Being the end of the year, it’s the time when all the financial and economic predictions for the New Year are flying around. Take your pick, but they’ll mostly be wrong or revised mid-year by those who made them so they don’t look so bad. Or they’ll be mildly conflicted. One of the more interesting predictions out there was printed in the Fairfax papers – The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review and likely across their regional network. It was made by real estate group Domain and suggested the following: Predictions of a deflated housing market in 2016 continue…

When a share market has a poor year diversified investors generally have their pain quarantined for various reasons. Investors holding share funds aren’t likely to have their holdings limited to one share market. They’re also not likely to be holding only share based investments. Any portfolio worth its salt would include fixed interest, listed real estate and cash. With global share markets offering differing returns and the various asset classes doing the same, a 5% decline on the ASX this year shouldn’t be an issue for the diversified investor. For the DIY hot share tip merchant, trying to pick the…

If there’s one constant about interest rates, it’s no matter where they sit someone will inevitably be grumbling about them. There’s always a belief from some people that they’re entitled to money at a cheaper rate or that they should be compensated better for having money stashed away. When interest rates are high, those who’ve borrowed are screaming, presumably because they never factored the possible high water mark into their plans. When interest rates are low, those who are expecting cash to provide a reliable and safe income are screaming, presumably because they never factored the possible low water mark…

If you’re looking for a really valuable present for anyone in their 20’s this Christmas you couldn’t go wrong by handing them $50 and explaining the simple dynamics of time and compounding contributions when it comes to planning for the future. Explain that $50 can be their first contribution, but every $50 from there, each week, over the next 40 years is up to them. Watch their jaws drop as they try to comprehend the timeline. While they might scoff at the idea and the supposed effort to keep it up, the $50 can be sold as the lazy way…

When it comes to the share market the media has a notoriously short term focus. And because few investors compile their own stats on share market returns, the media ultimately becomes our share market news filter. Each day they tell us what the market has done for that day. Not the last rolling 30 days or the last rolling quarter, rolling half year, year, 3 years etc. Of course that would be an extremely time consuming and possibly cock-eyed way to report, but when you consider the fact that it would be rare for someone to invest for a solitary…