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22 January 2025
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ATO draws a line on SMSF compliance, economic growth does not help shares, an SMSF inequity, super strategies, more on risk management, and a letter from an old rocker.
Every SMSF should have 'industrial strength' administration that is timely, accurate, honest and in conformity with a vast array of rules and regulations.
The widely-held belief that good economic growth should be good for share prices, and low economic growth bad for them, is often demonstrated to work in reverse.
It is inequitable for the ATO to require an SMSF to make advance payments of the estimated tax for the year, but not pay refunds in advance based on estimated franking credits.
Thinking differently about how to get the best out of your super means taking time to talk through the options that meet your personal needs, and making it work for you. And don't associate 'pension' with 'old age'.
Aspiring to best practices in risk management is not simply a matter of calculating volatility or risk reporting. It is critical to protecting financial outcomes.
The affordability of seeing a movie, or cost of driving to the movie theatre, has not changed much over the 32 year period from 1981 to 2013. But the same cannot be said for ticket prices of concerts featuring aging rockers.
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.
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.
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.
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.