidden benefits.
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Appointing someone with the authority to act on your behalf is a serious decision. You need to trust the person and be confident they will always act in your best interests.
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Will Berkshire want to lift its bank shareholdings much higher than current levels if a new Fed rule becomes fact?
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If you are unwilling to chase Transurban (TCL), I believe Sydney Airports (SYD) is about to enjoy a similar breakout and experience a major yield crunch re-rating.
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Magellan Asset Management’s Hamish Douglass shares his thoughts with Informed Investor about where we are currently placed in the economic cycle.
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ETF Securities’ ZUSD ETF offers investor a cheap and effective US Dollar currency play. ETFS’ Head of Sales, Kanish Chugh, tells Informed Investor more.
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Global equities manager, WCM Investment Management (WCM), says the Australian company included in their international portfolio is one of their strongest performers over the past seven years – CSL Limited (ASX: CSL).
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Labor’s higher tax and regulation agenda may be a negative for Australian assets, but this could be partly offset in the short term by more targeted fiscal stimulus.
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The rebound in share markets since December has left them vulnerable to a short term pullback. Worries about global growth as evident in plunging bond yields and the flat/inverting US yield curve (and risks around trade) could provide the trigger.
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Big global fund managers remain bearish nearly three months into 2019 despite the rebound in shares since the start of the year that has seen major markets up 10% to more than 20% (in the case of China).
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Chris Andrews, CIO of La Trobe Financial, gives Informed Investor some insights into the ways investors can achieve good cash-enhanced returns in the market at present, with particular focus on La Trobe’s 12-month Term Account.
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With the US economy looking increasingly vulnerable to a slowdown, it might be time to refocus your sights on Europe – 20% of the world’s GDP.
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How much more downside is there left for property values? Where to now? Will the RBA only cut rates twice to 1.00% and all will be good again? Or will this just be the start of a deepening crisis?
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Growing support for higher taxes on the rich and greater government intervention in the economy suggest median voters have shifted to the left. Support for economic rationalist policies has fallen.
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Informed Investor Managing Director Tim McGowen looks into the product offering of wealth manager IPO Wealth.
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As we head into March and equity markets have staged one of the best starts to a calendar year, I question whether March can back up those gains of the first two months and as markets have unfolded along my expectations from October last year, I stick to my guns and say that this is a time now to “be careful”.
Read MoreDividends are great for investors. They augur well for earnings growth, provide a degree of security in uncertain times, are likely to comprise a relatively high proportion of returns going forward and provide a relatively stable source of income.
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Stephen Arnold from Aoris Investment Management explains to Informed Investor his firm’s preference for proven and established businesses over the new hot stock on the block.
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Warren Buffett’s annual shareholder letter reveals a massive change in the way Berkshire Hathaway measures its performance.
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