Life insurance premiums are calculated based on a number of factors, such as your age, gender, health at the time of application, smoking status, occupation, lifestyle and hobbies. Your health can play one of the biggest roles in determining your premiums, so having a healthy lifestyle can have both personal and financial benefits. Do you…
Your financial health is key to the health of your wellbeing, relationships, work and home life. It’s important to have a regular checkup of your financial position to ensure you’re on track and to confirm your money is where you think it is, your investments are performing as they should, and debts are regularly serviced…
In retirement, every dollar counts and it is worth exploring different strategies to grow your retirement income. Here’s how do it… Use your super wisely If you’re about to retire or are in retirement, it can be tempting to take your superannuation as a lump sum payment. However, this means taking money out of a…
While self managed super funds are not for everyone, they do offer significant benefits. Running an SMSF successfully requires investment, legal, super and admin skills – or the ability to get help from people who have those skills. Having control over how your retirement savings are invested is one of the many benefits of SMSFs.…
Introduction In the confusing and often seemingly illogical world of investing, investors often make various mistakes that keep them from reaching their financial goals. This note takes a look at the nine most common mistakes. Mistake #1 Crowd support indicates a sure thing “I will tell you how to become rich…Be fearful when others are…
Superannuation funds have recorded another impressive year of returns for members with international technology and Australian banking shares driving above average returns over 2024. Concerns over inflation caused a slow start to the year, with multiple negative monthly returns recorded until October 2023. Increased confidence in the outlook for inflation and ongoing developments in artificial…
A managed fund generates income from its investments – for example, through share dividends, interest on cash or fixed interest investments in the fund, or any gains made when fund investments (like shares) are sold. So in short, a distribution is profit or income made by a fund and paid to investors. How are distributions…
While an exposure to hedge funds can provide a lift to a portfolio’s performance, they also offer the potential to generate high returns… at a risk. What’s a hedge fund and how do they work? Hedge funds typically play an important role in financial markets. In fact, when markets are volatile, hedge fund managers are…
Investing in infrastructure is about investing in the companies that provide essential services to society and earning predictable, reliable returns in the process. More than 350 infrastructure and utility companies are listed on global stock markets, with the sector having a combined market capitalisation in excess of US$4 trillion; about three times the market value…
Investors maintained a healthy risk appetite for much of October, which enabled major share markets to make further progress. Movements in the US set the tone, with the S&P 500 Index rising to fresh all-time highs during the month. Towards month end, however, subdued results from some of the largest technology firms in the US…