News Updates
AS IT HAPPENS
With US Republicans and Democrats going head to head over budget and debt negotiations, the rest of the world looks on powerless and bemused. Beyond some of the media hysteria, in this article AMP Capital's Shane Oliver provides a balanced, sober look at the debt ceiling standoff and the likely outcome. Read more here Rick Maggi (Westmount. Financial Solutions.)
If you'd like to know whether your home or business loan is still the best option for you, but you don't have the time to find out, let Westmount and our trusted network of finance specialists do the legwork for you.
If you're already a client of Westmount (or related to an existing client), just complete the data collection form below and fax/email it back to us. We'll then take your details to the market to determine exactly how competitive your current loan is, free of charge. Our Loan Check-Up service is an easy way to demystify your current loan arrangements that could end-up saving you a significant amount of money. At the very least, you'll know you're in good hands. Download Loan CheckUp Form Here Rick Maggi (Westmount. Financial Solutions.)
In this commentary, MLCs Senior Investment Strategist, Michael Karangianis, takes a balanced look at our housing sector, contrasting the Australian landscape with experiences overseas. A good, simple read. Read commentary here Rick Maggi (Westmount. Financial Solutions.)
In this update, AMP Capital's Dr Shane Oliver takes a close look at where we are right now in the cycle, company profits and the risks and opportunities going forward. In a background of growing worry over Australia's economy, this is a timely and poignant article. Read more here Rick Maggi (Westmount. Financial Solutions.)
Ask any of your friends what they wish they had more of in life and perhaps a few might say a faster car or bigger house - but what most people are really looking for is more time.
Investing your hard earned money in a smarter, more efficient manner not only allows you to spend more time focussing on a smaller selection of investments, it also allows you to spend more time on other, more important matters beyond the process of investing, like your health, your family, your friendships or your business.
Your Financial Planner is the same. By investing your superannuation or pension fund more efficiently, they'll have more time to help you achieve your goals, improve your retirement outcome, reduce your tax, protect your estate, and just generally help to control the controllable.
At Westmount, we believe that markets work, 'asset allocation' drives performance more than anything else and costs really do matter. In other words, it is infinitely possible to construct an effective investment portfolio (superannuation or otherwise) in a way that doesn't require constant monitoring, regular tinkering and an enormous fee to pull it all together. This has some obvious benefits for clients - lower costs, less stress, simplification and, yes, more time.
So if you believe that your life is a little more complicated than it should be, particularly in the area of investing or superannuation, don't just shrug your shoulders and accept the way things are. Instead, ask yourself, what else could I be doing with my precious time? And then call us to change the script for good. Read all about 'indexing' here Rick Maggi (Westmount. Financial Solutions.)
This note looks at the deal to avert the US fiscal cliff along with its debt ceiling and broader economic outlook. Generally pretty positive for 2013 (easy reading). Enjoy! Rick Maggi. Read here
AMP Capital's Dr Shane Oliver weighs in on the recent round in emerging market currencies and assets. A cautionary article worth a read. Rick Maggi. Read more here
With the Coalition's plan to impose a 1.5% levy on the top 3200 companies in Australia to help pay for their six-month paid parental leave proposal, we've had a few questions about franking credits and how the proposal might impact investors and retirees. While the full details are yet to be announced, based on the current rumours, the actual impact on franked dividends would be fairly minimal - much ado about nothing. The following is a back to basics explanation of franking credits for the uninitiated… What are Franking Credits?
It's often hard to give up on the idea that investment should be exciting - an interesting article from Dimensional VP, Jim Parker. Rick Maggi Read more here.
Picking the market sector that will outperform and timing it to maximise returns is a difficult thing to do. Produced by Vanguard Australia, the following tables graphically illustrate the performance of different sectors (within the Australian share market) and the performance of different regions (international shares).
The take away is simple one. Building a portfolio within broadly diversified equity funds at the core can help lower risk and smooth out peaks and troughs in returns over time. Rick Maggi
In this article AMP Capital's Dr Shane Oliver takes a look at potential implications for investors as move towards and beyond the Federal Election. Interesting reading. Rick Maggi. The Federal Election
Every year Vanguard releases it's 'Vanguard Index Chart' and it's always worth a look. The chart illustrates what the value of $10,000 invested twenty years ago might be worth today had you invested in various sectors such as Australian shares, commercial property, cash etc. Along the twenty-year journey you see the impact of important events (both positive and negative) such as 9/11, US subprime and the Japanese Tsunami on markets and the value of the original investment. Vanguard also includes a second graph, called 'the power of diversification' which shows the performance of each sector in percentage terms, every year, for the last twenty years.
Seeing visual proof of market volatility (all of them), each having their day in the sun, followed by less than happy times, serves as a potent reminder of the importance of diversification and patience. We can all do with some gentle encouragement, especially during tougher, challenging times, so I like to keep this chart on my wall! Rick Maggi. View charts here
The last financial year saw returns of over 20% from Australian and global shares, so what's in store for 2013/14? Rick Maggi Read more here
Markets have had a rocky time lately. Is this something to worry about? Rick Maggi Read here
Want to be kept informed in real-time? Tired of stale, irrelevant websites and blogs? Subscribe to our free updates here. Happy New Year! Rick Maggi & Staff.
As we're now approaching June 30th, its important to do some planning to maximise your strategy. This is a summary of the Government's 'co-contribution' scheme, which was spared in the recent May Federal Budget. Rick Maggi Read more here
Recent market falls and noise around the US Federal Reserve's potential moves going forward has been rattling investors. The following is a candid and easy to understand article on the subject from AMP Capital's Dr Shane Oliver. Rick Maggi. Read more here
Markets are breathing a sigh of relief after yesterday's elections in Greece, with the moderate centre-right party winning enough seats to govern in a coalition with another, established pro-austerity party. At the time of writing, share markets have rebounded strongly on the positive news. Watch video here. Rick Maggi
In this brief article, Dimensional's Jim Parker comments on currency speculators and just how spectacularly wrong most individual and professional investors get it. A good read. Rick Maggi. Jumping Off the Currency Cart
Recent share market falls have taken some of the lustre from the stellar gains we've witnessed over the last year, although investment returns remain extraordinary to date. So is the perennial "sell in May and go away" behind the recent market correction or is there more to it than that? The following is an easy to understand three-minute video commentary (just released) from AMP Capital's Dr Shane Oliver that should help to calm the nerves... Rick Maggi. Watch Video
