The Money Puzzle

After the Los Angeles fires, it would be reasonable to assume that property values take a serious hit in the wake of a natural disaster. But this is not the evidence in the Australian market, a study from UNSW shows properties hit by fire and flood fully recover their values in line with the broader market.  Nerida Conisbee, chief economist at Ray White group joins wealth editor Jam...

Over the summer holidays we put together a series of shows on the outlook for the year ahead: In those three episodes we looked at share markets and property markets and today we put it all together offering a comprehensive view of the prospects for your investment portfolio this year. Financial adviser James Gerrard joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. -------------- In today's episod...

The experts tell us house prices should move higher by between one and four per cent in 2025. But that average forecast conceals a wide range of variables: Sydney and Melbourne may drop, Perth could keep going gangbusters for months. Haven't you heard?...all property is local. The key issue is to get started and stick to the right path in the year ahead. In this special series show, we cover: &nbs...

If bank stocks ran too hot on the ASX in 2024, should investors chase them again in 2025?  Perhaps there are better opportunities in the year ahead: We're talking miners, industrials and technology leaders. Jun Bei Liu, portfolio manager at Ten Capital joins wealth editor James Kirby in this special summer edition of the show. ----- In today's show, we cover: * The limited outlook for bank st...

How could the sharemarkets possibly repeat the powerful performance of 2024 in the year ahead? It's time to take a look at what the experts are predicting for the leading share markets over the next 12 months and why you are entitled to be (just a little bit) optimistic. Marc Jocum, investment strategist at GlobalX ETFs joins wealth editor James Kirby in this special summer edition of th...

What is the FIRE movement and how did it get started? It's not a club or a cult: It doesn't have a headquarters, rather it's a set of investment principles: And it just might be a breakthrough for you in the year ahead. Lionel Lee joins wealth editor James Kirby in the episode  -------- In today's show, we cover:  * The key principles of FIRE * Getting the best from what the mo...

Never count your chickens...until the last day of the year: A sober call from US Federal Reserve chair, Jay Powell, has cooled US markets this week while on the ASX the biggest float of the year - DigiCo- has been an initial flop. But, hey, we are still looking at double-digit returns for investors in 2024...and that will do nicely. Financial adviser James Gerrard joins wealth editor James Ki...

Call it key person risk - or perhaps ' key person opportunity': Either way, the personality of the CEO is crucial to the operation of most top stocks on the ASX. The Australian has just released its annual CEO survey - let's hear what the CEOs are saying about the year ahead. Associate editor Business Eric Johnston joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. ----------- In today's show, we co...

Can the US possibly repeat its bumper returns again in 2025?  Well, the pundits tell us that US markets will return at least twice the total return from the ASX next year…so, why not? Tim Mackay of Quantum Financial joins wealth editor in this episode. ------------- In today’s episode, we cover: * The US share market prospects for the Aussie investor * Bond ETFs…maybe this...

The inbox at themoneypuzzle@theaustralian.com.au is not going to get cleared by Xmas if we don't do something soon!  Here's a collection of our recent correspondence.  Stuart Wemyss of Prosolution Private Clients joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. ------- In today's show, we cover: * The 40-year mortgage - good news or bad news?  *  Centrelink and gifting a stake...

There were 30,000 advisers in Australia and there are 15,000 today. Worse still, there are only a teeny number of new recruits joining the sector each year.  Big Super may provide a breakthrough with its plan for specialised in-house advisors, but will they be any good? Advisor Nathan Fradley joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. --------- In today's show, we cover  * Finding a financia...

It does not take long for distressed sales to appear in a soft property market: In Sydney and Melbourne there is now clear weakness in inner-city apartment markets. But can an investor make money here? Louis Christopher of SQM Research joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. ------------ In today's show, we cover: * Soft spots in the metropolitan centres  * Why Brisbane and Perth may hold...

Call it a surprise if you like: But the unexpected, highly irregular, badly drafted new super tax is off the agenda: What's more, it's unlikely to reappear in anything like its current shape.  Then again, a parliamentary logjam has also ensured the big breakthrough on financial advice - where super funds would come into the game in a major way - is also petrified in a political deadlock. At least...

You can already use funds from an SMSF to buy an investment property. But what if you could use money from your Big Super fund to buy a home?  It's hardly a radical idea in an economy where you can take money out of super for cosmetic surgery! Simon Jones of HomeSuper joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. --------- In today's show, we cover: * The plan to tap Big Super for home buyers ...

Need some advice about advice? At The Australian, we have expanded our annual roll call of the best advisers: The List: Top 150 Financial Advisers is out this week. To mark the occasion I'm joined by an adviser who has managed to make the list every year since it was launched in 2017. Will Hamilton of Hamilton Wealth Partners joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. -------------- In today...

The Big Super funds are having a woeful run of high-profile cock-ups where customers have been let down by inept management procedures: Led by Cbus, the roll-call includes ART, Hesta and Unisuper. At what point do investors need to be concerned about failings in their super fund?  James Gerrard of www.financialadviser.com.au joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. ---------- In today's sh...

Australian investors have flocked to Wall Street in recent times favouring the 'Magnificent Seven' big tech stocks - and Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway group. But Donald Trump's new regime looks set to favour old-school blue chips, not to mention oil and gas stocks. What to do? Gemma Dale, head of investor behaviour at nabtrade, joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. ----------------...

Many property investors never know if they will win or lose on a property until the day they finally sell it: In contrast, professional investors don't fly blind, instead they concentrate on their Internal Rate of Return. Here's how it works. Stuart Wemyss of Prosolution Private Clients joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. ---------- In today's show, we cover: * Assessing the Internal...

The average HECs bill is now $27,000 and many listeners will have bills that are higher than that: This week the government restructured the entire working of the student debt system - and threw in a universal 20 per cent cut on all existing HECs bills - how will it work? Hugh Robertson of the Centaur Financial Services joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. ------------- In today's show...

There are two classes of private investor in Australia: Everyday retail investors and legally certified sophisticated investors (defined by law as having an annual income of at least $250,000 or assets of more than $2.5m),Today we examine the sophisticated investor regime - how it works and whether you would gain anything from making the cut. Ray Tubman of Heirwealth joins wealth editor James Kirb...

CEO scandals are flooding the share market: Qantas, Wisetech, MinRes...the list keeps growing. The thing is, each of those companies has a board that is paid handsomely for supposedly keeping the CEO under control. What could be done to change this risk?  Fund manager Roger Montgomery joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode. In today's show, we cover: Coralling the larger-than-life CEO: A...

Buying at auction might seem straightforward, but unfortunately you are likely to become a bunny in the headlights when it comes to the big day.  Still, knowing what can go wrong is the first step to enlightenment - and that includes being very careful in choosing a buyer's agent because some of them have so little in the way of credentials...it's alarming. Property educator, Veronica Morgan, join...

This week - in 1987 - the ASX fell 25 per cent IN A DAY. Just now the local share market is going gangbusters: In fact, it is testing its all- time valuation peak. But here's the thing: The market will crash again - we just don't know when this will happen or what might trigger the downturn. What was it like to sit through a 25 per cent drop in a matter of hours and what can we learn from it as in...

Every spring property investors are tempted again by the lure of the beach house: This year the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made his move with a high-profile $4.3m purchase on the Central Coast. Is a holiday home a good investment? Let's find out... James Gerrard of www.financialadvisor.com.au joins wealth editor James Kirby in this episode   In today's show, we cover: *Assessing holiday homes...

The chances are that your share portfolio is going gangbusters. But a paradox of our bull market on the ASX is that the dividend payouts are sliding: Anyone starting today as a share investor is going to find it much harder to get the sort of dividend income that made our market a standout. What's happening...and what should you do? Don Hamson managing director of the Plato Investment group joins...