Financial Planning, Investment & Insurance Solutions

  • The Value Dilemma

    The Value Dilemma

    Every investor will face a conundrum at some point: what to do when their beliefs don’t work. Sometimes it’s an assumption that becomes lore. A favoured company paid a dividend for 20 straight years. Of course, it’s not going to ever stop paying a dividend… then it stops paying a dividend. A dagger to the heart! An outrage, there were plans for that money! An assumption gone wrong. Yet of all the things that can go wrong with an individual share holding, it’s probably a minor one. Sometimes it’s evidence. Academic research has shown certain companies have historically compensated investors…

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  • Vulnerability & Financial Abuse

    Vulnerability & Financial Abuse

    Ageing brings the curse of vulnerability. Cognition inevitably declines, reflexes inevitably decline, eyesight and hearing inevitably decline, while muscle mass is on slow glide downward as we lose 3-5% each decade from our 30’s. That means strength and balance inevitably declines. There are some preventative measures we can take, but try as we may, in some areas we may be struck randomly by age related disease and decline regardless. If you think that’s negative, we’re not finished yet. Vulnerability increases risk. There may be the need to outsource more tasks and rely on others for help. Worse, some may see…

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  • Gifting That Might Be Taking

    Gifting That Might Be Taking

    The country and the world have been financially disrupted this year. There’s a section of haves who have done exceptionally well considering the economic calamity. There are a section of have nots who have done exceptionally poorly. This is nothing new. As economies shift, winners and losers are created all the time, though usually not so widely in such a short space of time. Australia has remained prosperous for more than a quarter century, if you’re judging based on recessions, but it hasn’t happened without creating wealth divisions. While you’d expect older generations to have a greater share of wealth,…

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  • Election Results Irrelevant, but Vital

    Election Results Irrelevant, but Vital

    It is a week out from the US Presidential election. We’ve deliberately avoided the election until the very last moment. Why? Its lack of importance. We hear ‘this is the most important election of our lifetime’ almost every election. On some issues, maybe it is. When it comes to investing, it rarely is. Nor should an election ever be regarded as something to focus on. If an investor is perpetually scanning the horizon for the next event, then they are perpetually distracted by things they can’t control. It isn’t conducive to disciplined investing. Agonising and handwringing over this election, or…

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  • Stories & Evidence

    Stories & Evidence

    In 1998 the Tour de France was in dire straits. A car belonging to the Festina team was stopped on the French-Belgium border. The boot was full of performance enhancing drugs. What followed were police raids and arrests. It culminated with the Festina team being booted off the Tour. Other riders and teams were outraged and protested at their treatment. Fans were livid. Booing and jeering at every turn of the pedal. 1998 was a dark stain on the history of the Tour de France. In 1999, a new story quickly emerged to blow away the dirt. A man who…

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