In an article posted a little over 12 months ago, Inflation watch, I described the bond market as the “all-seeing eye”, noting that the bond market was signalling a potential incoming spike in inflation. The events of late 2021 and early 2022 have justified the bond market’s concerns. What now? As an investor, what sort […]
Recent Posts
Don’t take on too much HECS debt
Having the government bankroll your tertiary education in Australia is often called out as being the “best loan you can get”. And that’s certainly true when you compare Australia’s HECS-HELP program to the more complex, crippling student loan program in the US. On the other hand our university tuition structures are not nearly as generous […]
Share Investing 102: Priced-in
You awake from your deep slumber after countless weeks in lockdown patiently awaiting your turn for the vaccine. You’ve saved quite a bit of money during the anti-social long haul and you decide you want to invest some of it. You try to think how you might be able to take advantage of the status […]
Investment grade property: Yield vs capital growth
There are three main ways you can make money on property: Rental yield Capital growth Growth on rental yield Let’s have a chat about the first two. Rental yield A property’s rental yield is calculated by dividing a property’s annual rental earnings by its valuation. I often argue that the better way of calculating rental […]
Investment grade property: Dwelling types
There’s no saying for certain whether real estate will forever rise in value at such impressive growth rates. There’s no saying for certain which locations will perform well and which locations will be left behind. There’s also no saying for certain which dwelling types will be most lucrative, and which will be most burdensome. The […]
The economics of a botched vaccine rollout
Some 50-60% of Australians are in some form of lockdown right now. The sad reality is that these lockdowns were completely avoidable and the main reason we’re in this mess is the unfathomable incompetence of a handful of individuals. Politicians will point the finger at rule breakers or blame the “unprecedented” contagiousness of the delta […]
Home loan products: Redraw facilities and offset accounts
For each day that you owe money to the bank on a home loan, interest accrues on that loan. You make periodic home loan repayments and if your home loan is a P&I loan (see Home loan products: P&I vs IO loans), the value of your loan, the principal, will slowly trickle downwards. What if […]
Inflation watch
We interrupt your regular home loan-related posts to bring you an important update all the way from the US of A. There’s been a very interesting development around inflation. Okay interesting is probably a strong word. Wait. Don’t close the browser yet. This is absolutely something you should care about. The 101 If you haven’t […]
Home loan products: Variable vs fixed rates
I’d like to say we’re almost done with home loans but if I did I’d be lying. There’s so much complexity out there on this topic and it has such a profound impact on your cash flow that I think everyone has a right to know as much as possible before taking the plunge. So […]
Home loan products: P&I vs IO loans
When I was younger (I wasn’t the coolest kid) I used to wonder why anyone would take on a massive home loan and opt to pay off the interest only. When you take on a home loan, you can typically choose from P&I (principal & interest) and IO (interest only) products. Here’s what they mean […]
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