Alchemy has been around for centuries. It is based on the notion of being able to convert base metals into gold. For centuries, man has
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In 2008, during the height of the GFC, people were worried whether their money was safe in the banks. As a result, the Australian Government
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Back in 1987, Warren Buffet made the following statement in a letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders: ‘Our basic principle is that if you want to shoot rare, fast-moving elephants, you should always carry a loaded gun’
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For some time I have been thinking about the following equation and asking myself, does it hold true? Increase business size = lost authenticity
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Centrelink’s changes to the Age Pension assets test limit in January 2017 cut off access to the Age Pension for many retirees, when the maximum value of assets owned to obtain the age pension was reduced.
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The media has been a flurry recently about Labor’s proposed changes to franking credits. There has been public outrage over this, and the sad reality is that this policy will have little impact on the uber-rich; those most affected will likely be the same group of people who lost their age pension a few years back when the asset test limit was changed. You can start to understand why retirees are fed up.
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A few years back, I attended an executive course run by University of Nebraska, Omaha. It took place just prior to the annual general meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, also in Omaha Nebraska. The focus of the course was to explore a range of fundamental valuation techniques and hear from key executives within Berkshire Hathaway.
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I often like to read ‘peculiar’ books that give me some insights into different ways of thinking. I recently came across a book review in The Monocle Minute. It inspired me to buy the book:
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In this 20th Episode of AJ Radio we challenge some paradigms of investing and retirement. As the financial world is no always logical, we raise some interesting questions when thinking of the amount of funding for your retirement and if higher returns for investments are better.
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I often hear parents lament that their kids have no interest in investing, and they ask me how might they entice them to be more engaged. With all the distractions of social media, computer games and other interests competing for their time and attention, I can see why kids might not be jumping up and down at the thought of developing an investment portfolio.
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A flurry of class actions over the past few years raises the question: is this area of law becoming the new feeding ground for ambulance-chasing lawyers?
The marketing and PR is slick: ‘If we don’t win your case, you don’t have to pay a cent’; ‘Just register for the class action and you might receive some money; if it fails, you don’t have to pay anything’.
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Superannuation funds within the retail and industry super fund market usually offer ‘balanced’ or ‘growth’-based investment options. But what does this really mean; and aren’t these funds all the same?
On 31 May 2017, Vanguard’s Balanced Index Fund reported an allocation to growth-based assets of 49.9%.
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Thinking of investing in renewables? Does it make sense to invest in this sector, and what are the advantages?
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I was recently watching a Disney movie with my two young boys, who are going through a basketball phase. The film featured real-life basketball star Kevin Durant, who presently plays for Oklahoma City Thunder. Incidentally, he earns a nice income of around USD 17.83 million a year… Anyway, in the movie his work ethic catchphrase is: “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard”.
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In 1934 there were 3 stages of a lifecycle – a child, an adult, and simply being old! At that time, the average life expectancy was only 63 years old.
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Superannuation and retirement have always gone hand in hand. Yet recent budget announcements around taxation, contribution caps and other proposed changes have caused a stir and understandably, some Australians may be reconsidering the merits of superannuation.
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Over the years, I have often heard people ask ‘Should I send my kids to private school, or save the money and buy them a property instead?’
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Every day when we turn on the TV, radio, or read the newspaper, we are told whether the share market in Australia has increased or decreased. The Australian stock market is often referred to as the ASX 200, which is the 200 largest companies listed on the stock exchange in Australia.
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Over the Christmas break, my family and I visited the island of Hokkaido in Japan and we skied at a lovely little resort called Tomamu. One evening, we were fortunate enough to visit a village made entirely from ice—it was truly a remarkable sight.
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A few weeks back, I read a blog article from the Ritz Carlton Leadership Center: “Companies with ideals of improving people’s lives at the center of all they do outperform others by 400%”. This claim comes on the back of a 10-year study conducted by brand consultant Millward Brown and Jim Stengel.
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