OPINION: My guess is the recent turmoil on share markets is temporary. I doubt very much that it is the harbinger of a GFC-like crash. The global economy is very strong and companies are growing their profits, and while those profits keep growing I will remain fairly bu read more

OPINION: The ability to take some kind of early retirement is Nirvana. To have the resources to change what you do to live more and work less is the big dream for many. There are people in mid-life who are burning to ring some changes. Often enough, people in their fift read more

OPINION: Selling investments is almost as important as buying them. And yet, although that is certainly true, most investors put a lot more time, effort and energy into deciding what they will buy rather than what they will sell. In fact, I think that many of us are not read more

OPINION: Chances are that over the last few weeks you have seen (if not read) articles about New Year resolutions. You may even have acted and resolved to do (or not do) a few things. Well, congratulations on your intentions but sorry to say, for most people, intention read more

OPINION: It is natural to look back with regret: what I could have done, what I should have done, what might have been. In fact, this is a suckers’ game. There are always things, had you done them, that would have made a major difference. You can beat yourself up read more

OPINION: I was once told of a financial writer who called diversification “diwussification”. Apparently, this writer’s big idea was that diversification was for cowards. Well, courage is not always an asset. Years ago, at school, my English teacher tol read more

OPINION: Personal finance is full of rules of thumb. These are rough rules that work for most people and give an approximate value that help you make a financial plan. Of course, rules of thumb can never be trusted completely: they take no account of personal situations read more

OPINION: In spite of the slowdown, New Zealand house prices are amongst the highest in the world. In fact, in the latest house-price indicator from The Economist, New Zealand house prices are second highest (behind Canada). This is nothing to be proud of and does nothin read more

OPINION: Increasingly I have had messages from people concerned with global share markets. Markets have had a great run, they say, and values are high – surely this can’t continue? The perception of high valuations and the length of time that we have been in read more

OPINION: Have you ever wondered why it is that most big professional investors put a lot of their funds offshore? Funds like the New Zealand Super Fund (aka the Cullen Fund) have big proportions of their cash invested internationally. In fact, the Super Fund has just 15 read more