What seems riskier to you? Having all your money in shares or having all your money in the bank?

Depending on your definition of risk and your goals, you could either say it is the shares that are riskier or you could say that the cash in the bank is riskier.

I was speaking with a young professional the other day about a range of investing topics. One topic that came up is whether it would be worth it for him to learn how to pick his own stocks.

What seems more likely to you, that you will die in a shark attack or that a falling coconut will kill you?

 If you answered the falling coconuts, you would be right.

Every year around 5 humans per year die in shark attacks whereas 150 people get killed by falling coconuts. Are you reconsidering that trip to Fiji yet?

Clients often don’t really believe us when we talk about a 30-year retirement. Why would they when the average life expectancy is 83 years old? If you retire at 65 and live until the average life expectancy you only live another 18 years, so where does this number of 30 come from?

A range of new measures are being introduced as of 1 July 2022. These changes are based around allowing you to get more money into super and leave more money in super to assist you in your retirement.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has today raised the cash rate from 0.1% to 0.35% after having slashed it to 0.1% in the midst of the pandemic. What does this mean for you?

That depends on your situation.

The ABC has written a great article keeping people up to date with all of the potential flood relief payments, grants and loans that may be available. It appears as though it is being updated as new information is being released.

[2 minute read] Click the link below to access your Quarterly Economic and Market Update. This report is produced by Vanguard Australia who manage much of our client retirement portfolio assets.

A traditional single family office is a business run by and for a single family. The assets are the family's own wealth, often accumulated over many family generations.

There are many lifestyle and financial changes that occur at retirement. Whilst you will have increased leisure time, you will no longer be earning an income from work activities.

Check out this video where Steve Harvey explains how he is not going to leave everything to his kids when he passes away but, rather, consume much of the assets that he and his wife have built.

This is a great ad from Tourism Australia created to entice the Poms back to the country they sent their convicts to.

Many financial planning firms today are focussed on asset gathering their clients funds. Business models that mean the more money you bring in then you can slap a % based fee against these and in turn, bring in greater revenue. In our view, this is a lazy approach to providing comprehensive financial planning advice.

An analogy that I use with many clients when discussing retirement income strategies is around wanting to be able to eat the eggs ( yield ) or income) and to leave the Chook (capital) intact.

An important component of a great wealth management plan especially for young business owners and professionals is to ensure that they have suitable personal protection plans in place.

I am seeing many posts and articles where “ financial experts” explain how they can protect your retirement capital when the inevitable downturn in asset prices happens. ( We don't call it a crash.)

The start of June brings cooler temps and the smell of backyard fires and an extra 2 minutes under the Doona as you psyche up to face the day. June 30 is an important date in the financial year as it is the last day in which to complete your tax planning tasks.

So aside that the Jack Bogle (Vanguard Founder) book that I am currently reading is titled “Stay the Course,” I thought it would be a good time to share the Vanguard Index Chart.

Like every year, everybody starts off with the best intentions of seizing the morning and getting their lives sorted. New Year's resolutions are the eternal enigma that we use to change our lives overnight.

Check out this video from the founder of Vanguard, where he simplifies the process of investing and provides a clear path to a comfortable retirement by investing small and often.