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.
Thanks for dropping by...Ready to share and learn a little more about money and markets and financial planning in Australia today?My contribution towards this will be a focus on the "non-market" aspects of financial planning. There is a lot of market talk and data and information and opinion available but there is not a lot of financial planning discussion happening.If there's a topic you'd like covered - just send me an email.And remember, as well as adding the "log in" links for social media below, there is now a Michael's Musings page on Facebook and an account on Twitter. If you have accounts with either of these, please take a moment to check in and see what i've done. You will find a lot of smaller, shorter updates on day-to-day news on those sites. Feel free to share feedback and comments.
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.
So, what risks ARE you prepared to take? Some people think it is fun to bungey-jump off a cliff or a bridge or a crane when they are travelling overseas, while others are not prepared to do this – whether it be from fear of heights, concern over the health effect on their eyes...
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Money, power, bias – and truth. The Global Financial Crisis (now simply designated ‘the GFC’) brought all of these priorities, and the conflicts they cause, into stark view. A new movie “The Inside Job” successfully highlights the interplay of vested interests, hidden compensation and regulatory policy stupidity that suggests not only that the eventual...
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One of my favourite stupid sayings goes something along the lines of “…. is the new black” (insert whatever is the trend of the moment. It is ridiculous because you cannot be “new” and considered a classic both at the same time). So i am actually being terribly clever on this lovely Friday, by...
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Far from me to sit on my porch playing the fiddle, while watching the business district i live in being burned to the ground. That once-magnificent newspaper, the Australian Financial Review, yesterday headlined the changes in the financial industry as some institutions move to drop commissions from their products. All very laudable steps. Follow...
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Just a quick note today… With the broohah surrounding the government announcements on legislating to remove commissions from superannuation and investment accounts there are all sorts of comments being made on the likely impacts – some more informed than others. Feedback in a number of online forums suggests that many people are happy with...
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There is currently no specific direction provided by Government regulation (ignoring very specialised situations) on where a super fund must invest money. There is a requirement instead that the Trustee ensured the fund assets are appropriate to meet its obligations to fund members (that’s my interpretation of far more technical wording). Over time there...
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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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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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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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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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