All Articles
September 29, 2021
Are SMSF’s still useful?
Self Managed Super Funds, commonly abbreviated to SMSF’s, have been around since the 1970’s. They were originally used by business owners who already had company and family trust structures, with the SMSF a structure dedicated to saving for retirement. SMSF adoption broadened in the early 2000’s as a result of the combination of expensive retail … Continued
Investment
Property
Superannuation
September 23, 2021
What to do when you receive an Inheritance
The okay Boomer eye roll movement came out of frustration that Australia’s wealth is disproportionately distributed to those over 60, with the sharp rise in property prices being the primary culprit. But whilst we’re all living longer, science hasn’t yet found a way to grant us eternal lives, and so eventually that wealth will be … Continued
Investment
September 8, 2021
When to use Gearing in your Investment Strategy
If you’ve been listening to the Financial Autonomy podcast for a while, and particularly if you’ve had a chance to pick up the Financial Autonomy book, you will be aware that we work to a proven framework. Within the Financial Autonomy framework there are three pathways that can be followed to get you to the … Continued
Investment
August 18, 2021
ARK Invest Deep Dive
If you ever need an example of the saying being in the right place at the right time ARK Invest would be the perfect illustration. Over the course of 2020 their assets under management grew from US$3.5billion, to US$41.5billion, growth of over 1000% in a single year, as their listed funds possessed all the stock … Continued
Investment
August 6, 2021
NEW PODCAST
Super excited to announce a new podcast to the Financial Autonomy stream. Market Noise is a collaboration between personal finance YouTuber Justin Baldori and me, Paul Benson. We record each episode live on Youtube each Monday night at 8pm AEST, and then release to podcast version later that night. Justin and I each choose 2 … Continued
Investment
July 13, 2021
Investment basics – Active vs Passive investment – what’s it about and, our approach
When I started my career in investment markets almost 20 years ago all the investment options were what we’d now call Active. We didn’t call them that at the time, it was just the standard way that money was managed. Passive investment had been around for some time, pushed primarily by John Boggle of Vanguard … Continued
Investment
June 30, 2021
Why is the best strategy also the toughest to pull off?
Accumulating wealth to gain choice is hard. As the well worn saying goes, “if it was easy, everyone would be doing it”. Why is it so hard though? For over 200 episodes now, plus the weekly GainingCHOICE emails, we’ve explored various ways you can successfully accumulate wealth. Surely it’s a simple matter of just putting … Continued
Investment
June 23, 2021
Artificial + ESG = Best Friends
This weeks piece spawned out of an item in the Brain Food section of our regular GainingCHOICE email that you are hopefully receiving (if not, go here). Ethical, sustainable, or ESG investing, it’s known by many terms, but this approach has been one that’s been a focus and embedded into my financial planning business for … Continued
Investment
Saving Strategy
Superannuation
June 9, 2021
What’s a Moat, and why do they matter when investing?
This week we’re going to explore the topic of moats. No this is not yet another weird acronym, though you do sometimes see it written all in upper case so if you’ve been confused by this you’re completely forgiven. The idea of a business moat is the same concept as a moat around a medieval … Continued
Investment
April 14, 2021
Discovering the Satellite – What are the Satellites in a Core-Satellite strategy?
Here at Financial Autonomy we follow the framework set out in the Financial Autonomy book. One of the pathways in that framework is stocks and within that section I explore the Core-Satellite strategy in some detail. It’s a strategy we use a lot with clients. In this post we’re going to dig in a bit … Continued
Investment
April 7, 2021
5 Strategies to Maximise Income for Couples
Couples can have a distinct advantage when it comes to building wealth and achieving financial autonomy provided they maximise the opportunities available to them. Here at Financial Autonomy we work to a proven framework that results in you being able to gain choice. We explore that framework in detail in the Financial Autonomy book, which … Continued
Investment
Saving Strategy
March 9, 2021
Financial Planning, coaching, and counselling – what’s the difference and when to use each
Financial planning, money coaching, and financial counselling. These are all terms you’ve probably seen or come across, but the difference between the three roles and when they are applicable is often not obvious. So in this week’s episode I’ll clarify what each of these roles do, and where perhaps they might be applicable in your … Continued
Investment
Saving Strategy
Superannuation