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22 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.
Governments borrowing for roads, infrastructure and items that have a long-term payback is good debt, but cash handouts for the sole purpose of getting the government back into power is 'bad' debt.
Feeling financially stressed? The entry level for the world's richest 1% is $1.5 million including the family home. If this is not enough to fund a ‘comfortable’ lifestyle, consider that 99% of people have less.
Claims about the inequity of super tax concessions and the advantages for high income earners miss a fundamental point. It's fairer with more realistic assumptions on the value of future payments.
While charitable donations and government assistance is swinging into action, it will fall short of meeting all needs. Many people will look for early access to their super nest egg to meet expenses.
It should be no surprise that many older Australians believe they have an entitlement to the age pension. Like an early version of the superannuation guarantee, pensions were once directly funded by personal tax.
Regardless of age, there's always something that can improve your preparation for retirement, especially given doubts about the sustainability of Australia’s tax and welfare systems.
Australia in 2014 is the lowest taxed nation in the developed world. Facing ten years of budget deficits, is the Abbott Government unwilling to raise tax rates, or will Joe Hockey make us share the pain come budget time?
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.