Thoughts on money, from a Financial Planner in Perth
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Financial planners continue to be in the news – gosh, we must be an interesting lot. The focus of late has been on insurance – it’s costs and the differences between good and bad advice in this area. This is a short post, with a link to commentary from three different planners operating in the … Read more
For a whole host of reasons, i’m thinking about insurance today. Thinking about insurance Insurance is one of those areas we all love to hate. Premiums always seem too high, we hear stories of insurance companies not paying out or the new stories about commissions being too high. After years of dealing with insurance companies and … Read more
It’s Philosophy Friday, so let’s spend a moment or two musing on the place of “Ethics” in the world of the financial planner. Financial Planning Ethics It may seem obvious that there is a place for ethics in financial planning. Financial planning scandals of one type or another have peppered the front pages of newspapers, … Read more
The Reserve Bank of Australia today announced that it has dropped interest rates yet again. Borrowers on variable rates linked to the RBA cash rate will rejoice when their particular financial institution eventually agrees to pass on the interest rate cut. Pensioners and people living off interest income will find their next interest payment is … Read more
Is there a financial bias in media and commentary towards do-it-yourself strategies? And if there is, is it disclosed or obvious or even apparent?
Financial planners and life insurance have been in the headlines recently. It’s a strange development, for a variety of reasons that i will cover later in this post. For the moment however, let’s just say that the current debate is highly superficial, and there’s a need for greater clarity – so read on! Financial planners … Read more
The Medibank float is likely to be the largest and most keenly sought-after Australian Stock Exchange (“ASX”) retail float for a very long time.The high level of interest is a reflection of many issues – some valid and some not so valid from an objective investor point of view. In this post, i muse on … Read more
What is Australia’s cheapest super fund? Should fees be the sole basis for choosing a super fund?
In my role as a financial planner i am often asked questions about the retiring age in Australia. There is no simple answer – the age differs according to where your focus is – superannuation, tax or government age pension income support. Here’s a quick look at different versions of the retiring age in Australia.
What keeps this financial planner awake at night? Currently, it’s thoughts about “the anchoring fallacy” and the impact it can have on money and plans for the future.