In this article Dr Lester Wills reviews work by two US-based academics, Robert Arnott and Anne Casscells. Lester considers the Arnott and Cassells' proposition that a stable dependency ratio rather than a stable retirement age is the only way a ... Read more

As is well known the Baby Boom generation is nearing retirement age. With much of their wealth tied up in residential real estate, the boomer generation need to work out how that large investment helps or hinders their retirement lifestyle plans. The ... Read more

Running a successful business and managing the growth of personal wealth is not easy for business owners of small to medium-sized enterprises (SME). Most business owners are so busy working within their business that they do not have many opportunities ... Read more

Running a successful business and managing the growth of personal wealth is not easy. This paper looks at some of the challenges faced by new business owners when they purchased an older life insurance practice from their parents. They decided to completely ... Read more

During bear market periods, anyone in the business of giving financial advice is in a position of greater risk from clients who end up with disappointing outcomes. Often this is a case of individuals not accepting responsibility for their own wealth ... Read more

There are many market myths in the superannuation industry. This paper shows that fund choice is alive and well and constitutes a multi-billion dollar competitive battlefield. This competition augurs well for the retirement of individual Australians. ... Read more

Can superannuation investments be attacked when a person becomes bankrupt? The critical points of attack in relation to superannuation are potentially contributions, a superannuation account balance, pensions and fund control. Financial planners typically ... Read more

Trauma insurance commenced on 6 October 1983, when Dr Marius Barnard helped launch the first policy in South Africa. The policy was designed to help clients pay for medical expenses associated with heart surgery (Marius and his brother Christian performed ... Read more

When analysing the proposition of holding insurance in super it's tempting to focus on tax - the tax treatment of premiums and the taxation of claims paid in the form of super benefits. While we can't ignore the significance of tax aspects of ... Read more

The increase in popularity of contracts for difference (CFDs) has been one of the hottest topics in personal finance over the past few years. From a standing start just six years ago, CFDs have grown to be the most popular retail derivative product ... Read more

Managed accounts are not new - they are an evolution in money management in Australia - retail unit trusts, master trust, wrap and now managed accounts. They have been used in the US for many years and were adopted early on by brokers who had a discretionary ... Read more

In the final days of the Howard Government new laws were passed which allow super funds to borrow using a specific type of structure. These new laws have been quite broadly drafted but there are traps for the unwary. In April 2008 the ATO released several ... Read more