Noel News I am convinced that life is a game where no one need be a loser… but I am equally as certain that one cannot participate in this mysterious act of living with any hope of satisfaction unless one understands a few simple rules. OG MANDINO The Greatest Success in the World Happy New Year? Good morning, I’m writing this on Friday 8 July – the beginning of a new financial year. I’ll start off by talking about markets because it’s been a pretty tough year for superannuation, and there are many scary headlines warning us how bad things may get in the following 12 months. It’s been a particularly bad year for my own superannuation fund which is down by 33% mainly due to exposure in international managed funds who had a big exposure to companies like Flutter and Zillow in their portfolios. In just one year ...
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Noel News Whoever said that diamonds are a girl’s best friend never owned a dog. I am writing this newsletter at lunchtime on Tuesday 14th June while the stock market is being smashed. It’s one of the worst days I have experienced – it’s always a shock to the system to see so much red ink on the screen. I guess all we can do is proceed with confidence in the knowledge that the share market has always been a good long-term investment. Most of my portfolio is now in index funds or various managed funds which gives me an interest in companies like Amazon, MasterCard, Zillow, BHP and the Australian banks. Remember, if the index is down 5% you are effectively buying the assets that make up the index at a 5% discount. I know it’s hard to cop, but the alternative is to panic and cash out and ...
Noel News Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many. Welcome to another newsletter It was always going to be an election budget, and there were some good things in it. But the cash handouts are fiscal irresponsibility at its worst. Think about it: the Treasurer revealed that there would be a deficit of $78 billion in the forthcoming 12 months. This is money we, as a nation, have to borrow. One of the first rules of good money management is to avoid bad debt, and use good debt. Bad debt is when we borrow for consumption, such as travel, clothing, or a wedding, and good debt is when we borrow for assets such as property and shares, which will provide lasting benefit. I have no problem whatsoever with government borrowing for roads, infrastructure and other items that have a long-term payback, but I see ...
Apr 10, 2022
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Noel News Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think. ALBERT EINSTEIN Welcome to another newsletter. When I wrote the last one, I had no idea that a war in Ukraine would be taking place by the end of February. These events, and all the scary media that accompanies them, terrify people. Naturally this has been accompanied by massive falls in markets all around the world. As usual, I’m getting a raft of emails from people asking whether they should quit their investments before it’s too late. The other question many are asking is what likely effect the situation in the Ukraine may have on stock markets. It is normal to feel apprehensive when the market has a downturn, especially when accompanied by the threat of war. I understand that. But I am comforted by the latest research from my long-term friend, ...
LAST Noel News of 2021 Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards. SOREN KIERKEGAARD Welcome to our last newsletter of 2021 It has certainly been an interesting year. If you cast your mind back to March 2020 the stock market was in freefall, and most people were predicting major permanent job losses. Since then, the market has boomed and one of the biggest problems the world has are shortages. Until recently I had never heard of AdBlue which is a diesel exhaust fluid. It’s made from urea which has become scarce, and once it runs out it will cripple a large portion of the Australian truck fleet. One of my golfing mates has a Mercedes sedan and, because of emissions control, has to add AdBlue to his diesel fuel through a separate tank in the car. He says that the car will not start if ...
Noel News Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid. ALBERT EINSTEIN Welcome to our November newsletter Can you believe it’s almost Christmas? I guess the major topics right now are interest rates and inflation. There is no doubt we have reached the bottom of the interest rate cycle, and rates will start to move upwards again. I see that most major banks are already increasing their fixed interest rates. Maybe that’s something that’s worth exploring if you have a housing loan. Just be aware that taking out a fixed rate is like taking out insurance – there is always a cost. Many fixed-rate loans have heavy fees for early exit so make sure you do your homework if you’re thinking of changing. I am happy to recommend a good mortgage broker if you ...
Nov 13, 2021
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Noel News “You are in the right place at the perfect time. Keep enjoying the pursuit of your potential.” DAVID MELTZER Welcome to our October newsletter We are now entering the last quarter of this year and I predict it is going to be a challenging one. We are in a unique situation right now with four states virtually Covid free, New South Wales attempting to move back to normality whatever that means, and Victoria coping with an ever-increasing number of cases. New South Wales and Victoria have accepted that it’s impossible to have a zero Covid environment and they are now focused on how to handle that. The other four states are reluctant to open their borders for fear of being overwhelmed by cases brought in from overseas travellers. Remember, it just took one limo driver to infect over 1000 people in New South Wales. Everybody agrees that ...
Noel News – a New Financial Year “It’s okay to celebrate your wins, but remember, wins are milestones, not finish lines.” DAVID MELTZER Welcome to another newsletter and to the start of another financial year. As I write this, the Australian stock-market is at a record highs, and American stock markets are in a similar position. The top 20 performing Australian super funds returned over 18% to their members over the year, a result that nobody would have predicted 12 months ago. I also noticed in my daily diary that exactly two years ago the Australian stock-market was at a six year high. The question that seems to be in everybody’s minds is “when will the big crash come?”. It’s a reasonable question when you think of the amazing 12 months we have enjoyed with our investments, but you need to keep in mind that nobody has the power to accurately forecast ...
Noel News “You are in the right place at the perfect time. Keep enjoying the pursuit of your potential.” DAVID MELTZER Welcome to another newsletter As usual we have much to cover. We are getting close to 30 June, so if you are making superannuation contributions keep in mind they must be received by the fund before midnight on 30 June. Furthermore, if you intend to make tax-deductible contributions to reduce a capital gain, or are considering selling loss-making assets for the same purpose, the transaction must be done before 30 June. For capital gains tax purposes the relevant date is the date of the contract was signed not the date of settlement. Telstra Now for the next chapter in my Telstra saga. As I explained in my last newsletter, I reported Telstra to the Telecommunications Ombudsman, which very quickly resulted in an apology from Telstra and a promise to ...
Noel News “If you don’t invest in yourself, what are you going to invest in?” DAVID MELTZER Welcome to another newsletter I received feedback from some readers that my last newsletter was a bit long and complex, so this one will be shorter and hopefully less complex. Also, future newsletters will be shorter and more frequent. Just remember that a major finding of the Retirement Income Review was that our systems are overly complex, especially in the interaction between tax, superannuation, age pension and aged care. So, even though we can do our best to keep things simple they can quickly become complex. This is why good advice is so important. In this edition I’ll talk about the recent federal Budget, and the battle I had with Telstra which went over eight weeks. As you will discover I did win it. The Budget There was no doubt the budget was ...
