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27 April 2025
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We’d love to hear your thoughts on Firstlinks and how we can make it better for you. If you’d like to help us out in a just a couple of minutes, please take our short survey.
We each have a unique inflation experience but does it feel as if your own cost of living has gone up more than the official CPI? Australia has taken a step change in the cost of goods and services but what about yours?
Thank you for the hundreds of responses to our Reader Survey and to give as big a sample as possible, we are leaving it open for a few more days. Here is a sample of the results so far.
It is many years since we ran a Reader Survey to find out more about our audience. To celebrate our 500th edition, as your present to us, please provide feedback that will help to improve our content for years to come.
From thousands of comments received about future policies for Australia, we have selected 70 highlights showing a diversity of views, illustrating the challenges as Treasurer Chalmers heads to his first Budget.
Over 800 responses and thousands of comments is great feedback. Readers of Firstlinks hold strong opinions on gas, taxes, inflation, child care and cost-of-living concessions, and now the Governor is buying in.
The first Labor Budget in a decade comes at a critical time for the new government, facing policy decisions on many fronts. Take our Reader Survey on these six questions and let us know what you would do.
Amid thousands of comments, tips include developing interests to keep occupied, planning in advance to have enough money, staying connected with friends and communities ... should you defer retirement or just do it?
All Baby Boomers are now over 55 and many are either in retirement or thinking about a transition from work. But what is retirement like? Is it the golden years or a drag? Do you have tips for making the most of it?
In almost 1,000 responses, our readers differ in voting intentions versus polling of the general population, but they have little doubt who will win and there is widespread disappointment with our politics.
Apparently, the major parties both have a 'plan' for the future, but they look like more of the same. What are the issues we should be debating? Who do you expect to win the election? What is bothering you?
With fixed term deposit rates declining and bank hybrids being phased out, what are the best options for investors seeking income? This goes through the choices, and the opportunities and risks involved.
The S&P 500's recent correction raises concerns about a bear market. History shows corrections are driven by high rates, unemployment, or global shocks, and that there's reason for optimism for nervous investors today.
The famed investor says the rapid switch from globalisation to trade wars is the biggest upheaval in the investing environment since World War Two. And a new world requires a different investment approach.
Trump's tariffs and China's retaliatory strike have sent the Nasdaq into a bear market with the S&P 500 not far behind. What are the implications for the economy and markets, and what should investors do now?
Are you living your life by default or by design? It strikes me that many people are doing the former and living according to others’ expectations of them, leading to poor choices including with their finances.
Larry Fink is one of the smartest people in the finance industry. In his latest shareholder letter, the Blackrock CEO outlines his quest to become the biggest player in private assets and upend investor portfolios.