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22 December 2024
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Recent legal cases involving Westpac and BT put to rest any view that 'caveat emptor' (buyer beware) applies to 'no' and 'general' advice service models, even though those models do not attract a best interests duty.
SMSFs are currently the largest segment of superannuation, but by 2020, industry funds are expected to dominate, having recently overtaken retail funds. Labor's franking proposal will accelerate the trend.
Selecting 10 winners from hundreds of alternatives presents major challenges, and there are no guarantees past performance will continue. It mainly targets only $1 billion from the $150 billion contributed each year.
APRA and the ATO do not measure fund performance in the same way. The discrepancy can cause SMSF performance to appear worse than it actually is, and better collaboration between regulators is required.
It's often said that 'A man is not a financial plan'. A Practice Director in a successful business shares some of her life tips on financial independence for women aiming to self-fund their retirement.
The Productivity Commission is undertaking a review into the competitiveness and efficiency of Australia's super system. These key points are taken from the draft report, including a neat 'piggy' graphic.
The Productivity Commission report recommends young workers should be given a 'best in show' shortlist of super funds set by an independent process.
Treasurer Scott Morrison on superannuation engagement and why the recent changes were essential, and in fact, have no impact on the vast majority of people.
Government-sponsored reviews often focus on costs and efficiencies because they are easier to measure, but far greater gains can be made if the super system is encouraged to innovate, even if it comes with costs.
Highlights of the Productivity Commission's report on superannuation for post-retirement. The PC shows people don't waste their super spending lump sums and estimates the savings from moving super access to 65.
Tightening pension eligibility is not as simple as just upping the age limit. There are valid arguments for and against any increase and it will depend on the details whether it will be good policy or not.
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.