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22 December 2024
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A healthy couple entering retirement can expect at least one of them to live for 30 more years. What do the 30-year asset performance charts say about returns, ignoring the pessimism that the future will be worse?
My wife and I are back in Europe, 40 years after our first backpacking trip through the continent. Though we've returned many times in between, we reflect on what's changed about European travel, the good and bad.
History will show Europe was ill-advised to rely on Russian fossil fuels, and the energy crisis has delivered stark choices on climate change, government finances, inequality, inflation, politics and social cohesion.
To add to the world's problems, high inflation is exposing Europe's frailties and poorer nations have no independent monetary policies to help their economies. Core problems cannot always be kicked down the road.
Most global corporations' direct exposure to Russia is limited; however, rising commodity prices and supply chain disruptions will pressure consumer sentiment and raise inflationary risks.
In the 11th year of a bull market, near the end of the cycle, some type of correction is likely. Underneath is solid, healthy and underpinned by strong earnings growth, but there's less room for mistakes.
Italy is so weak economically, financially and politically that it poses an existential threat to the eurozone. Solutions to appease the crisis face political hurdles and a euro exit is possible.
Platinum's Kerr Neilson shares his insights into long term investing in global markets, especially the disruptive effects of technology and globalisation. And always with a focus on the price of a stock.
Australian investors may be wary of the European share market with Greece and Brexit in the news, but there's a good investment and diversification case, with access now made easier by Europe equity ETFs listed on the ASX.
Modern Greece faces an ancient dilemma: should it sail within reach of Scylla, the sea monster that lives in Brussels, to avoid Charybdis, the ‘sucking whirlpool’ that is the return of the drachma?
Many people have been quoting the Australian shares return for FY2015 as 2.4%, but that is only the price index. The accumulation index is up a healthy 7.1%. All asset classes generated returns well above inflation and cash rates.
The European Central Bank was reluctant to embrace a QE strategy following the GFC. But in late 2014 it was introduced to fight deflationary forces and boost growth in the euro-zone. The question is: will it work?
It’s with heavy hearts that we announce Firstlinks’ co-founder and former Managing Editor, Graham Hand, has died aged 66. Graham was a legendary figure in the finance industry and here are three tributes to him.
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.
Australia is in the early throes of an intergenerational wealth transfer worth an estimated $3.5 trillion. Here's a case study highlighting some of the challenges with transferring wealth between generations.
The Future Fund's original purpose was to meet the unfunded liabilities of Commonwealth defined benefit schemes. These liabilities have ballooned to an estimated $290 billion and taxpayers continue to be treated like fools.
ASFA provides a key guide for how much you will need to live on in retirement. Unfortunately it has many deficiencies, and the averages don't tell the full story of the growing gender superannuation gap.
The Big Four banks have had an extraordinary run and it’s left income investors with a conundrum: to stick with them even though they now offer relatively low dividend yields and limited growth prospects or to look elsewhere.