News Updates
As it Happens
Every year, fund manager Vanguard produce a graphical, chronological 'snapshot' of the performance of local and international sharemarkets, property, cash and bonds, along with significant news events of the day. Always worth a look. Read more here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
The Chinese share market has fallen dramatically in recent months. So what does this mean for you? Read more here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
As generally expected, the "No" vote won the day, with over 60% of Greeks rejecting further 'austerity' measures. So clearly it's back to the negotiating table, for now. So what does this mean for investors going forward. Read more here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
As house prices rise and/or when economic activity slows, the inevitably cries for tax reform can be heard from both sides of politics. This note focuses on the debate around the four major "tax concessions" in Australia - negative gearing, capital gains tax discounts, dividend imputation and, of course, superannuation. Read more here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
Where are we headed?
As local markets slide and interest rates fall, it would be easy to assume that Australia's fortunes have taken a sudden turn for the worst. That would be a mistake. Read more here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
AMP Capital's Dr Shane Oliver discusses the thinking behind their investment projections, and offer some interesting insights for the medium term.
This is an excellent read for retirees and investors - a little technical in parts, but worth persevering. In the end, I think the most important takeaway is that we should have reasonable return expectations going forward, and watch your asset allocation more than usual. Please call me if you have any questions.
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
Last night the Federal Government handed down the Budget for the 2015-16 year, and as foreshadowed, the Budget contained relatively few surprises, with a number of announcements made in the previous weeks.
Of course the most notable announcement impacting clients were the 2017 Age Pension changes and the ‘no new superannuation taxes’ commitment I highlighted last Friday (click here for another copy).
Self-managed super funds also dodged a bullet with no mention of implementing proposed changes to limited recourse borrowing arrangements.
The Government appears to be banking on small business to lead the recovery and has set out a series of generous new tax concessions for businesses with turnovers of less than $2 million. These include a drop in the corporate tax rate to 28.5 percent, immediate tax deductions of up to $20,000 for capital expenses, and FBT exemptions.
Primary producers also do well, regardless of their size with generous depreciation concessions for fencing, water rights and fodder.
So where is the sting in this Budget?
The Government has been careful in its targets. Rather than increasing taxes, the Government has focused on loopholes where there is a clear argument for ‘fairness’.
For example, Multi-national companies who avoid paying tax on business profits in Australia are in the firing line, and GST will be extended to imported digital products and services.
Also, fly-in fly-out (FIFO) clients may lose the zone tax offset, and caps will apply to salary sacrificed meal and entertainment expenses for employees of charities, hospitals and public benevolent institutions.
For a more detailed summary of the Federal Budget Click here.
Even better, feel free to call me personally if you’d like to know whether this year’s budget is likely to impact on you personally.
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
Today the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) finally decided to take the plunge and reduce the cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.00%, a record low.
This wasn't a huge surprise as economists this morning were factoring in a 78% chance of a rate cut today. Interestingly, the RBA provided no outlook statement for interest rates going forward, so unless the Australian economy deteriorates significantly from here, this could be the last of the rate cuts. We'll see.
At the time of writing, the Australian share market was initially up 1.1%, however has since fallen into negative territory as the Australian dollar, surprisingly, went up in defiance of the interest rate cut.
While this is welcome news for borrowers, the decision will put more pressure on investors, particularly retirees, with significant cash/term deposit holdings - interest rates are low and will stay low for some time to come. If you need income, it's time to consider your options.
On a different matter, the Federal Budget will be announced next Tuesday night (12 May) and, as usual, the rumours have been flying fast and furious, from superannuation to negative gearing to pensions.
Our advice is to ignore the background noise. Typically, the lead up to every Federal Budget is a showcase of worse case scenarios and general fear mongering, coming from both side of politics, usually leading to fairly unspectacular, watered-down announcements on the night.
We'll distill the budget details into a simple, easy to understand report for our clients soon after budget night, once we've had a chance to thoroughly weigh-up the proposals on the table. More importantly, we'll contact you individually should there be anything important to discuss.
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
The interplay between falling interest rates, the Australian dollar and housing demand is a complex one. While the RBA would dearly love to see our dollar fall, rising house prices, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, isn't part of the script. So what happens if, as widely expected, interest rates are cut again in the coming months? Another interesting read from AMP's Dr Shane Oliver.Read more here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
An interesting, common sense article about investment risk from AMP's Dr Shane Oliver. An easy read. Click here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
China's lack of transparency often sends the wrong signals to the rest of the world. We all know that China's economy has slowed, but is it heading towards a bust, or is this yet another false alarm? Read more here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
Often written off as a 'basket case' region, Europe, particularly European shares have some serious growth potential. Does your super fund have exposure to Europe? Read more here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear Focus. Better Solutions.
Through 2013-14 it seemed the Australian economy was starting to transition away from a reliance on mining investment to more broad based growth. Unfortunately this transition has wavered a bit recently and growth has remained below trend. Fortunately, the RBA has recognised the problem and resumed cutting interest rates. This note looks at the outlook for growth and rates and what it means for profits and investors. Read more here
Rick Maggi Westmount Financial Clear View. Better Focus.
