One of the hardest urges to resist when it comes to investing is to not get caught up with the herd or the “group think of a market place”. This happens in all investment asset classes, and to some degree, why we see bubbles occur in a range of asset classes. The main cause of the problem is that people start to extrapolate the returns out into the future as if this is the new norm.

Most people don’t realise that in a lot of cases the best investment they own is themselves.

The main reason is that a person has the ability to generate income every year as long as you remain either self employed or employed. Despite market fluctuations, for some people this income source is pretty reliable.

Each day we are constantly assessing the risk in the global market – whether it be Europe and the problems with one of their struggling members, or China with their dodgy economic data or bad loans.

Frequent Flyer points, particularly in Australia, is almost a second currency to the AUD. With so many credit cards in the market place all with the flashy programs, it is easy to quickly feel confused.

Over the years, we have found some people are really proficient with a credit card in their day-to-day handling. Each month they pay it off and pay little or no interest, yet reap the rewards which might be on offer. Others however, find it a tread mill almost impossible to get off! These people spend most of their life around the credit limit (rather than at a zero balance) and as such feel it is more a strangle hold on their cash flow rather than a positive experience.

The accumulation of wealth, and what people perceive as being wealthy, has fascinated me over the decades. Below I have provided you with 2 very stereotypical examples and as you read each one, I would like you to pick which person is the wealthier?

So lets start….

1. The dream home—Life is not perfect but sometimes, the bruises and bumps along the way make the fabric of life all the more interesting. The pursuit of having the ‘dream home’ can be intoxicating; an endless quest for perfection.

In a lot of countries 70% of consumption makes up the GDP. A countries ability to grow their spending is often closely linked to strong economic growth and a strong healthy economy.

Should I be thinking about downsizing the home prior to retirement or hold off and take advantage of any future potential increase in value?

For a lot of people the family home represents a large portion of the households wealth. However unlike a normal investment, this asset provides both financial benefits and also can hold strong emotional ties.

I was recently reading the Wall Street Journey and noticed an interesting statistic….70% of inherited wealth is lost by the second generation and 90% by the third.

How much you should really draw as an income from your superannuation?

When you hit retirement age, you have the ability to access your superannuation and draw an annual income stream. Once you are fully retired, you have the ability to select how much you want to take from your superannuation—and making the right decision is critical.

Like most people in the investing field, I have been glued to the media feeds over the past few weeks keeping abreast of the continuing Greece development to ensure there is no fall out from from this to the investments that I care for.

If you have been holding term deposits, you may have noticed that the interest rates have been falling. Some may be a little confused why the interest rates were dropping well before the RBA made the change, and are questioning whether they will continue to fall?

Over the long weekend, I was lucky enough to attend a wedding of a relative. With a touch of summer still left in the air the weather could not have been any better for the event. Sitting at the table enjoying the festivities, it crossed my mind that the cost to host a wedding these days has certainly increased.

This week Youtube reported 1 billion viewers which is an astonishing number! The organisation however, is yet to turn a profit – despite generating $4 billion in revenue.

If you suffer from a love affair with property like many Australians, then you will often ponder the above two choices when deliberating how to build wealth long-term with this asset class.

Interest rates can have an impact on investing. Below are 3 point key points to watch during times of very low interest rates.

1. Cheap Credit

With interest rates at historical lows, it is very easy for people to think this is the “new” long-term norm. Currently, home loan interest rates are sitting at levels around 4-5% and this can entice big eyed and envious home owners to bite off a little too much than they should really hold in debt levels.

Recently a number of our clients held a position in iinet (IIN) which is currently in the process of a fierce take over bid war between TPG Telecom (TPG) and M2 Group (MTU) .

These days a lot of people seem pretty interested in Managed Funds, with their flashy marketing and slick offices…. but do they really offer real value for money?

I was recently went around the corner from my office to eat at an Italian restaurant. It was one of those restaurants where the entire menu is in Italian. Now my Italian is sketchy at the best of times, but what was a little more tricky was the menu items. Normally when you look at a menu you can quickly identify a couple fail safe options, this place however had me stumped.

When looking at an investment opportunity the most common question asked is “Will I be paying too much for this investment? Is this share over valued?” There are no shortage of books or information on how to determine the answer to this question