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21 January 2025
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Using the nine dimensions of well-being used by the OECD, and dividing Australians into Baby Boomers, Generation Xers or Millennials, it is surprisingly easy to identify the winners and losers for most dimensions.
It's not only that 60 is the new 40, but 80 is the new 60. Many Baby Boomers spend up in retirement and are less inclined to leave a nest egg to their children. The ways wealth transfers will affect all investors.
There's a popular view that generations are 'at war', but is it really the case that generations are more divided than ever before? If so, what's causing it? Why now? And how can we move forward?
Our sincere thanks for the amazing personal stories of how wealth was built by hard work or where some were not as fortunate. Another 600 readers have taken part in the survey since the last update.
While every generation has its unique opportunities, the majority of Firstlinks readers agree that Boomers have had a better run than others. But the real highlights here are in the comments.
The Budget incentives designed to increase housing affordability, especially for first home buyers, are minor steps in isolation, but they may encourage superannuation engagement and downsizing.
A response to Graham Hand's article on lessons for roboadvice, explaining how enhancements to digital wealth management are embracing the adjacent role of human advisers.
Australia's ETF industry saw significant growth in 2016, and 2017 looks set to continue this trend, driven especially by younger generations who prefer self-directed investment strategies.
Is it paranoia, or are the goal posts always changing for Generation X? Read the musings of a disgruntled Gen-Xer, lifting the lid on our government's secret plan to thwart her kind at every turn.
Bernstein's 2014 booklet is a simple recipe for young people starting on an investment journey. It aims to help establish the savings discipline needed to set the millennial generation up for a comfortable retirement.
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.