Marketing is often most effective when it glosses over the smaller details and focusses on just one or two key points... does that lead to better outcomes or is it misrepresentation?
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Thoughts from a Perth Financial Planner
WSP Financial Services Pty Ltd links
This web site is operated by Michael O'Hara, an Authorised Representative of WSP Financial Services Pty Ltd (AFSL 237463), which trades as Wealth & Security Planners.The views expressed within this website are Michael's personal views, and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the views of WSP Financial Services Pty Ltd.Superannuation
Australian superannuation now constitutes one of the world’s largest specific retirement savings pools. It is an area beset by misinformation, vested interests and difficult legislation. The aim of this area is to bring some clarity to the area of superannuation in Australia today.
Industry Funds – “Compare the Pair”
Which is the best super fund?
Which is the best super fund? Which fund will provide you with the best rate of return, and how do you decide between the thousands of options on offer? In this post we are going to look at the recent results form a group of major superannaution funds, and determine just who...
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Higher super contributions aren’t as helpful as they seem
It’s interesting to read notes and articles and research that shows Australia’s pensioners “sitting on a time bomb” or that there is a shortfall in retirement savings of hundreds of billions of dollars. For what it is worth, the bulk of these appear to be a beat-up. For the morosely disinterested or even the...
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How do you simplify Superannuation documents?
Todays’ Australian Financial Review includes an article “Disclosure statements found wanting” (page 56 Financial Services, AFR Friday 29th October 2010). Now there is a non sequitur if ever i’ve seen one! That statement assumes that there would be a time when superannuation statements would NOT be found wanting – and i really can’t see...
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10 Year Super Fund returns – Part II
A few people have read my earlier post on this subject of 10 year super fund returns and wondered just what point i was making… (thanks for the feedback Neil and others!). The post was primarily aimed at showing the average 10 year return of the average super fund (which was not much over 4%pa)...
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10 Year Superannuation Returns
The front page of the Australian Financial Review today (Friday 23rd July) suggests that ‘Balanced’ Funds “have failed to keep pace with investments such as low-risk bonds and gold over the past decade even after posting double-digit gains in the year to June“. If you move on to page 51 to read the balance...
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Super Guarantee rate increase and financial planner fees
Now it makes a bit more sense… Why had the industry funds been making such a push for banning commissions, to the point where you could argue that their members’ funds were being used to pay for a campaign that didn’t actually improve the position of the members (because their members were already in...
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Be gentle on ‘Industry Funds’ – they know not what they do.
The front page of todays Australian Financial Review (AFR) includes an article titled “Unlisted assets drag down super fund returns”. In it, the returns of ‘Industry Funds’* is suggested as showing falling returns into a recovering market. This is entirely expected, and should not be a reason to argue against the ‘Industry Fund’ attraction...
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Superannuation remains Largely Unexplained
Todays Australian Financial Review (p3) carries an artile titled “Super funds warned” in which Jeremy Cooper (“chairman of the federal government’s review of the $1.2 trillion superannuation industry”) suggests that Australian super funds need to increase returns and gain greater scale to increase opportunities. The example given is “Two Canadian pension funds with a...
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Noise – it’s all just noise..!
My brother sent this photo yesterday. It is the view from his current workplace, in Laos. Here is my view… Sometimes the hustle and bustle of the day-to-day can stop us from seeing and thinking clearly. When considering money issues, this is the most common cause of mistakes being made. It may sound easy...
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Pidgin Economics
Financial Planning is all about understanding money. The problem is that traditional financial planning is all about your Financial Planner understanding money and your simply agreeing with whatever it is that they are telling you. How do i know this? i know that this is the case because i am an avid reader of all things financial, and my role as an active Financial Planner in Perth, Western Australia, keeps me up-to-date with the latest trends no what is happening in Western Australia. Constant contact with other planning professionals, and with employees, representatives and management of major financial institutions, helps to bring about a fairly wide picture of how things stand at any given point in time. If there is a "zeitgeist" to financial planning (and i am referring to the "spirit of the times" definition and not the popular conspiracy theory video) then right now that would be a spirit of Inquisition. That's not all good, by the way. Financial Planners and the financial planning world are under the microscope in a way that has not happened before. Fees and bias are being raised in a negative sense, with very little perspective or history being presented to help the average person understand money or how the financial planning world works - and that is a bad thing, as legislative changes as well as consumer group pressure, are combining to fundamentally alter the fabric of financial planning in Australia. All change is not always for the better, and Financial Planning will not necessarily involve less fees and bias in the future. If anything, the changes to legislation for financial planning operators is already working towards a greater reduction in choice and clarity. Bias driven by commercial arrangements are being hidden even further, as financial planning groups take positions in financial products to gain some financial exposure to investment and superannuation funds flows. The term "independent" is mistakenly assumed to mean "free of bias", and that is a mistake that is made by legislators, consumer groups, consumers and even financial planners. This site aims to bring about a greater understanding of money and the financial planning world. It's not a destination but a journey, and not a short one at that. If you are interested in financial planning (especially Perth financial planning) then spend a while to get to know this site, and i believe you will learn far more than you expect. If you do not, click on the "contact" links and tell me where we fall short. I assure you that all input will be attended to and considered. - Michael O'Hara
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