Category: Retirement Planning

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1-14 out of 14 results.

Retirement planningPopulation, demographics, immigrationInvestment & Wealth Mgmt

Australia’s aging population - are age pensions, benefits, and tax breaks sustainable in future?

Many retirees live more frugally than necessary, and die with as much Super as they had at retirement. One possible reason may be a rising fear that the current government age pension system is not sustainable and may not be there for life. Despite our aging population, Australia is probably best placed of any country in the world to maintain its government age pension system. Fears of its demise are probably over-done. However, it is probably inevitable that the age pension, and/or the generous tax-breaks and benefits that go with it, will need to be scaled back in future. Future retirees should aim for financial independence, not welfare reliance, to be safe.

Ashley Owen Mar 15, 2025 2

Investment & Wealth MgmtRetirement planningAsset allocation, portfolio constructionAsset classes, asset class returnsInternational sharesBonds

What asset mix will double your money in 10 years? - Let me know your answer!

This relatively simple 10-year goal appears straightforward, but the outcomes seem little more than a coin toss based on when you happen to start. Using a simple shares/bonds mix is hard enough, but it becomes even more difficult for more complex real-world investment goals. (For under 30s - 'Bitcoin, bro!') (For under 25s - 'Borrow $100 from your mum, create a meme-coin, pump it & dump it, and make a killing in 10 minutes!)

Ashley Owen Feb 21, 2025 13

Financial MarketsInvestment & Wealth MgmtRetirement planningInflationInternational shares

Inflation Cycles & the US share market – same as Australia, with minor differences explained

The impact of US inflation on US shares has been the same as for Australia in my last story. Returns are consistently LOWER when inflation is RISING, and consistently HIGHER when inflation is FALLING. This applies to Nominal returns and even more so to Real returns. The favourable share market returns over the past 20-30 years were driven largely by declining inflation and interest rates (and the policies that drove them), but that phase is over. What this means for retirement planning.

Ashley Owen Feb 16, 2025

Financial MarketsRetirement planningInflationAustralian shares

Inflation Cycles & the Australian share market - the Big picture

Share market returns vary greatly in different inflation conditions. Returns are consistently lower (and below average) when inflation is rising, and consistently higher (and above average) when inflation is falling. This applies to nominal returns and even more so to 'real' returns after inflation. If the recent era of declining inflation is over, what comes next?

Ashley Owen Feb 10, 2025 2

Australian shares International sharesAsset allocation, portfolio constructionRetirement planning

Australia: Highest dividend yields in the world, so why the endless chase for even higher yields?

Australia has, and has had for decades, the highest dividend yielding share market in the world. This delivers enormous benefits to Aussie investors and retirees by eliminating many of the portfolio planning issues and risks faced in other countries. So why the endless yield chase - where so many people fall victim to high-yield traps and scams?

Ashley Owen Feb 04, 2025 4

Financial MarketsInternational sharesStock market crashesRetirement planning

2020s decade half-time score – US shares: great so far, but expect a decade of pain when boom ends

At the half-way mark for the decade, US shares are doing well above average. The current speculative boom is similar to the 1920s and 1990s - but they were both followed by a decade of NEGATIVE total returns in the 1930s and 2000s when the booms collapsed. Markets don't crash because or when they're expensive. The current boom may run on for years yet.

Ashley Owen Dec 23, 2024 9

Stock storiesAustralian shares Asset allocation, portfolio constructionRetirement planning

CBA in 7 charts – the ‘Steven Bradbury’ of Australian banking – now suddenly a ‘growth stock’?

I am neither a buyer nor a seller - so why does it matter? Why CBA is the 'Steven Bradbury' of the banking world? Its share price is soaring but its fundamentals stalled a decade ago. What sort of returns can we expect in future? Here's my quick take in 7 charts.

Ashley Owen Jul 29, 2024

Retirement planningAsset allocation, portfolio constructionExchange Traded Funds

My ‘10-4 all-weather ETF portfolio’ – Part 2: What’s in it?

Here is my '10-4' all-weather ETF portfolio. out of the 348 ETFs on the ASX, which 30 are in the 'squad'? which 9 am I using right now? why it's actually not about the ETFs - it's about the game plan.

Ashley Owen Jul 07, 2024 6

Retirement planningInvestment & Wealth Mgmt

Podcast with James Kirby – ‘How much should you have in Super – Seriously!’

Yesterday I had the great privilege and pleasure of being interviewed by James Kirby for his popular weekly podcast: ‘The Money Puzzle’ for The Australian. Here we tackle some of the most common questions from investors - How much do you need? Why you can't rely on online retirement calculators? How to estimate how long you might live? Why 2/3 of retirees still rely on the government age pension after 30+ years of compulsory Super?

Ashley Owen Jul 05, 2024

Exchange Traded FundsAsset allocation, portfolio constructionRetirement planning

My '10-4' all-weather ETF portfolio - Intro

This is my '10-4' all-weather ETF portfolio. It's a simple, low-maintenance, low-cost, long-term diversified ETF-based portfolio that I use for my own long-term money, and as a template for discretionary portfolios for thousands of investors over the past 2 decades. It's simple, effective, and it works.

Ashley Owen Jun 25, 2024 12

MoneyRetirement planningInvestment & Wealth Mgmt

‘What’s your Number? Part 2: 17 key factors driving ‘How much do I need’ & ‘How much can I spend?'

Here are 17 key drivers that determine 'How much do I need to retire', and 'How much can I afford to spend?' How do they work, and how do they apply to you? This handy guide will help you come up with your own Number that suits your needs and goals.

Ashley Owen May 14, 2024

MoneyRetirement planningInvestment & Wealth Mgmt

What's your Number? Part 1: 'How much do I need to retire?', 'How much can I afford to spend?'

Here we tackle these difficult questions, and similar questions like: 'When can I afford to retire?' 'Will my money last as long as I do? Here are the two key Numbers to tackle these questions. Plus two quick tests to help measure progress toward your goal.

Ashley Owen May 10, 2024

Retirement planningInvestment & Wealth Mgmt

Personal milestones for January 2024

January is often a big month for personal milestones. Here are mine:

Ashley Owen Feb 08, 2024

Stock market crashesWars & military conflictsInvestment bubbles/busts, cyclesInternational sharesAustralian shares Asset classes, asset class returnsRecessionsRetirement planning

124 Reasons NOT to invest! - This time is different - or is it?

Every year there are ‘End of the world’, or ‘End of life as we know it’ crises and threats that scare investors into waiting and watching from the sidelines, but share markets have always seemed to power through them. Are the current batch of threats and fears different this time?

Ashley Owen Jan 17, 2024

"I read all of Ashley's research on financial and economic issuess. His data resources, deep knowledge, and original analysis put him in a class of his own."

Ian Macfarlane AC - Former Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia (Australia's central bank), 1996-2006. Former Director, Woolworths, Leighton Holdings, and ANZ Bank. Also on the International Advisory Boards of Goldman Sachs (2007-2016), the China Banking Regulatory Commission (2011-2014), and director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy (2004-2017).

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“Over the past 20 years, Ashley has been an invaluable assistance to me, as a reliable source of unbelievably strong and interesting data, and many good investment ideas.”

"The depth and quality of Ashley’s research and analysis of investment markets is the best in the business.”

Dr Don Stammer - Australia’s most respected economic writer, commentator, and speaker for the past 40 years, with a distinguished career including the Reserve Bank of Australia, Chief Economist at Deutsche Bank Australia for 21 years, chair of nine ASX companies, plus numerous non-listed and not-for-profit boards.

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“What sets Ashley Owen’s analysis apart from investment banks and the financial press is his deep fact-based understanding of long-term financial data, rather than getting caught up on the daily noise over issues that may generate trades or sell newspapers today, but will be irrelevant and misleading two years from now.”

Hugh Dive, CFA. Chief Investment Officer, Atlas Funds Management, and frequent expert commentator quoted in the AFR.

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‘For many years, Ashley has been my go-to source of information and analysis on what’s going on in financial markets and why.’

“Ashley has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the markets – I call him Mr Google!”

Noel Whittaker, AM – Australia’s best-known personal finance writer, columnist, and media commentator for the past three decades. He has written more than 20 books on personal finance, his regular columns on personal finance are published in almost every major Australian newspaper, and he appears regularly on radio and TV as an expert on finance and investing.

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“Ashley’s unique fact-based analyses and insights into Australian and global markets are always worth reading. He has an incredibly deep and comprehensive store of financial markets data.”

Chris Cuffe, AO – One of Australia’s best known and most experienced investment managers – former CEO of industry giants Colonial First State, then Challenger Financial; founder and Chair of Australian Philanthropic Services, and Third Link Growth Fund; current/former chair, director and/or investment committee member of numerous funds including UniSuper, Argo Investments, Hearts and Minds Investments, Paul Ramsay Foundation, and many others.

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“Ashley is one of the best writers and thinkers on financial markets in Australia. His unique analysis and research is always fact-based and insightful, not the usual uninformed market noise and waffle that infects the mainstream financial media.”

Graham Hand - Editorial Director of Morningstar Australia, including Founder/Managing Editor of FirstLinks, Australia’s leading newsletter and publishing service on wealth management, superannuation, and personal finance.

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Retirement Planning

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