Once a decision has been made to buy an investment, it is important to consider the best investment structure to use.   An investment structure refers to the way investments are legally owned.  Many people simply purchase assets in their own name or joint names, when other ownership structures may be more suitable.

There used to be a ‘traditional’ approach to retirement. It went like this.  

On 7 August 2018 the Australian population has edged past the 25 million mark. What could this mean for the future financial wellbeing of everyday Australians? Hear from Certified Financial Planner® Professional Tony Sandercock of wetalkmoney about the potential impact on finances and retirement outcomes of a bigger population. ​(This article originally appeared in Money and Life)

​In the words of that celebrated US Philosopher, Elvis Presley, “we need a little less conversation and a little more action please”.

I'm eating a hamburger. I see the man next to me carefully picking a slab of cheese out of his burger, wrapping it in a paper napkin, and eating the rest. It puzzles me, so I ask him about it. “Excuse me,” pointing at the napkin, “why did you do that?” The man replied “Oh, every time I eat a burger, I set one ingredient aside. At the end of the week, I have a free burger!”

Success is within everyone’s grasp.

Though to take advantage of that potential, four factors need to be in place.

The formula looks like this.

Many people avoid going to the dentist, because they expect it to be painful.  You might know what I mean. That cracked filling - we never get around to doing anything about it until the darn thing falls out.  Or even when faced with the choice of enduring a ‘sometimes’ sore tooth for several months versus going to the dentist, we generally try to ride out the bad tooth in the hope it will get better! And how does that work out for you? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Investors at year-end are inclined to reflect on the 12 months gone and muse on what the coming year might bring. Aware of this appetite for speculation, the media tends to feed it with forecasts. These articles can be fun to read, but are even more so a year later.

​An old Darwin connection tracked me down during the week.  Man, did we have some laughs. In between tall stories, (let's call him Bill) reminded me of a casual conversation we had about wealth creation nearly 20 years earlier. I can’t remember it, but in the end he went with a conflicting approach from a competitor. It went a bit like this: