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May 22, 2017

You’re Out of Your Mind

Time for a New TV After getting sick of sharing TV time with the kids we recently decided it was time to replace the broken second TV. Now electrical items fall under my jurisdiction in our house, be that a good thing or not, and it was my job to buy the new TV. In a prior work life I worked for one of the […]

June 20, 2017

Fees for No service

ASIC recently released a report into the behaviour of financial advisers controlled by the big 4 banks and AMP. It probably won’t surprise many that the findings weren’t great, but it was a non-headline grabbing and little reported finding that caught my eye. Further, it is an issue that is not confined to the big 4 and AMP. It is an issue involving the vast […]

September 4, 2017

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

In prior posts, we have highlighted the value in pursuing simple solutions, over complex or simplistic solutions. It has also been highlighted that our desire as humans to feel special can lead us to the misconception we must seek out “special” solutions, which not surprisingly come at a significant price and in reality aren’t special at all. I would like to pick up on da […]

November 10, 2017

Behave Your Way to Success

A recent post on LiveWire (link below) identifying 11 habits to avoid for better investment performance is worth a quick look, not just for how it could help you as an investor, but for how a better understanding of the habits it refers to can help you in everyday life. The post identifies 11 natural human behaviours that are often counterproductive when applied to decisions […]

January 3, 2018

Still the 8th Wonder of the World

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.” ― Albert Einstein Einstein isn’t the only smart person that understands the power of compound interest. Regarded by many as the greatest investor of all time, certainly the best known, Warren Buffett has built one of the world’s greatest ever financial fortunes largely off […]

September 11, 2018

Tricks & Traps – Insurance Premium Payments

I recently saw it reported that 95% of insurance premiums are paid monthly. So what you say? Surely that helps with managing cash flow. I suspect it does, but maybe not the cash flows you’re thinking. Call me cynical, but I think it has more to do with the cash flow position of the adviser that sold the policy and the insurer than it does […]

February 6, 2019

Financial One-Stop-Shops

Every now and then I do a Google search on independent financial advice or a variation to see what comes up. Yes, I’m checking to see if Think Independent does, but let’s move on. Too often there are advice practices that are far from independent. That’s a problem but not what this post is about. A recent search brought up a practice that upon further digging is what you […]

May 22, 2017