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1 week ago | 
thegoldentimes.com.au | Nicholas Way |Duncan Hughes
Nearly two-thirds of Australians aged 65 and over are delaying seeking dental treatment, according to a new research study by the Australian Dental Association (ADA). The annual ADA study, based on a survey of 25,000 people, found that affordability was the main reason, with 64 per cent of over-65s delaying dental trips in the past year because they couldn’t afford it.
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1 week ago | 
thegoldentimes.com.au | Nicholas Way |Duncan Hughes
Senior Australians should have any employment income exempted from the age pension income test to simplify the pension system and encourage more older people to remain in the workforce if they need or want to. That’s a key recommendation of the National Seniors Association (NSA) in its pre-Budget submission that chef executive officer Chris Grice says is an important element of the organisation’s lobbying of all political parties before the May 3 federal election.
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1 week ago | 
thegoldentimes.com.au | David Murphy |Duncan Hughes |Nicholas Way
I bought The Idiot for $1.03. A bargain price, you’ll have to agree, for a masterpiece of Russian literature. Yes, all 1,635,000 or so of Dostoevsky’s words have been downloaded to my Kindle ready for my edification. It’s not his longest book, with The Brothers Karamazov holding that distinction, but a few years ago I read Crime and Punishment and enjoyed it greatly. Yes, part of my reading penchant in retirement is delving into the classics, and it’s been a gratifying experience.
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1 week ago | 
thegoldentimes.com.au | Duncan Hughes |Nicholas Way
Tax liabilities are the biggest concern for beneficiaries of an estimated $3.5 trillion to $5 trillion windfall from the intergenerational wealth transfer, according to analysis from Fidelity International, a global fund manager. Australia does not have an inheritance tax, but there are myriad potential capital gains and income tax traps for those receiving cash, property, shares, superannuation or other assets.
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3 weeks ago | 
thegoldentimes.com.au | Duncan Hughes |Nicholas Way
A new generation of local and international fixed-interest products are being developed to replace the popular hybrid securities offered by large banks that are being phased out because of regulator concerns about risk, according to asset managers. But the flow of alternative local and international corporate hybrid bonds “remains in its infancy” and needs to “develop and mature, despite encouraging growth fuelled by investor demand”, they claim.
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3 weeks ago | 
thegoldentimes.com.au | Nicholas Way |Duncan Hughes
Self-funded retirees with a penchant for residential housing investment should sit up and take notice – the Melbourne real estate market is poised for a strong recovery, according to Anne Flaherty, senior economist for the global digital business, REA Group (ASX:REA). Addressing investors at a Trilogy Funds event in Melbourne, she told them that, in her opinion, Melbourne was ready to see a recovery this year with its value proposition “extremely strong right now”.
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3 weeks ago | 
thegoldentimes.com.au | Jamie Nemtsas |Nicholas Way |Duncan Hughes
For Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (ASX:FPH), it was all going so swimmingly. A strong first half saw the New Zealand-based medical-device maker post a stellar 18 per cent jump in operating revenue to $NZ951 million ($865 million) for the six months to September 30, 2024, while net profit after tax (NPAT) rocketed 43 per cent to $NZ153 million ($139 million) compared with the corresponding period last year.
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3 weeks ago | 
thegoldentimes.com.au | Duncan Hughes |Nicholas Way |Jamie Nemtsas
A brother and sister’s fight over the water rights to their deceased parents’ rural property highlights the importance of a well-drafted will to avoid costly confusion. Rodney Troy was bequeathed rural property valued at about $120,000 and his sister, Deborah, property worth around $1.9 million, when their mother, Florida, died, aged 91, in 2019. Their father and Florida’s husband, Thomas, died in 2015.
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3 weeks ago | 
thegoldentimes.com.au | Nicholas Way |Duncan Hughes
Private credit growth has been a headline investment story in recent years. Globally, the market is estimated to have grown 10-fold since 2007 and is projected to hit $US3.5 trillion ($5.6 trillion) by 2028. In Australia, EY puts the private lending sector at $200 billion – about 2.5 per cent of outstanding corporate debt. While this asset class has a long history, it’s only in the past 15 years or so that it has emerged from being a fringe product.
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3 weeks ago | 
ioandc.com | Nicholas Way |Duncan Hughes |David Chaplin
It was only one line in Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s (pictured) Budget reply speech, but it ensured that allowing younger Australians to dip into their superannuation savings to buy property will be a frontline issue at the election. Dutton recommitted an incoming Coalition government to allow eligible first-home buyers to access up to $50,000 of their super for a home deposit “because it is better to get into a house sooner”.
