The Money Puzzle

The Generation Z perspective

16 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What does the property market look like to Gen Z? The generation born after 1997 that takes a one percent vacancy rate as 'normal'; The people who get...

HECs... something's gotta give

11 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The average HECs student debt is now $26,500 and rising rapidly. Once upon an inflation-free time HECs hardly mattered, now it matters a lot. Worse st...

Will the rate cut delay stall the property market?

09 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the economists continue to push their rate cut forecasts further out, it is now distinctly possible we will not see interest rate cuts this calenda...

July 1 tax and super changes - what you need to do

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It might be hard to believe but the key numbers for both personal tax and super contributions are going to change again on July 1 2024 - Now is the ti...

How Under 35s Can Crack the First Home Market

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's the biggest financial challenge for the new generation - how to get a toehold in the property market. In today's episode we cover   The firs...

Roger Montgomery's Four Stock Picks

28 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The ASX just hit a new record and the markets are on a roll: So what should investors be looking for? AI-themed technology stocks and - believe it or ...

Mythbusting The Promise of Positive Gearing

26 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The promise of the investment property that 'pays for itself' is all too common in the property market and all too difficult to locate in practice. Is...

Special Edition: Artificial Intelligence 2024... What's Next For Investors?

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In June 2023 we did our first special edition on AI when we introduced the issue and we talked about Nvidia - the AI chipmaker which is up 200 per cen...

Should you always pay down the mortgage first?

19 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For a long time it was a golden rule among financial advisers to pay down your mortgage before any other investment consideration. Well, not any longe...

Who's Who On The New Rich List?

14 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The annual Rich 250 has just been released with a whole new crew of debutants pushing the incumbents of previous generations to one side. In this ep...

Is Melbourne The Most Undervalued City In Australia?

12 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Victorian capital is the weakest of the major cities and its apartment market has been a loser for more than a decade. But the soft patch can't la...

How To Invest Like The Future Fund

07 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Future Fund's consistently strong returns and its big exposure to so-called 'unlisted assets' have captured the interest of many investors. But, u...

Why Are Regional Property Markets Rebounding?

05 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This was not supposed to happen: The regions were meant to return to their secondary position in the residential investment market after COVID-19. Ins...

Nvidia : The World’s Hottest Stock and Your Portfolio

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Not for the first time a single stock has become the proxy for a red-hot theme: AI and Nvidia are now interchangeable - and the specialist chipmaker h...

Cash Crunch: Grabbing The Last Of The 5 Percent Deposit Rates

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The consensus view is that interest rates have peaked in this cycle. Banks are already snipping their fixed rate mortgage rates (which is good) while ...

Secrets Of The Rich And Not-So-Famous (Family Office Special)

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Family offices are very much the fashion among the nation’s ultra-wealthy: What are they exactly and what might we learn from how they operate?In to...

A Rare Opportunity for Buyers in Sydney

20 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sydney prices have been soft in early 2024: It's not quite a 'buyer's market' but it is as good a time to find value as we have seen in years. Where a...

Tackling Tax Threats (Real and Imagined)

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In redrawing the plan for personal tax cuts while introducing a tax on unrealised gains in super the government has unleashed a whirlwind of speculati...

The Promise of Passive Property Income

13 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most property investors will aspire to have more than one property: Many in the market suggest strategies that allow an investor to accumulate a 'pass...

Is Taylor Swift A Financial Role Model?

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The financial success of singer Taylor Swift is unprecedented: Show business will never be the same again. For millions, she is a champion who outsmar...

Is Property Set to Drop? The Bear Case

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's time to listen to the other side: Some economists believe house prices are heading south in 2024 as interest rate hikes finally hit home and une...

After The Tax Backflip - What To Do Now?

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The surprise changes to the planned tax cuts by the Albanese government will fuel political debate for months: But for the pragmatic investor it's a q...

Negative gearing - The comeback

30 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The conditions have been building for a rebound in negative gearing with climbing interest rates and rising rental yields. Now a surprise reversal ...

Should You Borrow To Invest?

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Australians will borrow to the gills to buy the family home. They will also take big loans to enter the property market, but when it comes to the shar...

Stress Testing Property Forecasts

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The big banks offered a consensus estimate that capital city house prices would rise by 5.7 percent in 2024. With a rush of negative data since the ye...

Your Shares in 2024

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The share market beat all expectations in 2023 and what's stopping a repeat performance in 2024? Lots of things actually but then again volatility is ...

Sorting out your property plans for 2024

16 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In our first property episode of the year, we look at the very promising outlook for apartments, the improving inflation picture, and the chance that ...

Fun Money 4: Creating an art collection

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How might you start collecting art? "If you enjoy it hanging on your wall, then that should be enough," says one of our best-known contemporary art co...

Fun Money 3: How to become a car collector

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Driving a classic car that looks wonderful - and might just make you a small fortune - is something most investors have probably considered at some s...

Fun Money  2:  How to Build a Wine Collection

27 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This is the second in our summer Fun Money series. There is money to be made and fun to be had collecting wine: But how do you get started?  It's a t...

Fun Money 1: Whisky and a Good Book

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How about having fun and making money too - it's entirely possible if you become an expert collector of cars, art, wine, rare books...or maybe even wh...

How to buy a holiday home

19 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A spot by the sea? A place in the country? Can you do it...should you do it? The holiday home as a property investment enters the public imagination a...

The Smart Way to Buy a Car

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

So you want that car? The problem is you know very little about it - and certainly not enough to deal with the guy with a devilish grin coming towards...

Why Sydney beats Melbourne out the door for property investors

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Melbourne is growing faster than Sydney. In the next decade, the two cities are expected to draw level in terms of total population. So why is Sydney ...

Meet Our Billionaire Families

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Who are the families behind Australia’s biggest companies? What are they like and what can we learn from them as investors?In today’s show, we cov...

Investors Are Back In The Property Market - Should You Join Them?

05 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There is now hard evidence that investors are back in the residential property market. What's more, they are borrowing faster than owner occupiers and...

Artificial Intelligence : What to do Now ?

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We were told AI would take off as the investment theme of the year and it came to pass - that's why the NASDAQ has been about six times better than th...

Thanks Mum! Thanks Dad! - How the 'Bank of Mum and Dad' Will Underpin a House Rise of 2024

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's one of Australia's biggest banks but we never see any data from it - in fact, we heavily underestimate the role of family finance in helping firs...

Social Media for Investors - Good or Bad?

23 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Many investors now rely heavily on social media influencers for investment guidance: But who are these operators and do they have your best interests ...

Property price drop in 2024? Not everyone agrees

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Australian house prices could see a nationwide fall next year with Sydney leading the downturn on a forecast drop of four per cent, according to prop...

The 2024 case for bonds

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Australian investors kept away from bonds for many years preferring instead ‘bond proxies’ such as the banks and telco fully franked shares. And t...

China property buyers are back...and making a difference

14 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For a while, it seemed as if the China buyer - a potentially powerful influence at property auctions -had left the scene. But in recent months Austral...

Big Super's plan to offer you financial advice

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The nation's super funds will be able to widen the range of financial advice they offer under the new Future of Financial Advice legislation: What doe...

Should First Time Property Investors Venture Interstate?

07 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Everyone likes to think they know their own neighborhood: As a result ‘home bias’ is a major issue among property investors. For first-time invest...

Thinking of Spending Your Inheritance in Advance? Stop Right There

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We are on the cusp of the biggest handover of wealth in the history of the nation: A wall of money- estimated at $3.5 trillion - from both wills and s...

Could CGT changes unlock the housing market?

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The housing market is in a state of paralysis. Renters can’t find accommodation yet investors are moving their money out. There must be a way to rev...

The Ozempic Effect - How the Wonderdrug is Hitting the ASX

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ozempic is causing a sensation in the health industry: Originally a weight loss treatment, it is now clear the so-called GLP-1 drug can have positive ...

Home equity: It's your money...use it!

24 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Across Australia home prices have lifted higher than anyone might have reasonably expected: it means millions of Australians have financial power lock...

Family Trusts - Not Off The Hook Just Yet

19 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The legal structure around family trusts in Australia has just survived a double stress test in the courts where the ATO tried to make changes in the ...

The property opportunity in your back garden

17 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With a rental shortage across the major cities, new research has revealed there are more than 600,000 spots across urban Australia where owners could ...

How to prepare for new super tax

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The government has finally outlined the details of the new super tax and it will hit many more investors than forecast initially. In particular the ef...

Why rents will stay high for years

10 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This year’s immigration intake means a city the size of Newcastle has effectively arrived looking for accommodation within the nation’s existing h...

Twiggy Forrest, Escalante, Moving and Shaking

05 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s moves into renewables and Laurence Escalante’s VGW gaming empire are interesting insights into where some of the wea...

Does Airbnb still make sense with the new 7.5% income tax?

03 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria is the first Australian state to legislate a levy on revenue generated from short term accommodation platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz. The ...

Uranium Providing Glowing Returns for Investors

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Uranium exchange-traded funds have increased 20 percent in value over the past month and are up 50 percent over the past 6 months, making uranium a st...

How To Manage Property Investments - Property Basics No.4

26 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do you successfully manage a property - or a string of properties? There are multiple risks and pitfalls in running a portfolio, but with a little...

Top Advisers List Edition - How To Find A Financial Adviser

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Australian publishes its annual Top Financial Advisors list this week - and it's the perfect time to find out how to select a financial adviser. ...

How To Find A Home Loan - Property Basics No.3

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do you choose a home loan? What's on the menu...and how on earth do you pick the package that is best for you? In today's show we cover; how to ge...

How to Build a Share Portfolio Like a Professional Wealth Manager

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the past share market investors built their portfolios with individual stocks with a bias toward bluechip banking and mining companies. But today w...

How To Sell A Property - Property Basics No.2

12 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How do you sell a property? What are the essential moves to make to ensure you get the best deal for your home or investment? The choices have multipl...

The low-flying kangaroo – Qantas’ death spiral?

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Qantas is more than just an airline to Australians. But the way shareholders see the airline has diverged considerably from how customers do. That has...

How To Buy A Property - Property Basics No.1

05 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Buying a property? What are the first steps? What are the pitfalls? It's never easy whether you are buying a first home or adding another asset to you...

Your guide to the super fund performance tests

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The expanded performance tests for super from the government set a new milestone in our investment market: Just about every investor in Australia has ...

Do Property Investors Need Financial Advisors

29 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Active property investors are very often the same people who steer clear of shares and managed funds. At the same time, many advisors are heavily com...

The no-brainer income opportunity

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here's the puzzle: Should you depend on shares or cash for income? Well, your risky return from the ASX is represented by an average dividend yield of...

Looking to borrow for property? Listen up

22 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As the residential property sector stabilizes, the banks have been playing some games in the lending market - if you are borrowing for a home or an in...

Unlisted Trusts: Why would you bother?

17 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The fashion for alternative unlisted investments is getting a reality check as investors can get a risk-free cash rate of more than four per cent. The...

Taking Stock of the Tiny House movement

15 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tiny houses are popping up all over Australia yet the movement remains a mystery to many in the property sector. These hybrid mobile dwellings cost ar...

The Black Spot in Super You Need to Know

10 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Life insurance is a big expense and most smart investors save money by purchasing it through their super fund. But the track record of big super funds...

How Industrial Property Became The Hot Spot In The Property Market

08 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Residential property isn't the only sector with exceptionally tight vacancy rates. Industrial property - warehouses and factory units at the edge of e...

Artificial Intelligence: The Best-Placed ASX Stock

03 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The excitement around AI has fuelled the 'magnificent seven' tech stocks on Wall Street and underpinned the 20 percent year-to-date return on Wall St...

Commercial property - is it for you?

01 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Investing in retail shops or industrial warehousing is a different ball game than buying the house around the corner. Longer leases and higher yields ...

The Most Promising Sector in the Share Market

27 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's been a better-than-expected year for the share market - especially on Wall Street.  But where does it go from here? What is the one area of the ...

Buying Property With A Mate: Should You?

25 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Perhaps you cannot afford a first property, but if you combined with a mate it might be possible. In today's podcast, a question from a 21-year-old li...

Alternative Investments - How Much Can You Afford to Lose?

20 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Big super funds and high net worth investors are ever more keen on 'alternative investments' but are they for you? One of the nation's top female fina...

Is the Commercial Property Scare An Opportunity?

18 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The reckoning for office property values has finally arrived in the Australian market, a long time after they first hit the US - where listed values a...

Whatever Happened to the Superannuation Disruptors?

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For a short while it looked like the leviathans of the Australian super industry were facing a new breed of challengers. Start-up youth-focused super ...

Why 'cheaper to buy than rent' suburbs are everywhere

11 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You might have thought that the endless escalation of mortgage rates would finish the notion of a suburb where buying was cheaper than renting.Not so...

Why the Share Market’s 'Value Versus Growth' Debate is ‘Rubbish’

06 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This year was meant to be all about ‘value’ on the share market: Rising rates were expected to hose down the demand for tech-focused growth stocks...

Renovators Delight - The Properties Nobody Wants

04 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The residential market in 2023 is most unusual - prices are rising while interest rates are increasing; Up to a third of buyers don't need a mortgage ...

The Biggest Tax Break of the New Financial Year

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The new financial year begins on July 1 and a range of key 'caps'  come into play. But the outstanding item of personal tax news is that you can have...

Why one in four property buyers don't care about interest rates

27 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

You might think higher rates keep buyers away from the property market but a remarkable 25 percent of purchasers buy outright - with no mortgage! It’...

Artificial Intelligence Special Edition - Don’t Miss It!

23 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The excitement around artificial intelligence has propelled the US sharemarket this year. That’s why returns stateside are three times better than t...

Do 400,000 new arrivals change the property market? (you bet they do)

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The biggest factor ‘new’ factor in the property sector is the remarkable change we will see from the arrival of 400,000 people into a market popul...

The Biggest Money Mistake That couples make

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Leave the investment to me, darling! It’s still a refrain in household finances and letting one person handle all money matters is the single bigges...

How you can use your Super to play the property rebound

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

They don't make it easy, but any investor can directly enter the property investment market using their super. In fact, any investor with a Self Manag...

Is it Time to Take Money From Super to Pay Part of Your Home Loan?

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this week's show, we talk about whether the Australian share market is likely to finish the year in the black. We also discuss ways that investors ...

From the Auction Frontline

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What's the temperature in the market at the moment? How are the Saturday mornings for the buyers, sellers and even the auctioneers? With clearance rat...

How to Invest Like Taylor Swift (No Kidding)

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We're talking about how to tackle inflation as an active investor. We also deal with a question on discounted Listed Investment Companies which - beli...

Why investors should pay a lower rate than home loan borrowers

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Investors pay a higher mortgage rate than home loan borrowers. However, this was not always the case – and there is now a solid argument to suggest ...

How about lending instead of borrowing?

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As the sharemarket drifts, investors are looking to ‘alternatives’ for returns: One of the most dependable alternative income investments is ‘se...

Why this property upturn will be very different

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The capacity to borrow will be the big difference in the next upward cycle of residential real estate prices. Property investors might be familiar wi...

Bad For Landlords. Bad For Renters -Property Paradox

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As housing affordability bites hard and the rent crisis continues, many landlords are as frustrated as their tenants with the long-term realities of t...

Budget Special

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Albanese government's first 'May Budget' elevates the risk of higher inflation and higher rates - it also signals further strong returns for miner...

Is a self managed super fund for you?

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Self Managed Super Funds are often associated with the very wealthy who have millions to spend, but new figures show the median amount for new SMSFs i...

Why Aussie Small Cap Stocks Are Ready To Rebound

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Value investor Roger Montgomery is associated with blue chip companies, but that does not mean he looks exclusively at 'large caps': In fact, Montgome...

Why Impact Investing Is Ready To Go Mainstream

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Impact investing, where investors actively create ethical outcomes, has been growing steadily but the Albanese government's 'reconvening' of a task fo...

Buyer's Advocates: Should You Bother?

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Would you be better at a hotly contested auction than a buyer's advocate? How do they work and what do they charge?In today's show we cover how buyer'...

The Millionaire Next Door

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we ask how will the new super changes work? And we meet a real-life 'millionaire next door’ (Australian style). Plus, we get to grips with...

What About My Bank Stocks?

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The credit markets have been shaken by the dual troubles of US and European banks. Crucially, the Credit Suisse rescue involved bondholders taking a r...