Back in 2007, Warren Buffett – one of the world’s most successful investors – waged a bet that over 10 years, an S&P 500 index fund would outperform ten hedge funds of the taker's choice. The sum to be invested was $1 million, with the proceeds going to charity. The bet was taken up by Protégé [...]
This post will be of interest to our clients with Macquarie Cash Management Accounts (CMA). In the past, if you needed to authorise a payment (say to yourself, or the ATO or ASIC for example) that you wanted us to arrange on your behalf, you needed to print out and sign a form, scan it, [...]
As a client of 5 Financial, your adviser has now presented you with your customised financial plan that addresses the key areas of concern you raised in your initial briefing. It also captures a ‘financial snapshot’ of where you stand right now, and the steps we recommend you take to enable you to achieve each [...]
Recently I was interviewed for an upcoming industry publication and thought our clients might be interested. Here's how it went: What is the most exciting/rewarding part of working in the financial planning sector? There are many exciting and rewarding aspects to what we do. This is best summed up in the change we see in our clients’ attitude [...]
The surprise election of Donald Trump in last week's presidential election created some market wobbles, and naturally many people have been concerned about the impact on their portfolios. Vanguard has published a response, based on an analysis of decades of historical data. It shows that presidential elections typically don't have a long-term effect on market [...]
As 2016 gallops to a close, it may feel like the changes to the Asset Test for the Aged Pension have just been drawn up. These changes were, however, announced in the 2015 Federal Budget. So who's affected and what does it mean? If you are over 65 and in receipt of a full or [...]
During August/September 2016, 184 of our wealth management clients were invited to take part in a Client Experience Survey by the Beddoes Institute, an independent research firm. Of the 184 contacted, 95 people took part – a fantastic 51.6 % response rate. This is especially pleasing considering that Beddoes regards 20-30% as a good response. [...]
Be retirement-ready by staying across the latest changes proposed for Super. (And if you'd like help in interpreting them for your situation, talk to us.) On 27 September 2016 the Government released another round of draft legislation implementing a number of the changes to superannuation it announced in the 2016 Federal Budget. Many of these [...]
Markets go up. Markets go down. And so it continues. If only we could predict with absolute precision and certainty, when market upturns and downturns would take place. But of course that’s impossible. Without a crystal ball at your disposal, trying to ‘time the market’ to capitalise on the best days and avoid the worst [...]
The Government has announced some proposed changes to the superannuation rules it had foreshadowed during the run up to the last Federal election. Here's a rundown: Are you clear on what non concessional contributions you can contribute in a year? With the Government abandoning its policy to introduce a $500,000 lifetime cap for non-concessional contributions [...]
