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21 January 2025
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Untangling assets after a broken relationship can be daunting. But approaching the situation fully informed, in good health and with open communication can make the process more manageable and less costly.
We’ve seen how the transfer of wealth can work well, with inherited wealth helping families grow and thrive for generations, as well as how things can go horribly wrong. Here are tips on how to get it right.
Most people would prefer to have more money than less of it. But at what point do the trappings of wealth and success start to outweigh the benefits of striving for more?
By 2028, all Baby Boomers will be eligible for retirement and the Baby Boomer bubble will have all but deflated. Where will this generation's money end up, and what are the implications for the wealth management industry?
The number of financial planners is shrinking, the price is increasing, and trust is still low. With increasing numbers of Baby Boomers heading into retirement, the need for advice has arguably never been greater.
The number of financial advisers in Australia has almost halved at a time of greater need than ever. What has happened to the industry and its clients as yet another Quality of Advice Review takes place?
Seeking financial advice can be a daunting task and over 80% of Australians do not have a financial adviser. Here are the steps involved in understanding the advice process to encourage more people to jump in.
Investors overlook that they are charged more as the market rises. Far more financial services should cost a flat fee, with portfolios dominated by index exposure backed by a few active managers.
How can an adviser who is receiving a significant fee for selling a product be in a position to offer good, impartial advice to their client? They can’t, and the industry will slowly accept this.
In solving problems relating to conflicts of interest, comprehensive financial advice will be increasingly confined to the wealthy. Advisers respond plus comments by Perpetual's Adam Curtis.
In solving problems relating to conflicts and best interest duties, comprehensive financial advice has become so expensive that it will be increasingly confined to the wealthy. Is that what we want?
When more than half of retired Australians restrict their spending to less than the age pension and fear running out of money more than death itself, they may be denying a better lifestyle for themselves.
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.