Welcome to Michael's Musings.

Financial Planning is all about understanding money. There is a never ending stream of data being thrown at us all in this increasingly technologically-fed world but in many cases, all that extra data does is to add to the 'noise'.

Here at Michael's Musings, a Perth planner will help you sort out the real information in amongst all that noise. Feedback and comment cheerfully received, even if sometimes ignored. To log-in using your Facebook, LinkedIn or other network ID, please click this image.

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Posts Tagged ‘ Financial Planning ’

Understanding Superannuation Fund Returns

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1
August 21, 2009

I’m sorry, that was just sooooo funny that i almost choked even as i was typing it. ‘Understanding’ is not a word usually associated with superannuation funds, never mind understanding anything about the investment returns achieved by those funds. APRA (the government body charged with supervision of a lot of these areas) has just...
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Who needs a Financial Planner?

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August 18, 2009

Correct answer : No-one. Notes : This is correct on the same basis that no-one needs a doctor, a lawyer or a politician. Each of these professions fails to meet the “basic needs” criteria. The same argument could be put for trade professions such as plumbers, brick-layers, truck drivers or mechanics. It is quite...
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Vested Interests and Superannuation Advice

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July 14, 2009

We mere mortals here in Wealth & Security Planners have been bemusedly scanning the various reactions to Australian Securities & Investments Commission guidelines for the Trustees of super funds to be able to provide advice to their members. In case you missed it, the guide is set out here. The impetus for the change...
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If this is what passes for intelligent discussion – i’m going back to kindergarten…

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June 26, 2009

If you are bored enough of your day-to-day, you may have noticed my previous posting which included the text of a note that i sent to the Crikey online newsletter in an attempt to get some sort of intelligent discussion happening in regards to commissions and fees for superannuation. Well, it seems that when...
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Legislating to ban commissions on superannuation

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June 26, 2009

For many years various pressure groups around the country have been trying to have legislation brought in to ban the payment of commissions from superannuation accounts. Pressure has mounted even further as links are drawn between commissions generated and the recent failures of MIS scheme operators Great Southern and Timbercorp, as well as the...
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How do Financial Advisors assess and apply risk strategies?

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June 3, 2009

Take a deep breath, ’cause this is a deep one. i have set out below a bit of information on one of the core “tools” that is used in the financial planning industry in an attempt to apply some measure of science to the selection of approriate investment assets. It is actually only a...
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Bias in action

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June 2, 2009

Having just spent a bit of time setting out the relative aspects of bias that exist in the Financial Planning industry, i thought it relevant to highlight just how prevalent and deeply ingrained this tendency for bias is. Please bear in mind that i am not making a value judgement here – bias will...
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Sources of Bias in the Financial Planning Industry

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May 31, 2009

How to start in an area that is so little understood, even by those who set out to regulate or administer the laws of advice? Let’s start in a place called Mar-a-Lago, a Donald Trump owned private club in the salubrious Palm Beach in the good ol’ US of A. The cream of the...
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Protected: Great Southern appoints Administrators

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May 18, 2009

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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The word “independent”

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March 30, 2009

This is a very special word in the area of financial services. At least, it is legislatively important in Australia and a good starting point when you begin to consider money, advice and how they interact. Let’s get technical for just a moment… In Australia, the word “indepedent” and its use by financial intermediaries...
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