Key points The Fed has confirmed it will start reducing its balance sheet by not reinvesting bonds up to set limits as they mature. This amounts to quantitative tightening as it will start to reverse some of the quantitative easing that occurred during and after the Global Financial Crisis. The Fed is still anticipating another […]
Key points It’s hard to argue that the search for yield has gone too far given how low bond yields are. A range of assets still provide much better yields than cash and bonds.. However, bond yields are likely to gradually trend higher helped by stronger global growth, a gradual rise in global inflation […]
What impact do factors like your weight, age and smoking status have on your ability to buy life insurance? Life insurers take into account a number of different factors when assessing insurance applications, but asking your insurer about the impact these factors might have can sometimes be difficult. Here are the answers to some commonly […]
Key points Australia’s two key economic vulnerabilities are i) the housing market and ii) the dependence on Chinese growth for commodity demand. Vulnerabilities leave an economy exposed to downside shocks which could led to a recession. Dwelling price growth may be hit by interest rate hikes and a boom in the new supply of homes. […]
Key points At its core, successful investing is simple, but we have a knack of making it look complex. Here are another five great charts that help illuminate key aspects of investing: the importance of time in the market relative to timing; the case to look at your investments less; the relationship between risk and […]
With no definitive retirement age in Australia, the date you exit the workforce will probably come down to personal circumstances and whether you can afford it. The age you retire in Australia isn’t set in stone. You can really retire whenever you want to, but health, financial commitments and your ability to fund the lifestyle […]
With the average funeral costing $7,000, would your relatives be in a position to foot the bill? Life can be expensive but so it seems, is death. The average funeral costs around $7,000, yet research by comparison site Finder shows 60% of Australians either haven’t thought about their funeral costs or are expecting relatives to […]
It may be time to reconsider some myths about property investment. With so much emphasis on property in the media, it can be difficult to sort fact from fiction. But before investing in any type of asset―including property―it pays to consider the pros and cons, and any commonly held misconceptions. Here we bust 3 property […]
Forking out money on experiences, time and other people is the way to go. Whoever says money can’t buy happiness doesn’t know how to spend it. That’s the view of Michael Norton, a professor at Harvard Business School and co-author of Happy Money. He recently gave a talk at Amplify, AMP’s annual ideas and innovation […]
Key points The key lessons for investors from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) are that: high returns come with higher risk; while each boom bust cycle is different, markets are pushed to extremes of valuation and sentiment; be sceptical of financial engineering or hard-to-understand products; avoid too much gearing or gearing of the wrong sort; […]
