Financial planning ethics are of paramount importance to sound financial planning. Yet this self-explanatory and seemingly obvious statement cloaks the areas of ‘grey’ within which financial planning ethics may not be at all obvious or not at all relevant. Financial planning ethics is all about communication. What works and what doesn’t; how things work and…
Let’s consider just how many ways super and pension accounts are misrepresented or misunderstood.
Your risk profile is your personal assessment of the areas in which you have leeway, and the areas in which you do not, in your attempt to achieve a result as close as possible to that unachievable perfect outcome.
Financial planning is in a difficult period at the moment, with many people questioning the value of advice given and the point of following long term plans.
Which is the best super fund, and how will you decide between the thousands of options on offer?
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 or…
Financial planners are fond of using the phrase “long term” when talking about investing. It is a concept based upon an awful lot of research and analysis of markets, investor behaviour and trends. However, the phrase quite rightly gets questioned every time there is a significant fall in markets. A lot of people worry about…
There is a lot of worry and fright circulating as news and information about investment markets right now. I don’t want to downplay the potential for dire outcomes from the GFC and various government attempts to reduce its impact on their economies. However, there does need to be a little more informed comment on just…
A few people have read my earlier post on this subject of 10 year super fund returns and wondered just what point i was making… (thanks for the feedback Neil and others!). The post was primarily aimed at showing the average 10 year return of the average super fund (which was not much over 4%pa) and…
The front page of the Australian Financial Review today (Friday 23rd July) suggests that ‘Balanced’ Funds “have failed to keep pace with investments such as low-risk bonds and gold over the past decade even after posting double-digit gains in the year to June“. If you move on to page 51 to read the balance of…
