The Australian apartment market has been the subject of much speculation recently. Questions of oversupply have hung over the market as the number of under construction apartments has rocketed. This oversupply potentially paints a negative outlook for property developers, with oversupplied markets tending to experience falling prices and profits. Rolling twelve months commencements excluding houses Source: […]

What happened? Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been announced as the President-Elect to take over from President Barack Obama, after he won enough electoral votes to beat Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton. In addition, the Republicans won enough seats to hold power in both the House and the Senate. The result was a surprise relative […]

With only a few days until the US Presidential election, most early voters and polls favour Clinton but anything could happen in the final moments. The FBI is once again investigating Clinton’s emails, while Trump continues to broadcast his views of a rigged election as many prominent Republicans distance themselves from him. While a Trump victory […]

As a financial planner in Western Sydney for over ten years, this is a question I have been asked so many times that I thought it was worthy of writing a piece about how to answer that question as simply as possible. Just only last week I had the pleasure of meeting with a young married […]

Insurance is used as a funding solution for several different aspects of business continuity and succession planning. This article looks at the intent behind each type of cover and the structures possible. Several ways insurance is used as a funding solution for different aspects of business continuity and succession include: Business succession planning (eg through […]

Retirement is a time to enjoy the fruits of your many year’s of labour, not a time to scrimp and save. You need to make sure you have enough personal savings and in your superannuation to make your retirement a comfortable one. At this stage of life, you shouldn’t have children to worry about, may […]

  At first glance, and certainly for those who remember the uncertainty and impact the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) had on retirement portfolios, many people regard investment risk as the single most important risk to retirement.   Investment risk refers to the level of volatility, or fluctuation in investment returns, an investor is prepared to […]

Australia’s retirement income policies comprise 3 components: The Age Pension; Compulsory Superannuation and Voluntary Retirement Savings. The Age Pension The age pension is means tested for recipients under both an income and assets test but only represents approx. 27% of average earnings and is therefore viewed by many as a low-income safety net. The greater […]

The very first successful human to human heart transplant was performed in 1967 by a team of specialists including Heart Surgeon Dr Marius Barnard. Not only was Dr Barnard part of the team that changed medical history, but he’s also responsible for the introduction of Trauma insurance in Australia. Dr Barnard noticed that improvements in medical […]

Global equity markets seem much more susceptible to changes in investor sentiment, and they’ve seen surges in volatility since August 2015. With this in mind, what should investors be watching for clues as to where the market might be headed? Equity gains since 2012 have been overwhelmingly driven by rising valuations, as illustrated by the […]