October 2007
You are browsing the archive for October 2007.
Chasing last year’s winner can be disastrous
Irrespective of the warnings that past performance is no indicator of future performance many do-it-yourself (DIY) investors seem to use past performance as one of their major criteria in investment decisions. New research from Morningstar has demonstrated the impact of this behaviour for investors over the past 10 years. They have done this by calculating [...]
Peter Brock’s FORMER partner WINS estate battle
“The former partner of the late motor racing legend Peter Brock has won a legal battle over his estate”, reports the ABC News. Brock apparently left three Wills – the latter one changed a major beneficiary from his former partner (Bev Brock) to his partner at the time of his death (Julie Bamford). But the [...]
Wise advice from Saturday Night Live
Please enjoy the fine wisdom in this sketch by the crew at Saturday Night Live, including Steve Martin. Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford!
Cancer need not cripple your finances
Today is Pink Ribbon Day here in Australia. It is a day to show support for those affected by breast cancer, to raise funds for research and also to raise awareness. Last month I attended the Pink Ribbon Ball in Perth and was privileged to hear cancer survivor, Pauline speak of her experience and of [...]
Housing affordability an urgent problem, but who’s to blame?
Housing affordability is an urgent problem, even at crisis point if you read the continuous media coverage over the past year. And within the first couple of days of the current Australian Federal Election campaign the politicians had jumped on the bandwagon with policies for our housing affordability crisis. Interest groups have also been cramming [...]
Calculating the costs of your children’s education
Being a parent is one of the greatest gifts I have received in my life. But over the past two years I have also noticed the increase in our spending, and we have not yet even hit school or the teenage years. I know from working on education plans for my advice clients how much [...]
She’ll be right mate – It won’t happen to me
According to research released by AXA yesterday “Australians are amongst the most carefree and optimistic nations in the world when it comes to life risks.” Optimism is a great thing but is our attitude based on fact or based on a desire to avoid thinking about that which makes us uncomfortable? The research suggests that [...]
The key ingredient to wealth
Imagine for a minute that you’re on a ship sailing the seas; perhaps a cruise along the Alaskan coastline. The ship hits an iceberg, starts taking on water and the Captain announces “abandon ship – everyone to the life boats”. Traditionally, who are the first to be saved? The women and children. But why the [...]
How do you prefer to pay for financial advice?
One year ago a large institutionally owned financial advice group switched its charging structure to fee-for-service from commission. Since then all new clients have been fee-for-service. Existing clients have been able to opt to continue their commission structure. Interestingly, one year on the dealer group reports that most existing clients have opted to continue with [...]
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