News & Articles

Every year around this time the world’s largest investment banks (experts, one might reasonably assume) compile their forecasts of where financial markets will end up at the end of the year. They scrutinise a mountain of economic data, analyse reserve bank meeting minutes, compile sophisticated quantitative models, and then tell the world (with the utmost confidence) where markets will finish the year. Whilst we’re yet to see the full suite of forecasts hit for 2023, a look back at 2022 is quite instructive…   What Happened in 2022?   An average of the world’s foremost experts, would have seen the…

Over the coming weeks in a 6 part mini-series, I’m going to show you how you can build your A-Team of Financial Advice Professionals. We’ll introduce all of the team members you’ll need for success, and take a deeper dive into what each of them does, what they don’t do (or aren’t legally allowed to) – and which professionals you should be asking for advice about which subjects.   Episode 1: Financial Adviser Episode 2: Accountant Episode 3: Mortgage Broker Episode 4: Conveyancer Episode 5: Estate Planning Solicitor Episode 6: Real-Estate Agent   DIY will only get you so far….…

In 2004, Michael Lewis wrote a fascinating book called Money Ball – which went on to become a major Hollywood movie starring Brad Pitt. The book tells the tale of Billy Bean, the manager of US Major League Baseball team the Oakland A’s and how he managed to take a team with one of the lowest budgets in the league to the play-offs – on multiple occasions! How did he do it? Well, conventional wisdom long held that big name, highly athletic hitters and young pitchers with rocket arms were the ticket to success… but without the financial firepower to…

Every year around about this time people start preparing to make New Years Resolutions – 80% of which fail by the second week of February according to this FSU News article. Yet despite this overwhelming failure rate, we front up again next year with a new set of resolutions and a commitment to achieving them. Why do we continue this folly?   Well, It’s not too difficult to see why we make resolutions – Self-improvement is an admirable pursuit. It brings us a sense of accomplishment, pride, and the immense satisfaction of achievement. However, why we break resolutions is far more nuanced…   We make goals…

Let’s face it, when it comes to wealth creation ‘saving’ is about the most boring method I can possibly think of, but trust me on this…. saving is the bedrock of wealth creation, and if you harness this simple little skill it has the power to change your life. But before I get into my Top 5 Reasons to Save, let’s take a moment to define what I mean by ‘saving’. Saving, contrary to popular belief is not piling your money up in the bank earning 0.5% – Your road to wealth will be a very tough slog with a…

  In 1972, a Stanford University psychology professor named Walter Mischel ran an incredible experiment. A child was given a small treat – in this case they could choose between a Marshmallow or a pretzel (whichever they preferred). They were told that they could eat the treat any time they liked, or…. if they managed not to eat the treat and waited for the researcher to return 15 minutes later, they could have a second one. The researcher left the room and watched with interest.   So what happened?     Well, as you may have guessed some of the…

Believe it or not, being a successful <insert just about anything here> requires a far lower amount of expertise and a far greater amount of behavioural and emotional management than most people recognise (or care to admit). We see time and time again that this is particularly true of people’s finances. As humans, we make simple decisions complicated because emotions cloud our judgment – fear, greed, anxiety, uncertainty, overconfidence, spotting trends that don’t exist… they all distort what should otherwise be a simple logical choice. Let me give you an example.   There is an enormous body of scientific data…