Smart strategies for paying down debt | Money & Life

Smart strategies for paying down debt To get on top of your finances, clearing debts is essential but how can you find a strategy that’s going to work for you and your money habits?  Explore some of the ways to go about tackling your debts so you can start working towards your other financial goals. Being in debt can really wear you down, both financially and emotionally. Whether it’s a single large credit card balance …

Market Update 23 April 2021 | AMP Capital

Market Update 23 April 2021 Investment markets and key developments over the past week Share markets generally fell over the last week with first worries about the resurgence in global coronavirus cases and then reports that President Biden will propose a doubling in capital gains tax for high income earners weighing on markets. Although Chinese shares managed to rise from a double bottom after sharp falls since February, US, European and Japanese shares fell. Despite the …

Getting your super back on track | Money & Life

Getting your super back on track If you experienced financial hardship in 2020, you may have decided to withdraw from your superannuation balance to tide you over. Find out what you can be doing to top up your super and keep your retirement savings on track. In 2020, the Federal Government announced a number of different types of support for Australians in financial difficulty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For people who lost their jobs …

Three reasons why the long-term bull market in Australian house prices may be getting close to the end | AMP Capital

Three reasons why the long-term bull market in Australian house prices may be getting close to the end Key points Australian home prices are currently in a cyclical upswing which likely has further to go into 2022. However, the longer-term bull market, that has seen above trend growth in property prices since the mid-1990s, may be close to an end as the long-term decline in interest rates bottoms out, property undersupply swings towards oversupply & …

Market Update 16 April 2021 | AMP Capital

Market Update 16 April 2021 Investment markets and key developments over the past week While Japanese and Chinese shares fell again over the last week, US and European shares pushed higher helped by good economic data, a strong start to the US earnings reporting season, ongoing dovish comments from the Fed and tame bond yields. Reflecting the strong US lead, strong local data on confidence and jobs and a bit of catch-up Australian shares rose to …

The importance of starting point valuations for investment returns – and where are we now? | AMP Capital

The importance of starting point valuations for investment returns – and where are we now?   Key points Starting point valuations – like yields and price to earnings multiples – are a key driver of potential medium term investment returns. For growth assets it’s often more complicated with, eg, the level of interest rates playing a big role. At present valuation starting points for term deposits and bonds suggest low medium-term returns. For shares they …

Is hydrogen the silver bullet that organisations are leaning on? | AMP Capital

  Is hydrogen the silver bullet that organisations are leaning on? Can renewable hydrogen reduce emissions and help solve climate change? As the dangers associated with climate change become more widely understood and accepted, the fight to save the planet and its people has intensified. As investors, we believe that stopping climate change will aid economic growth – as such we strive to understand how the companies we invest in can not only manage these …

Market Update 09 April 2021 | AMP Capital

  Market Update 09 April 2021   Investment markets and key developments over the past week While Japanese and Chinese share fell over the last week, US shares rose to a new record high helped by strong data, stimulus optimism and dovish comments from the Fed and Eurozone shares also rose solidly. Reflecting the strong US lead, RBA dovishness and playing catch up after underperforming the previous week the Australian share market rose sharply to …

From spender to saver

From spender to saver After a bit of a wake-up call we managed to change our money habits….here’s how we did it Before I start I’d better explain our attitude towards money. We were having dinner with friends the other day and they were regaling us with tales of getting stuck into their spreadsheets on Saturday nights. It’s what they do for kicks, apparently. When they left, we were all ‘Gee, what are they like? …

RBA on hold and likely to remain easy for a long while yet as full employment gets more of a look in | AMP Capital

RBA on hold and likely to remain easy for a long while yet as full employment gets more of a look in Key points The RBA left the cash rate at 0.1% at its April meeting. While the economy is recovering faster than expected the conditions for a rate hike – actual inflation sustainably in the 2-3% target zone and wages growth well above 3% – are unlikely to be met for several years. The …