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Raiding Super For First Homes?

12 March 2015

Last year the senator from South Australia, Nick Xenophon raised a loopy idea that has long been an obsession of the real estate industry. Let first home buyers raid their superannuation to buy a house.

A Crash Headline Quota To Fill?

5 March 2015

Have you noticed there are never any boring headlines in the investment media?

Read the headlines and there are often only two things that can happen – crash or boom. If we’re not careening upwards at breakneck speed, alternatively we’ll be losing our shirts in the next crash. The prospect of a boring and mundane market seems elusive for the headline writers.

The Rich House Pension Poor House

26 February 2015 

If you hadn’t noticed, something’s going to give in this country’s retirement sector. 

We keep hearing about debt and what needs to be cut. Recently retirement options are again under the microscope. The sustainability of the age pension is questioned. The ability to continue superannuation tax breaks are questioned. And with rocketing home prices in some parts of the country, there’s talk of the family home being subject to pension means testing.

Port Hedland Boom & Bust

20 Feb 2015 

While no one we know was there to see it, we can imagine it was a very sombre moment. 

Earlier this month a rather ordinary looking peach coloured fibro house in the mining port town of Port Headland was up for auction. The auction didn’t go so well. The bidding fell over at $360,000 without meeting the reserve.

The Good Oil On Predictions 

19 Feb 2015  

This week we learned that oil was going to $10!  

It was the latest in an endless stream of hyperbolic attention seeking predictions from investment commentators and financial institutions.