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22 January 2025
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Pros and cons of leverage, the effect of a soft labour market on retirement, keeping on top of inflation risk, Apple's watch, and the cutting edge of technology.
Financial leverage is already built into many real estate funds and companies, and borrowing even more to invest can produce spectacular results - on both the upside and the downside.
The ‘economics of retirement outcomes’ is a concept that explores how economic developments can affect retirement outcomes. The current soft labour market is one of those developments.
It's too easy to think the future will be a simple extrapolation of the recent past. Just because inflation has been well under control in recent years doesn't mean we should ignore the inflation risks.
A lot has been said about the fun things the Apple watch can do for you, and very little about the information you provide to it. This highly personalised data has Apple and app developers salivating.
The tech boom has pushed the Nasdaq index to new highs, but unlike previous tech busts, now we have real businesses making money from the exponentially growing number of devices connected to the Internet.
Last year, I wrote an article suggesting returns from ASX stocks would trample those from housing over the next decade. One year later, this is an update on how that forecast is going and what's changed since.
The housing market was subdued in 2024, and pessimism abounds as we start the new year. 2025 is likely to be a tale of two halves, with interest rate cuts fuelling a resurgence in buyer demand in the second half of the year.
The renowned investor has penned his first investor letter for 2025 and it’s a ripper. He runs through what bubbles are, which ones he’s experienced, and whether today’s markets qualify as the third major bubble of this century.
This examines the performance of key asset classes and sub-sectors in 2024 and over longer timeframes, and the lessons that can be drawn for constructing an investment portfolio for the next decade.
Key lessons include expensive stocks can always get more expensive, Bitcoin is our tulip mania, follow the smart money, the young are coming with pitchforks on housing, and the importance of staying invested.
Check out the most-read Firstlinks articles from 2024. From '16 ASX stocks to buy and hold forever', to 'The best strategy to build income for life', and 'Where baby boomer wealth will end up', there's something for all.