Last month, a letter came into our office from an organisation that had the look and feel of a government department. They were offering “term investments” with the benefits of competitive fixed investment rates, flexible investment terms, monthly income payments and no entry or exit fees.

You’d be excused for thinking that the offer was for secure term deposits with a government guarantee.

However, the company offering the product has nothing to do with a government body and the investme...
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There is plenty of concern over where markets are headed with such news stories as the “European crisis” scaring us with doom and gloom commentary.

It’s at this time that Dollar Cost Averaging can help you. This is when you “drip feed” into the market by buying bit by bit, rather than all in one go. A simple way to do this is to set up a monthly Regular Savings Plan for your managed investment or an automated purchase order for your shares.

This approach means you don’t have to try ...
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A critical part of building portfolios is getting the right balance between income and capital appreciation to help ensure your long term investment objectives are achieved.   Often in times of market volatility we witness investors move to cash.  While the security of cash has its temptations, this strategy needs to be weighed against the potentially costly mistake of missing out on capital growth.

I just came across this great video from Zurich Investments which explains the importance of ...

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In the most recent budget, the government changed the taxation laws such that minors receiving non-working income WILL NOT be entitled to the low income tax offset of $1,500 from 01 July 2011.

 

This means that if you have kids with investment monies (such as a bank balance that has accrued from all that birthday money), they might find they have a tax liability at the end of the financial year.

 

It also has an impact on your more complex affairs such as paying distributions from a famil...

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At the annual conference I attended recently in Hobart, I had the pleasure of seeing Peter Thornhill deliver a no-nonsense, emphatic and impassioned talk on his favourite topic – the boring world of the sharemarket. He says, “I prefer the safety and security of the sharemarket to risky assets like term deposits.” What the…?

He believes the share markets are guided by forces beyond reason. Their ups and downs can be linked to collective human behaviour, n...

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