The Real Cost of Schooling in Australia — and Why Families Need a Plan If you’re feeling like “school costs” have quietly become a second mortgage, you’re not imagining it. Futurity Investment Group’s Cost of Education Index modelling for children starting school in 2026 estimates the total...
2026 Market Outlook: Expect a Bumpier Ride — But Not Necessarily a Bad One After three strong years for diversified investors, 2026 is shaping up as a “normal” year again: positive returns are still plausible, but they’re likely to come with larger drawdowns, louder headlines, and...
RBA on Hold – What Next for Interest Rates and the Property Market? The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has once again kept interest rates on hold, but the message coming out of the latest meeting was far from relaxed. While rates haven’t moved, the RBA’s...
How a Transition to Retirement (TTR) Pension Works As Australians work longer, it’s common to want more flexibility—perhaps moving to part-time work, reducing stress, or easing toward retirement. The challenge? A drop in work hours often means a drop in income. A Transition to Retirement (TTR) pension...
Why Retirement Planning Starts the Day You Start Working For many people, retirement can feel like a distant milestone — something to think about “later.” But the truth is, the best time to start planning for retirement is the moment you earn your first paycheck. The...
Are We in an AI Bubble? Why This Time Might Be Different Artificial intelligence (AI) has been one of the biggest drivers of market enthusiasm over the past two years. With share markets — especially in the US — hitting record highs, many investors are asking...
Using Your Mortgage to Build Wealth – Not Just Pay Interest For most Australians, the mortgage is their largest financial commitment. The natural instinct is to focus on paying it off as quickly as possible to reduce interest costs. While that’s important, there are strategies to...
Gold as an Investment: Why It Still Matters in a Diversified Portfolio (with Recent Performance) Gold is not just theoretical insurance — recent data shows how it has behaved relative to equities and bonds over the past decade. Below is a comparison, followed by an updated...
Understanding Alternatives: Private Equity, Private Credit, and Unlisted Property When most people think about investing, the first things that come to mind are shares on the stock market or term deposits with the bank. But there’s a growing category of investments known as alternative assets, which...
Is It Time to Start Planning for Private School Fees? Key Takeaways The average cost of private education in NSW is over $400,000 per child from Kindergarten to Year 12. Term 3 is open day season—making now the ideal time to start budgeting and planning. Education...