Investing 101

A growing number of older Australians are looking to break-up, often after long marriages, with women leading the charge. It’s a hard decision to make as it typically comes with financial difficulties and emotional trauma.

Energy and consumer cyclical sectors are the investment standouts, but finding fair value in the banking and utility sectors is much more problematic, an investment conference is told.

A failure to protect the fund assets of affected members is often the missing piece of estate advice – and the financial consequences can be dire.

Lawyers warn of the growing risks to retirees caused by loans to their children and disputes with family members about who gets what from a will.

A fight over renowned painter Mimi Milka Berger’s $24 million estate highlights the importance of having an estate plan that accurately reflects the deceased’s final wishes.

Dispute over ownership of shares worth more than $500,000 that entitle use of water from the Murray River reinforces why testators need to make their final wishes crystal clear.

The failure to document how an estate should be legally divided up almost inevitably leads to costly legal battles where lawyers are the only sure winners. Yet about 60 per cent of eligible Australians don’t have a will.

This ruling, when coupled with the growing incidence of blended families, COVID-19 promises and the Baby Boomer wealth transfer, will accelerate the growth of legal challenges over inheritances.

Many fund members who breach the super laws just want to sweep it under the carpet. It’s a poor option, with the taxman typically being far more lenient with those who voluntarily disclose any breaches of the SIS legislation.

There’s no shortage of factors to have investors on edge, whether it be Trump’s musings, overpriced equities or DeepSeek. Yet there are still opportunities in the markets, especially for active investors.

The pace of change may be glacial, but more women are investing now and research confirms this benefits individuals and society more broadly. They’re also better at it than men and rapidly becoming a specific target market for investment product providers.

Self-funded retirees understand the capital risk in holding the ‘big four’. It’s one they’re prepared to take knowing their effective grossed-up yields are much higher than the nominal figure.