Etfs

The curtain coming down on another year has a way of focusing the mind on how time is passing. It is also the time of year when market pundits put their forecasting hats on and share their best thoughts on what is in store for us in the year ahead.

In dollar terms alone, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) hardly rank among the heavy-hitters of Australian investment.

Would you be willing to help your adult children financially if they were experiencing financial difficulties? And would you be willing to help your elderly parents if they were in financial need?

There are times in our lives when the need for gaining specialist professional advice may seem particularly critical. And for many super fund members, this is one of those times.

The good, the bad and the ugly is, of course, the title of the stylised 1966 western starring Clint Eastwood. It is also an apt way to describe common habits of investors.

A look behind the recent statistics for Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) underlines their multi-faceted growth, globally and in Australia.

When thinking about our family insurance needs, a basic error or trap is to focus mainly on life cover without giving enough thought to gaining adequate income-protection insurance.

You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that more than 90 per cent of the investors who established SMSFs in the June quarter are aged between 25 and 64, as shown in the tax office’s latest Self-managed super fund statistical report.

Like it or not – and ready or not – we live in a disruptive world.

Imagine being asked to choose from a display of 30 different chocolates and 24 flavours of jam. Chances are you would have trouble making a choice and perhaps may end up without a single chocolate or a jar of jam.

Recently-published research by the CSRIO-Monash Superannuation Research Cluster suggests that a large proportion of retirees could be described as "slow on the draw" when it comes to their account-based superannuation pensions.

Reading the latest report card on Australia’s actively managed investment funds, you could be forgiven for thinking that the profession of ‘stock-picking’ has had its day.

Mark Twain was a great author but ‘stupendously incompetent’ when it came to investing, according to a feature in Time magazine earlier this year.

A growing market for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is giving investors more flexibility when it comes to building their portfolios.

The holding of adequate life, total & permanent disability and salary-continuance insurance is a critical part of sound personal financial and wealth management.

Can economic analysis make you a better investor?

Building an investment portfolio for a self-managed super fund can leave some trustees feeling like explorers, trying to find the best route to an uncertain destination – the so-called place for a ‘comfortable retirement’ – but without the help of some basic tools like a map and compass.

A recent personal finance feature published by Bloomberg asks readers to guess "who just turned 40".

Australia has, of course, a dual personal investment/saving sectors: assets held inside and outside super.

Concentration is generally a trait to be encouraged.

What are the hardest aspects of running your self-managed super fund (SMSF)? Is it the paperwork, all of the investment rules or the fundamental challenge of choosing where to invest your money?

A common way to measure the sustainability of retirement income is to calculate an annual withdrawal rate – the amount of income as a proportion of a retiree’s total capital.

Procrastination and inertia can, of course, be highly damaging behavioural traits for investors.

Investors are increasingly using Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) as a straightforward, low-cost way to gain exposure to overseas shares. 

It is a good time to take a simple temperature check.

The number-crunching of online personal finance calculators offered by super funds, fund managers and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) can help us to better understand our financial circumstances.

The beginning of a new financial year is a peak time of the year for beginning a superannuation pension by members of large funds and self-managed funds.

The latest edition of a key Vanguard research paper, The case for low-cost index-fund investing, released on 30 June, emphasises the contribution of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to the global growth in investor awareness of the attributes of low-cost, index investing.

Investors, sports fans and financial advisers share a common interest in the power of numbers.

When investment markets are particularly volatile, investors are more likely to participate in performance-chasing behaviour that is potentially detrimental to their long-term returns.

The latest edition of a key Vanguard research paper, The case for low-cost index-fund investing, released on 30 June, emphasises the contribution of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to the global growth in investor awareness of the attributes of low-cost, index investing.

Political shocks by their nature provoke strong reactions from investment markets.

The solid median return of large balanced super funds over the seven to 10 years to June 30 highlights once again why a disciplined, long-term approach to investing makes much sense – whether investments are held inside or outside super. 

Some financial advisers recommend that retirees set aside one to two years of living expenses if possible in a cash fund. This is to act as buffer to avoid having to sell growth assets to pay retirement income during a market downturn.

The beginning of a new financial year is a peak time of the year for beginning a superannuation pension by members of large funds and self-managed funds.

We are reaching a time of the year when some SMSF trustees will learn that their funds have inadvertently breached one of the most fundamental set of provisions in superannuation law: the in-house asset rules.

It seems inevitable that more SMSF trustees reaching older ages may consider whether or not to ask their adult children to join their fund to help with its administration and investments.

Most advisers would agree that couples in a marital relationship who carefully co-ordinate their investment portfolios along with their other personal finances can potentially put themselves in an excellent position to reach their shared long-term goals.

It seems paradoxical. The self-employed are among the most enthusiastic supporters of self-managed super yet the majority of the self-employed have little or no super.

Voluntary super contributions are poised to become like New Year’s resolutions and lapsed gym memberships – well-meaning, but ultimately unrealised.