Investopoly
- Episodes
- 593
- Released
- weekly
- Latest episode
- Nov 10, 2026
About the podcast
Investopoly is a twice-weekly podcast designed to help you make better financial decisions and build wealth with clarity and confidence. Hosted by Stuart (tax adviser, financial adviser, and mortgage broker) and Campbell (senior financial adviser), each episode delivers concise, practical insights grounded in real-world strategy, research, methodologies, and case studies.
You will get two episodes each week: a main episode that deep-dives into a single wealth-building topic, and a Q&A episode that answers listener questions and real scenarios. Send your questions to [email protected]
We also write a weekly blog, and many podcast topics build on those ideas and frameworks. Stuart’s book, Wealth by Design, is out now in soft cover, e-book and audiobook: https://amzn.asia/d/08a4BmhI. His next book, Business by Design, written for business owners, is due mid 2027.
Contributors
- Stuart WemyssHost
- Campbell WallaceCo-host
Episodes 593
Ep 434: Why index investing is so hard to beat
Read Full Blog HereA handful of stocks deliver most of the market’s return, and no one can pick them in advance. That’s why owning the whole market wins. The evidence that index funds beat active managers is …
Show notes
A handful of stocks deliver most of the market’s return, and no one can pick them in advance. That’s why owning the whole market wins. The evidence that index funds beat active managers is well established. In this episode, I explain why, through three observations about how markets behave:
- In developed markets, what you don’t own hurts you. Just 2% of 64,000 shares studied created all the wealth over three decades.
- Volatility is normal. The average intra-year fall is 14% in Australia and 16% in the US, even though most years end positive.
- Most of the return comes on a few days, and those days often arrive shortly after the worst ones.
I also cover the gap between fund returns and what investors actually earn, when I’d invest monthly vs as a lump sum, and why emerging markets and smaller companies need a more selective approach.
00:00 Introduction: why indexing works and why it’s hard to beat
01:02 The SPIVA reports
02:00 Why investors still hold a few direct shares
03:10 Eating my own cooking
04:00 Three observations about how markets behave
04:52 What you don’t own hurts you: 2% of stocks created all the wealth
06:08 Australia: eight companies, almost half the wealth
07:05 FY24: five stocks, two-thirds of the return
07:59 Could you have picked them in advance?
08:39 The Magnificent Seven
09:25 What happens once a stock reaches the top 10
10:35 Buy the whole haystack
11:15 Timing and turnover costs
11:47 Volatility is normal: intra-year declines
12:59 2025: down 19% by April, up 18% by year end
13:39 Using falls to your advantage with regular investing
14:26 Why the first three to four years can mislead
15:09 Why a 20% fall wouldn’t surprise me
16:19 Most returns come in a few days
17:35 Missing the 10 best days in the S&P 500
18:09 The best days often follow the worst
19:31 Reframing falls as an opportunity
20:42 The behaviour gap: 9.9% vs 8.7%
21:36 Why “this time is different” is always the headline
23:10 Monthly investing vs lump sums
24:04 The value of optionality
24:33 Emerging markets and small companies: what you do own can hurt
25:46 Factor-based investing in those markets
26:37 Summing up: three reasons indexing wins
27:55 How many active managers fail to beat the index
28:10 Coming up: does indexing distort markets, and does factor investing pay?Related episodes:
Ep 403: Lump sum share market investing: risky or rational
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/18951456-ep-403-lump-sum-share-market-investing-risky-or-rationalEp 433: ASX 200 or global shares: Where to put new money
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/20053844-ep-433-asx-200-or-global-shares-where-to-put-new-moneyEp 430: Is financial advice worth it? What rules can’t fix.
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19923707-ep-430-is-financial-advice-worth-it-what-rules-can-t-fixQ&A - ETF portfolio construction at 28: is 8.4% too low?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19978320-q-a-etf-portfolio-construction-at-28-is-8-4-too-lowRead Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - SMSF property debt before retirement: repay or invest?
I wouldn’t rush to repay an SMSF property loan before retirement. I’d switch it to interest-only and put spare cash into growth ETFs.In this listener Q&A, Gary is 56 and plans to move his property wealth into …
Show notes
I wouldn’t rush to repay an SMSF property loan before retirement. I’d switch it to interest-only and put spare cash into growth ETFs.
In this listener Q&A, Gary is 56 and plans to move his property wealth into his SMSF before he retires. I explain why growth ETFs beat income ETFs when unrealised gains disappear in the pension phase. I also explain why I’m wary of a Perth medical clinic on a 5.5% cap rate, and why you shouldn’t extrapolate one good commercial property result. Dominic is 55 with $1.2 million in offset and needs to self-fund until 60. I’d draw on the offset rather than sell property into this market, and plan a window to sell rather than a date. A retiree with about $8.75 million asks what withdrawal rate is reasonable. I cover a perpetual portfolio, three years of living expenses in cash, and what I’d do if the trust tax becomes law. Finally, Angus asks about contribution splitting to even up super balances under the transfer balance cap.
00:16 Gary: moving property wealth into super at 56
03:18 Reading between the lines: the commercial warehouse story
04:10 Episode 412: a 5.5% cap rate vs a 5.5% bond
04:50 Why commercial property values could fall
05:28 Don’t extrapolate one good result
06:35 Why being 56 demands more diligence
07:22 Quality first, then price: would I buy it?
09:03 The Darwin property
09:44 Buyer’s agents and selling what’s popular
10:20 Don’t rush to repay the SMSF loan
11:20 Growth vs income ETFs before pension phase
12:23 Using the offset and getting money into super
13:40 When to exit the medical property
14:14 Dominic: self-funding five years until 60
16:09 Is $1.2 million in offset working hard enough?
17:08 Why I wouldn’t sell property into this market
18:23 Which property to sell first
19:15 Plan a selling window, not a date
20:42 Retired at 60: what withdrawal rate is reasonable?
22:36 A perpetual portfolio and roughly $300,000 a year
23:46 Why going too conservative is a risk
24:16 Three years of living expenses in cash
25:50 The trust tax rules: don’t react yet
26:40 If they become law: an investment company
27:37 Angus: contribution splitting with your spouse
28:15 When equalising balances matters: the transfer balance cap
28:55 How contribution splitting works
30:15 An indexed transfer balance cap
30:50 An each-way bet: two different super funds
31:46 How and when to split each year
32:24 Coming up: why index investing worksRelated episodes:
Ep 412: Beware: Commercial property values look stretched
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19306940-ep-412-beware-commercial-property-values-look-stretchedEp 409: Super contribution strategies to consider before 30 June 2026
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19170620-ep-409-super-contribution-strategies-to-consider-before-30-june-2026Ep 419: The best super fund for 2026? You’re asking the wrong question
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19551766-ep-419-the-best-super-fund-for-2026-you-re-asking-the-wrong-questionEp 429: How much do you need to retire & are you on track? Work it out here.
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19893951-ep-429-how-much-do-you-need-to-retire-are-you-on-track-work-it-out-hereQ&A - Sequence of returns risk retiring early: bridging to super
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19885744-q-a-sequence-of-returns-risk-retiring-early-bridging-to-superQ&A - Bucket company asset allocation: trust or company?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/20011909-q-a-bucket-company-asset-allocation-trust-or-companyEp 425: Family trust investing: Are trusts still worth it under proposed tax changes?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19764156-ep-425-family-trust-investing-are-trusts-still-worth-it-under-proposed-tax-changesOptional:
Q&A - Moving wealth from property into super, planning in retirement, benefits of two separate super funds and so on
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/16725766-q-a-moving-wealth-from-property-into-super-planning-in-retirement-benefits-of-two-separate-super-funds-and-so-onRead Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 433: ASX 200 or global shares: Where to put new money
Read Full Blog HereI wouldn’t sell your Australian shares, but I’d put most new money into global shares. The ASX is concentrated, expensive, and slow-growing. The ASX 200 returned a solid 9.4% a year over the …
Show notes
I wouldn’t sell your Australian shares, but I’d put most new money into global shares. The ASX is concentrated, expensive, and slow-growing. The ASX 200 returned a solid 9.4% a year over the past decade, but that came mostly from banks and BHP, and the top 10 stocks now make up half the index. In this episode, I look at what’s likely to drive future returns: valuations, high dividend payout ratios, oligopolies, a 2% technology weighting, and weak per capita GDP and productivity growth. I also cover the case for keeping your existing Australian holdings, including franking credits, income, and population growth.
00:00 Introduction
00:40 Not anti-Australia, just an investment view
01:15 Past returns: the ASX vs global shares over 10 years
02:48 The real question: where should new capital go?
03:25 How concentrated the ASX 200 has become
05:04 Valuation: ASX vs global shares
05:40 CBA vs Alphabet: similar PE ratios, very different growth
07:06 An economy built on digging and shipping
08:40 High dividend payout ratios and the cost to growth
09:47 Franking credits and the case for retaining profits
11:04 Where’s the innovation?
13:39 Oligopolies and the lack of competition
14:34 The supermarket example
16:04 Where shareholder returns actually come from
17:07 Technology: 2% of the ASX vs 40% of the S&P 500
18:41 The wealth equation and compounding growth
19:16 Why Australia produces few large startups
22:51 Summing up the observations
23:10 GDP growth per capita: Australia vs the US
24:46 Labour productivity
26:54 The positives: reasons to keep Australian shares
29:41 What to do: keep existing holdings, direct new money globally
31:49 Next week: where share market returns come fromRelated episodes:
Ep 397: Australian vs International Shares: Why the 45:55 split does not add up
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/18714304-ep-397-australian-vs-international-shares-why-the-45-55-split-does-not-add-upEp 432: Bond ETFs vs 10-Year government bonds: Lock in or not?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/20012238-ep-432-bond-etfs-vs-10-year-government-bonds-lock-in-or-notQ&A - Bucket company asset allocation: trust or company?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/20011909-q-a-bucket-company-asset-allocation-trust-or-companyOptional:
Ep 318: Why does Australia’s share market always underperform?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/15604297-ep-318-why-does-australia-s-share-market-always-underperformRead Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - Capital gains tax 6-year rule: the rentvesting trap
Moving into a rentvested property no longer dilutes your CGT because of the 1 July 2027 deemed disposal. I’d keep one property CGT-free.In this listener Q&A, I explain why Daniel’s plan to move into one of his …
Show notes
Moving into a rentvested property no longer dilutes your CGT because of the 1 July 2027 deemed disposal. I’d keep one property CGT-free.
In this listener Q&A, I explain why Daniel’s plan to move into one of his rentvested properties won’t work under the new rules, and why every rentvester should protect at least one CGT-free home. Steve wants to sell his investment property to buy a $2 million home. If the original decision was sound, I’d stick with it, because the real risk is executing a sell-and-rebuy in a low-supply market. A 40-year-old asks whether to keep investing through a family trust or top up his wife’s super. I’d do both, and not react to the proposed trust tax yet. Dave asks about internally geared ETFs outside super, and I explain why I’d wait for a correction. Finally, a couple weighs a second investment property against debt recycling. Without an immediate interest deduction on new property, I’d debt recycle.
00:00 Intro and the Wealth by Design audiobook
01:14 Steve: sell the investment property to buy a $2M home?
03:27 Why I expect the property tax changes to be reversed
05:00 The risk of selling in a low-supply market
06:07 Being picky vs finicky: no property is perfect
06:57 Execution risk if sentiment turns
07:34 Stick with a good original decision
09:08 Adding some regular share investing
09:46 Daniel: moving into a rentvested property
10:59 How the partial main residence exemption works
11:39 Rented first vs occupied first
12:44 Why the 1 July 2027 deemed disposal breaks the strategy
14:01 A defensible market value on 1 July 2027
14:21 The biggest downside of rentvesting
14:36 Using the six-year rule
15:35 Listener feedback: building wealth predictably
17:44 Family trust ETFs or super contributions?
18:53 Will you really work for another 20 years?
19:31 Evening up super balances
20:05 Why the trust tax proposal shouldn’t drive this decision
21:00 ETFs outside super as a bridge to earlier retirement
21:48 Rollover options and multi-class companies
23:05 Don’t react yet
23:54 Dave: geared ETFs outside super?
24:14 Internal gearing vs an investment loan
25:46 My own GEAR and GGUS trades
26:57 Second investment property or debt recycling?
28:50 Waiting years for an interest deduction on new property
30:10 Why property growth rates have to ease
31:02 Shares: a higher pre-tax return and an immediate deduction
31:39 Debt recycling and getting the structure right
32:48 When a bigger property budget changes the answer
33:12 Coming up: has Australia become uninvestable?Related episodes:
Q&A: Upgrade or rentvest, home equity loans, and going non-resident
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19862011-q-a-upgrade-or-rentvest-home-equity-loans-and-going-non-residentQ&A - ETF portfolio construction at 28: is 8.4% too low?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19978320-q-a-etf-portfolio-construction-at-28-is-8-4-too-lowQ&A - Debt recycling when you sell your home: keep the deduction
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19934965-q-a-debt-recycling-when-you-sell-your-home-keep-the-deductionEp 423: Negative gearing deferred - here’s how to manage the cash flow gap
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19680010-ep-423-negative-gearing-deferred-heres-how-to-manage-the-cash-flow-gapEp 425: Family trust investing: Are trusts still worth it under proposed tax changes?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19764156-ep-425-family-trust-investing-are-trusts-still-worth-it-under-proposed-tax-changesEp 429: How much do you need to retire & are you on track? Work it out here.
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19893951-ep-429-how-much-do-you-need-to-retire-are-you-on-track-work-it-out-hereEp 411: Should you invest all your super into an internally geared ETF
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19251945-ep-411-should-you-invest-all-your-super-into-an-internally-geared-etfRead Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 432: Bond ETFs vs 10-Year government bonds: Lock in or not?
Read Full Blog Here10-year bonds near 5.2% look good, but I’d rather use subordinated debt ETFs. They pay about 1% more with almost no interest rate risk. A listener asked whether it’s time to lock in …
Show notes
10-year bonds near 5.2% look good, but I’d rather use subordinated debt ETFs. They pay about 1% more with almost no interest rate risk. A listener asked whether it’s time to lock in long-dated fixed-rate bonds now that yields are at their highest in about 15 years. In this episode, I explain duration and credit risk, why it’s hard to earn more than your starting yield, and how to measure the term premium properly. I then compare long-dated government bonds with subordinated debt ETFs such as SUBD and BSUB, and cover their risks: thin credit spreads and the money flowing in as bank hybrids wind down. I also explain the difference between running yield and yield to maturity, using the PIMCO global bond ETF (PGBF) the listener asked about.
00:00 Introduction
00:39 Listener question: Is it time to lock in duration?
01:31 What duration means
02:51 Why interest rates have become harder to forecast
04:35 10-year bonds at 5.2% vs a 4.6% cash rate
06:25 Spoiler: why I’d look elsewhere
06:47 Term premium explained using term deposits
08:03 Duration risk
10:02 Credit risk and credit spreads
13:05 Why holding to maturity doesn’t remove the risk
13:58 Why it’s hard to out-earn your starting yield
15:32 How to measure the term premium properly
17:50 Is today’s term premium above average?
19:47 What’s changed: the options now open to investors
20:59 Subordinated debt ETFs: BSUB and SUBD
24:54 Subordinated debt vs government bonds: an extra 1% or more
27:15 Why bank hybrids are being phased out
28:36 The risks: thin credit spreads and contagion
30:46 Moving up the credit scale: QPON and AGVT
31:02 Do bonds still protect a share portfolio?
32:24 Why we focus on absolute return
32:40 PGBF: running yield vs yield to maturity
34:41 Summing upRead Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - Bucket company asset allocation: trust or company?
A bucket company doesn’t change my allocation: I’d still favour global shares. Rebalance with new money and dividends, not by selling.Campbell here, filling in for Stuart. Simon has $2 million in a bucket …
Show notes
A bucket company doesn’t change my allocation: I’d still favour global shares. Rebalance with new money and dividends, not by selling.
Campbell here, filling in for Stuart. Simon has $2 million in a bucket company and too much in Australian shares. I explain why the new minimum 30% tax on capital gains levels the playing field for companies, why retained franking credits are so valuable, and how to reweight without paying unnecessary capital gains tax. Penguin Guy has an ETF portfolio in a family trust. I cover whether rollover relief lets him move it into personal names or a separate investment company, how company dividends end up taxed, and why investments should never sit inside your trading company. A 58-year-old listener asks when to accept that an investment thesis hasn’t played out, after nine years without growth on a South Yarra apartment. My answer is to hold, switch to interest-only and focus on super. Finally, Wayne asks about using carry-forward concessional contributions before his income passes $250,000. I cover spouse contribution splitting and why you must lodge a notice of intent.
If you run a business through a trust, Business by Design covers trading structures in more depth: https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
00:00 Campbell fills in, and where the question queue is up to
01:16 A South Yarra apartment with no growth in nine years
03:15 When to accept an investment thesis hasn’t played out
05:36 Melbourne’s flat cycle and why holding still makes sense
06:39 Cash flow neutral: switch to interest-only and build super
08:08 Simon: asset allocation inside a bucket company
09:08 The CGT discount and the new minimum 30% tax
10:36 Why a company can beat a trust on income tax
11:18 Franking credits that build up in an investment company
12:35 Australian vs global shares in a company
14:11 Episode 397 and a higher international allocation
15:17 Reweighting with new money: turn off dividend reinvestment
17:15 Wayne: carry-forward contributions before Division 293
17:54 How spouse contribution splitting works
19:17 Why split: the $500,000 cap, transfer balance cap and age gaps
21:48 The government co-contribution for a low-income spouse
22:29 Do you need a notice of intent to claim?
23:22 Which year’s unused cap gets used first
24:11 Division 293 and the $250,000 threshold
25:31 Penguin Guy: trusts under the proposed minimum tax
26:44 Business trusts and the minimum 30% tax
28:34 The flexibility you give up in a company
29:44 Rollover relief for an investment trust
30:38 Stamp duty, and what one state has said
31:15 Can you roll over into your personal name?
32:10 Selling inside a company and paying dividends
33:49 When holding investments in your own name is fine
35:04 Why investments shouldn’t sit in your trading company
36:13 Wrap-upRelated episodes:
Ep 397: Australian vs International Shares: Why the 45:55 split does not add up
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/18714304-ep-397-australian-vs-international-shares-why-the-45-55-split-does-not-add-upEp 425: Family trust investing: Are trusts still worth it under proposed tax changes?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19764156-ep-425-family-trust-investing-are-trusts-still-worth-it-under-proposed-tax-changesEp 422: Blame the 20-year growth cycle, not necessarily the Victorian government
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19642011-ep-422-blame-the-20-year-growth-cycle-not-necessarily-the-victorian-governmentQ&A - Sequence of returns risk retiring early: bridging to super
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19885744-q-a-sequence-of-returns-risk-retiring-early-bridging-to-superRead Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 431: How much life insurance do you need: And when to cut it
Read Full Blog HereHave full cover while you’re young and it’s cheap, then cut it back as your assets grow. Income protection matters most, trauma the least.In this episode I explain how we calculate life, TPD …
Show notes
Have full cover while you’re young and it’s cheap, then cut it back as your assets grow. Income protection matters most, trauma the least.
In this episode I explain how we calculate life, TPD and income protection cover, and why the final step is weighing the premium against what that money could earn if you invested it instead. I also cover:
- Why we always use stepped premiums rather than level premiums
- Why life and TPD belong inside super and income protection outside it
- Choosing waiting periods and policy definitions for income protection
- When to review your cover, and why yearly reviews can lull you into keeping too much
The insurance calculator worksheet is free to download from the new resource site at investopoly.com.au.
00:00 Introduction and the new Investopoly resource site
03:57 Insurance as a necessary evil
04:58 Why most advice recommends too much cover
05:55 The four types: life, TPD, income protection and trauma
08:36 TPD insurance: own occupation vs any occupation
10:22 The tension between paying for cover and investing
11:19 Cutting cover back as your asset base grows
13:34 How your insurance needs change across life stages
15:21 Stepped vs level premiums
18:21 How to calculate life and TPD cover
20:42 Weighing affordability against cost
22:33 How much income protection you need
23:26 How premiums and benefits are taxed
25:33 Where to hold life and TPD cover
26:50 Income protection waiting periods
27:55 Policy quality and the three-tier definition
29:01 Why thorough underwriting is worth the hassle
30:06 Trauma insurance: the most optional cover
32:24 When to review your insurance
34:34 Next week: bondsRelated episodes:
- How much you need to retire (October 2026). Referenced at 00:18, and the cut-back-as-assets-grow argument relies on the same are-you-on-track thinking.
- The super report episode (July 2026). Related because it covers choosing a super fund, and this episode covers which funds have competitively priced life and TPD cover inside super.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - ETF portfolio construction at 28: is 8.4% too low?
An 8.4% return isn’t the problem; what drove it is. I’d struggle to justify active funds and a 0.76% fee over a diversified ETF.In this listener Q&A, I explain how to judge short-term returns, why active fund …
Show notes
An 8.4% return isn’t the problem; what drove it is. I’d struggle to justify active funds and a 0.76% fee over a diversified ETF.
In this listener Q&A, I explain how to judge short-term returns, why active fund outperformance rarely lasts, and why Jack probably doesn’t need to pay an adviser to run around $420,000 across super and his trust. I’d keep his family trust and gradually move his direct shares across when the price suits. I’d also keep his property as an investment under the six-year rule and switch the loan to interest-only.
Max asks if he can wind down at 44 with about $5.4 million invested. Spending around $180,000 a year is roughly 3.3% of that, so the bigger job is putting his cash to work. Tom is retiring in his early 60s with property inside and outside his SMSF. I’d lean towards keeping the SMSF property for the pension phase, selling one or two personal properties, and investing for growth rather than income. Josh asks whether a family trust still makes sense after the budget and how fast to deploy $450,000 of borrowing capacity. My answer is still the trust, with a bucket company added later, and a steady monthly amount that steps up if markets fall.
00:35 Jack: Is 8.4% too low for a 28-year-old?
02:43 Why active fund outperformance rarely persists
03:38 What drove the return matters more than the number
07:52 Why value-aware portfolios can lag early on
08:50 Wrap platforms, EX20 and Australian shares at 28
10:05 Do you need an adviser for $420,000?
11:40 Shares in your own name and keeping the family trust
12:59 Rent or buy? Using the six-year rule
15:02 Switching the investment loan to interest-only
15:34 Max: winding down at 44 with $5.4 million
16:53 The missing number: how much you spend
17:27 Earning 6.5% after tax, and trimming gold
17:47 Putting $900,000 of cash to work
19:10 Tom: moving from work into retirement
20:47 Get as much as you can into super
21:29 Why property needs a flexible exit plan
22:27 Keeping SMSF property for pension phase
23:23 Selling one or two properties and investing for growth
24:19 Why I’d be careful with VHY
25:52 Josh: family trust and bucket company after the budget
27:37 The rollover election and the minimum 30% tax
28:18 Lump sum vs drip-feeding $450,000
30:00 Kids’ money: family trust over investment bonds
30:57 Coming up: how much insurance you needRelated episodes:
Ep 430: Is financial advice worth it? What rules can’t fix.
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19923707-ep-430-is-financial-advice-worth-it-what-rules-can-t-fixEp 427: How to assess whether property and share markets are attractively priced
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19832497-ep-427-how-to-assess-whether-property-and-share-markets-are-attractively-pricedQ&A - Untangling a messy structure, cutting losses, and low-income investing
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19720854-q-a-untangling-a-messy-structure-cutting-losses-and-low-income-investingEp 429: How much do you need to retire & are you on track? Work it out here.
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19893951-ep-429-how-much-do-you-need-to-retire-are-you-on-track-work-it-out-hereQ&A - Deploying an inheritance, selling an average property, and funding a long retirement
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19832494-q-a-deploying-an-inheritance-selling-an-average-property-and-funding-a-long-retirementEp 403: Lump sum share market investing: risky or rational
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/18951456-ep-403-lump-sum-share-market-investing-risky-or-rationalEp 425: Family trust investing: Are trusts still worth it under proposed tax changes?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19764156-ep-425-family-trust-investing-are-trusts-still-worth-it-under-proposed-tax-changesRead Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 430: Is financial advice worth it? What rules can't fix.
Read Full Blog HereRussell says advice adds 5.5% a year and Vanguard says 3%. A disciplined, rules-based approach captures much of that, but not all of it. I think these reports overstate things by assuming …
Show notes
Russell says advice adds 5.5% a year and Vanguard says 3%. A disciplined, rules-based approach captures much of that, but not all of it. I think these reports overstate things by assuming that without an adviser you'll panic, chase returns and keep changing strategy. In this episode I split the mistakes the reports cite into two groups: the ones a rules-based framework prevents, like concentrated portfolios, cash drag and return chasing, and the ones it can't, like ownership structures, how to allocate surplus cash flow, and super contribution strategy. I also cover why knowing the rules isn't the same as following them, the March 2020 test of your own discipline, and the portfolio size at which advice pays for itself.
00:00 The "advisor fee: $0" bill that prompted this episode
00:55 Revisiting episode 319 and the Russell and Vanguard reports
01:51 Why I'm sceptical of these estimates
02:31 What if you already follow a rules-based framework?
03:23 Breaking down Russell's 5.5%
04:53 Vanguard's Adviser's Alpha framework
06:07 The wealth equation and where mistakes cost real money
07:25 Separating the mistakes rules can and can't prevent
07:46 Portfolio design mistakes a rules-based approach fixes
10:20 Complexity and knowledge gaps rules can't fix
12:34 When the numbers make advice worthwhile
13:18 Why knowing what to do isn't enough
16:15 The best days in the market and why indexing works
17:48 The acid test: what did you do in March and April 2020?
20:19 Economies of scale: when advice pays for itself
22:12 Choosing an adviser as a decision that moves the dial
22:59 Using someone you trust as a sounding board
23:52 Summing up
25:26 Next week: how much insurance you actually needRelated episodes:
- Episode 319 (2024): my earlier look at the value of financial advice, focused on portfolio size and complexity. Referenced at 00:55 and again at 20:19.
- Episode 414: the handful of life decisions that really move the dial. Referenced at 22:12.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - Debt recycling when you sell your home: keep the deduction
Selling your home needn’t undo debt recycling. I’d substitute the security with a term deposit or your next home to keep it deductible.In this listener Q&A I walk Dave through substitution of security and …
Show notes
Selling your home needn’t undo debt recycling. I’d substitute the security with a term deposit or your next home to keep it deductible.
In this listener Q&A I walk Dave through substitution of security and simultaneous settlements, and explain why I’d pay a little more for a flexible lender. I then answer Marcus on whether to offset an investment loan or use a high-interest savings account. On the top marginal rate the offset usually wins, unless a low-income spouse changes the maths. I also cover why I wouldn’t pay investment debt down to zero. For Michael, I explain why you shouldn’t keep an average property just for the negative gearing, and how much leverage a 30-year-old actually needs. Dominic asks about moving assets out of a family trust ahead of the proposed 30% minimum tax, and my answer is still to do nothing yet. Nathan asks who benefits from quarantined negative gearing, and what the UK’s experience tells us about housing affordability.
00:00 Nathan: who benefits from quarantined negative gearing?
01:19 Vested interests: new builds, commercial and offshore buyer’s agents
03:00 Why commercial property yields don’t stack up
04:34 Lessons from the UK’s property tax changes
08:32 Tax settings only move affordability at the margin
09:30 Dominic: moving assets out of a family trust
10:01 Two minimum 30% taxes, and why to do nothing yet
11:05 CGT rollover relief and the stamp duty problem
11:53 Will the trust tax be rescinded before the 2028 election?
13:49 What common-sense tax reform would look like
15:13 Business as usual for your discretionary trust
15:35 Michael: should I sell an average investment property?
18:00 Don’t hold an asset just for negative gearing
18:40 Property vs shares: the power of leverage
21:19 Never a bad time to sell a bad asset
23:07 Dave: debt recycling when you sell your home
24:21 Substitution of security using a term deposit
25:54 Simultaneous settlement from old home to new
26:27 If the bank repays your loan by mistake
27:16 Why lender flexibility beats a lower rate
29:01 Revaluations and using lenders in the right order
30:24 Marcus: offset an investment loan or use a savings account?
31:16 Comparing before-tax and after-tax interest rates
32:39 When a non-working spouse changes the answer
34:14 Why not to pay investment debt down to zero
35:47 Coming up: do you really need a financial adviser?Related episodes:
Q&A: Upgrade or rentvest, home equity loans, and going non-resident
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19862011-q-a-upgrade-or-rentvest-home-equity-loans-and-going-non-residentQ&A - Choosing a pension account, topping up in retirement, and offset versus debt recycling
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19803896-q-a-choosing-a-pension-account-topping-up-in-retirement-and-offset-versus-debt-recyclingQ&A - Deploying an inheritance, selling an average property, and funding a long retirement
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19832494-q-a-deploying-an-inheritance-selling-an-average-property-and-funding-a-long-retirementQ&A - Sequence of returns risk retiring early: bridging to super
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19885744-q-a-sequence-of-returns-risk-retiring-early-bridging-to-superEp 425: Family trust investing: Are trusts still worth it under proposed tax changes?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19764156-ep-425-family-trust-investing-are-trusts-still-worth-it-under-proposed-tax-changesWhy common-sense tax reform is vital to Australia’s future
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/14044773Optional:
Ep 426: The do not invest list: why good investors say no
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19748907-ep-426-the-do-not-invest-list-why-good-investors-say-noEp 423: Negative gearing deferred - here's how to manage the cash flow gap
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19680010-ep-423-negative-gearing-deferred-heres-how-to-manage-the-cash-flow-gapRead Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 429: How much do you need to retire & are you on track? Work it out here.
Read Full Blog HereTo spend $120k a year from age 60, you need about $3m to never touch your capital, or $2.1m if you plan to run it down to zero by 90. Most super calculators can't tell you whether …
Show notes
To spend $120k a year from age 60, you need about $3m to never touch your capital, or $2.1m if you plan to run it down to zero by 90. Most super calculators can't tell you whether you're on track, because they ignore investments held outside super, especially geared property, and they don't handle retiring before 60. In this episode, I walk through a set of tables you can use to add up your super, ETFs, and investment property and see where you'll land. I also cover how to choose between a perpetual and a depleting portfolio, why $1 contributed to super grows to nearly $47 compared with $21 outside it, and what to do if you're well behind or well ahead of your target. The tables and worked examples are on the blog, linked above.
00:00 Introduction and podcast ratings update
02:58 Why super calculators don't tell you if you're on track
04:12 The numbers: $2.1m depleting vs $3m perpetual
06:28 The early retirement problem: accessing super before 60
07:45 The wealth equation and why time matters most
08:07 Perpetual vs depleting portfolio: which to choose
11:31 Return assumptions and sequencing risk
12:30 Why life expectancy favours a perpetual portfolio
14:16 Modelling assumptions: returns, inflation and tax
17:14 Selling assets at retirement and the cost base assumption
19:30 How to use the tables
22:06 Investing inside vs outside super: $47 vs $21
23:07 Table 7: retiring before 60
24:58 Worked example: couple aged 40 with super and ETFs
26:04 Worked example: geared property investors aged 35
28:33 Table 8: spending more than $120,000 a year
29:49 What to do if you're materially behind target
32:19 What to do if you're materially ahead of target
33:57 Caveats and limitations of the modellingRelated episodes:
- Episode 402 (March 2026): on spending more today, or in the healthy years of retirement, once you're well on track. Stuart references this episode directly at 32:19.
- The super report episode (July 2026): on choosing the right super fund. Stuart references this at 25:46.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A- Sequence of returns risk retiring early: bridging to super
Sequence-of-returns risk in early retirement is manageable with a big enough cash buffer. What I'd test is how you'll feel spending it.In this listener Q&A, I work through Michael's plan to …
Show notes
Sequence-of-returns risk in early retirement is manageable with a big enough cash buffer. What I'd test is how you'll feel spending it.
In this listener Q&A, I work through Michael's plan to retire at 52 and use an ETF portfolio plus three years of living expenses in an offset to cover the eight to ten years until he can access super. I also explain why I like locking in an undrawn loan facility before you need it. Then I look at a 33-year-old couple's debt recycling bonus and RSU income into ETFs, and where ownership structure, tax drag, and internally geared ETFs fit in. I cover what the draft 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts means for passive investment trusts (short answer: do nothing yet). I finish with whether money above $250,000 in an offset account is at risk.
00:00 Michael's question: retiring at 52, before super access
02:39 Do the numbers stack up?
03:15 Building a valuation-aware ETF portfolio
04:43 The behavioural test: spending your cash buffer in a downturn
06:15 Should Michael gear any further?
07:58 Locking in borrowing capacity: borrow when you don't need it
11:47 Listener two: debt recycling RSUs and bonuses into ETFs
12:54 Why RSUs matter for blue-chip property demand
15:59 Spouse super contributions, and a tax policy idea
18:20 Super contribution splitting
19:42 Ownership structure for a debt-recycled portfolio
23:03 ETF distributions and tax drag
24:24 Is a non-trading investment company worth it?
25:21 Internally geared ETFs: GHHF and GBGL
27:14 Justin's question: the proposed 30% minimum tax on trusts
28:26 Problems with the draft legislation
30:09 Options: gearing, CGT rollover, fixed elections
31:09 Why to wait: 1 July 2028 start and an election first
32:25 Craig's question: offsets above the $250,000 guarantee
34:15 Checking whether your lender is an ADI
34:31 Coming up: are you on track if your wealth is outside super?Related episodes:
Ep 427: How to assess whether property and share markets are attractively priced
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19832497-ep-427-how-to-assess-whether-property-and-share-markets-are-attractively-pricedEp 425: Family trust investing: Are trusts still worth it under proposed tax changes?
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19764156-ep-425-family-trust-investing-are-trusts-still-worth-it-under-proposed-tax-changesQ&A - Cash-heavy at 48, bridging to early retirement, and debt-free at 31
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19753485-q-a-cash-heavy-at-48-bridging-to-early-retirement-and-debt-free-at-31Optional:
Q&A - Untangling a messy structure, cutting losses, and low-income investing
https://investopoly.buzzsprout.com/2005600/episodes/19720854-q-a-untangling-a-messy-structure-cutting-losses-and-low-income-investingRead Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 428: Why interest rates may need to stay higher for longer
Read Full Blog HereBack in 2023, Stuart argued that inflation and rates could stay higher for longer than most expected, drawing on 50 years of history showing that once inflation tops 8%, it typically takes a …
Show notes
Back in 2023, Stuart argued that inflation and rates could stay higher for longer than most expected, drawing on 50 years of history showing that once inflation tops 8%, it typically takes a decade or more to settle. That call has aged well: after cutting through 2025, the RBA has already hiked three times in 2026, and underlying inflation has climbed back to 3.6% in a second wave the Bank's own models failed to anticipate.
But revisiting the research has sharpened his thinking. Stuart walks through three forces keeping inflation elevated: a less aggressive RBA, government spending, and the AI data-centre boom competing for the same workers and materials, while weighing newer studies suggesting credible inflation targets may tame it faster than the grim 11-year median implies.
His most important point has had too little attention: rate rises may simply bite less than they did 20 years ago. An ageing population, older households holding savings rather than debt, and mortgage offset balances up 49% since 2022 all mean a growing share of spending comes from people barely touched by higher rates. The uncomfortable corollary: cuts may not revive spending either. If your strategy relies on rate cuts, stress-test it.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A: Upgrade or rentvest, home equity loans, and going non-resident
Four listeners think several moves ahead. Silvia, who arrived in Australia in 2025 with a high income but low super, lays out a detailed plan: switch to variable with an offset, interest-only to preserve …
Show notes
Four listeners think several moves ahead. Silvia, who arrived in Australia in 2025 with a high income but low super, lays out a detailed plan: switch to variable with an offset, interest-only to preserve deductibility, build a buffer while catching up on super, and asks the deeper question: does stretching for a $1.6M blue-chip upgrade in her 40s make the household too single-point sensitive, or is superior asset quality worth the serviceability risk? And if they move abroad in seven years, is one high-quality asset or two average ones the smarter play?
Shadi, relocating to Sydney for family support, weighs selling his renovated Melbourne PPOR into a soft market versus keeping it as a now-grandfathered negatively geared rental and rentvesting, complicated by cross-collateralisation with a Kew unit. David asks a clean execution question: how to structure a fresh $100–200k equity release into ETFs alongside existing debt-recycled holdings.
Finally, Adrienne, heading to Dubai for two to three years, wants to confirm how non-residency affects the six-year rule on her home and the tax treatment of her Melbourne investment apartment.
Structure, sequencing, and post-Budget nuance throughout, with the usual reminder that these are general discussions, not personal advice.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 427: How to assess whether property and share markets are attractively priced
Read Full Blog HereStuart calls his approach value-aware: buying high-quality assets when they're attractively priced. Quality decides whether something is worth owning; price decides when to invest and …
Show notes
Stuart calls his approach value-aware: buying high-quality assets when they're attractively priced. Quality decides whether something is worth owning; price decides when to invest and how much. In this episode, he explains why both matter: your return comes from two engines: growth in an asset's underlying value and the uplift (or drag) as its valuation mean-reverts toward trend.
For property, the entry price is everything because it's lumpy, illiquid, and bought at a single point, and he explains why the final third of a multi-decade hold delivers more than half the growth, so selling during a flat patch can cost you the best phase. He walks through how to judge whether a market is undervalued: long-term price trends, rental yields, relative values between property types and cities, and replacement cost.
For shares, where you invest progressively, he unpacks four metrics and how much weight each deserves: price-to-earnings (richest history, but interrogate the "E"), free cash flow (most honest, hardest to benchmark, and complicated by AI capex), price-to-book, and dividend yield as a cross-check. Using the FTSE 100 as a worked example, he shows why the strongest signal is several measures agreeing, never one ratio in isolation.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - Deploying an inheritance, selling an average property, and funding a long retirement
Four listeners at very different scales. "James," 45, describes himself as not being great with money but ready to fix that with a $480k inheritance, a high income, and 15 years to run. His head is spinning …
Show notes
Four listeners at very different scales. "James," 45, describes himself as not being great with money but ready to fix that with a $480k inheritance, a high income, and 15 years to run. His head is spinning: pay off the mortgage, debt recycle, go all-in on ETFs, start an SMSF, and is property still viable over a 14–15 year horizon versus shares? Stuart brings order to the questions.
Alex, in his early 40s, asks a question many quietly avoid: when do you sell an underperforming or average investment property? Having bought in Perth after exceptional growth using a buyer's agent, he now doubts the fundamentals and wonders whether to redeploy toward ETFs.
Finally, Dominic, turning 55 with an $8.8M property portfolio and a just-announced redundancy, wants to engineer a specific outcome: $160k a year for the first 15 years and $110k from 70 to 100, inflation-adjusted, while slowly selling down and bridging the gap to super.
Sequencing, structure, and the hold-or-sell discipline throughout, with the usual reminder that these are general discussions, not personal advice.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
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Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 426: The do not invest list: why good investors say no
Read Full Blog HereMost investors think good investing means finding more things to say yes to: more opportunities, more asset classes, more products in the mix. Stuart argues the opposite: the people who build …
Show notes
Most investors think good investing means finding more things to say yes to: more opportunities, more asset classes, more products in the mix.
Stuart argues the opposite: the people who build the most wealth over a lifetime have the discipline to say no, repeatedly, to almost everything that crosses their desk.
Even the small urge to "switch up" your monthly ETF purchase, just because buying the same thing five times feels unsophisticated, quietly erodes results.
He revisits the wealth equation: surplus times efficiency times time, and explains why efficiency is the one lever within your control that genuinely warrants obsession.
That means ranking three considerations in strict order: quality first, then price, then diversification, which is only a risk tool and should never be pursued for its own sake. He unpacks why a bad "yes" costs far more than a bad "no": the former ties up capital and steals years of compounding you can never recover.
Most valuably, Stuart shares the firm's actual "do not invest" list: crypto, unlisted managed funds, LICs, private equity and credit, new-build property, and IPOs, and exactly which test each one fails.
The takeaway: a well-functioning filter should make saying no feel like discipline working, not opportunity missed.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - Choosing a pension account, topping up in retirement, and offset versus debt recycling
This episode answers five detailed listener questions spanning retirement income, structure, and the offset-versus-invest decision. A listener retiring at 60 with $1.3m compares the Vanguard SpendSmart …
Show notes
This episode answers five detailed listener questions spanning retirement income, structure, and the offset-versus-invest decision.
A listener retiring at 60 with $1.3m compares the Vanguard SpendSmart allocated pension against his current fund on fees, and asks whether a growth or balanced diversified option suits an account that will be his sole income stream.
A couple in pension phase, about to max their transfer balance caps with a further $300k left over in accumulation, ask how to invest the excess for both income top-ups and a legacy for grandchildren, and whether international shares (hedged, unhedged or a mix) are too risky in their 60s.
A Melbourne couple in their late 40s ask whether a downsizer-style investment property still stacks up under the new negative gearing and CGT rules, and whether to unwind the ASX shares held in their SMSF.
A listener holding two REITs (industrial and retail) paying strong distributions but weak capital growth asks whether they deserve a place in a portfolio. And a Western Sydney couple with a new first home and $138k across three offset accounts asks whether to leave it offsetting a 6.26% (soon possibly 6.76%) loan or debt recycle into shares, and whether their fortnightly contributions to the wife's and kids' ETFs would be better redirected.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 425: Family trust investing: Are trusts still worth it under proposed tax changes?
Read the blog online here. Two tax changes could materially alter how Australians own investments and use family trusts.The first is Division 119, which has already been legislated and will impose a minimum 30% …
Show notes
Two tax changes could materially alter how Australians own investments and use family trusts.
The first is Division 119, which has already been legislated and will impose a minimum 30% tax on capital gains made after 1 July 2027. The second is a proposed minimum 30% tax on distributions from discretionary family trusts, including both income and capital gains, from 1 July 2028.
The interaction between these measures creates a serious problem. Under the draft legislation, a capital gain distributed through a family trust could effectively be taxed twice. In the most extreme example, a beneficiary with no other taxable income could pay $6,000 of tax on a $10,000 capital gain—an effective tax rate of 60%. While this may be an unintended consequence, the government has not addressed it in the draft legislation.
In this episode, I explain how the proposed rules work, why they reduce the tax benefits of distributing income to adult children or lower-income spouses, and whether family trusts remain worthwhile.
The answer is that tax is only one consideration. Family trusts can also provide valuable flexibility, asset protection, estate-planning benefits and an effective structure for transferring wealth between generations. That flexibility becomes increasingly valuable as an investment portfolio compounds and life circumstances change.
I also share a real client example where a portfolio established in a spouse’s personal name grew to $3 million within 10 years. With the benefit of hindsight, a family trust would have produced a better long-term outcome. It is a useful reminder that focusing too heavily on simplicity and short-term costs can sometimes work against you.
If you already have a family trust, our default position is to do nothing for now. The proposed rules are not yet law, will not commence until July 2028 and could be redesigned, delayed or repealed before then. A proposed 3-year restructuring window may also allow assets to be moved into personal names, a company or a fixed trust without triggering capital gains tax, although stamp duty remains an important unresolved issue.
For investors establishing a substantial portfolio - particularly one likely to exceed approximately $800,000 to $1 million - we remain inclined to use a family trust where that would otherwise have been the appropriate structure. If the rules eventually take effect, restructuring into a company may provide an attractive alternative.
The central message is simple: don’t make permanent investment decisions in response to legislation that is neither final nor certain to survive. Preserve flexibility, take a long-term view and avoid jumping at shadows.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - Cash-heavy at 48, bridging to early retirement, and debt-free at 31
Four listeners at genuine turning points. "Steve," 48, with a wife of 54 and a large cash holding, knows he's too conservative and wants to move into ETFs ahead of retirement at 57, while supporting a …
Show notes
Four listeners at genuine turning points. "Steve," 48, with a wife of 54 and a large cash holding, knows he's too conservative and wants to move into ETFs ahead of retirement at 57, while supporting a special-needs adult child and navigating his wife's super unlocking first. How should that shape the inside-versus-outside-super split?
An anonymous couple on the Mornington Peninsula, 39 and 40, have built a four-property-plus-SMSF portfolio but zero borrowing capacity, and want to be work-optional by 50. Their question: how to convert growth assets into income to bridge the pre-retirement gap, build shares now, sell down resi into commercial, or buy a PPOR while Melbourne's affordable? And how worried should they be about sequencing risk?
Nick, debt-free at 31 with three young kids, can't shake the feeling that sitting mortgage-free leaves money on the table; should he debt-recycle or draw equity into ETFs, despite disliking debt?
Finally, "Paul," 35 and undeterred by the tax changes, asks the sharpest question of all: is this downturn just another one to ride out, or is it different when a government is actively trying to suppress house price growth?
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 424: Should you hedge your international share portfolio
Read Full Blog HereIf you're following the case for going underweight Australian shares and leaning into global developed markets, you inherit a new question: what do you do about currency risk?Every …
Show notes
If you're following the case for going underweight Australian shares and leaning into global developed markets, you inherit a new question: what do you do about currency risk?
Every international investment has two return drivers: the underlying market, and movements in the Australian dollar, and this episode is a clear-eyed guide to whether you should neutralise the second.
Stuart explains what hedging actually does, why it never removes 100% of currency risk, and the single most misunderstood aspect of it: interest rate differentials.
Because Australia's cash rate currently sits above the US, hedging US exposure earns a modest positive carry, but that relationship can just as easily work against you.
He weighs the real trade-offs: the Aussie dollar is a "risk currency" that falls in a crisis, so staying unhedged can act as a shock absorber when markets tumble, while hedging makes more sense when the currency trades well below fair value.
He also covers a crucial and overlooked detail, the TOFA hedging election and its tax consequences, why bonds should almost always be hedged, and what the academic research says.
The upshot: their default is unhedged for shares, favouring hedging only as the dollar approaches US60 cents.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - Untangling a messy structure, cutting losses, and low-income investing
Three listeners wrestling with structure and second-guessing. "Marty," an Adelaide doctor who's become genuinely financially literate since engaging a planner two years ago, feels his arrangement is …
Show notes
Three listeners wrestling with structure and second-guessing. "Marty," an Adelaide doctor who's become genuinely financially literate since engaging a planner two years ago, feels his arrangement is messier than it should be: managed funds underperforming at a 2.9% IRR, borrowed money in the trust, and a cash-flow plan he's no longer sure about.
He asks whether to pause super contributions, rethink gearing inside the trust given a possible 30% distribution floor, and what broad direction to take back to his adviser (or a new one).
"Angela," transitioning to retirement in Sydney, faces a painful crossroads: her Upper North Shore home has fallen in value after a downsizing purchase, and a plan to shift half into a company has surfaced an unexpected landholder duty trap. Should she crystallise the loss now or hold long-term?
Finally, a low-income investor living entirely off investments worries the proposed 30% minimum tax on capital growth sits above their marginal rate, upending a strategy built on selling international share growth. What are the alternatives when yield-chasing ETFs rely on covered calls, and markets sit at all-time highs?
Structural nuance throughout, with the usual reminder these are general discussions, not personal advice.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 423: Negative gearing deferred - heres how to manage the cash flow gap
Read Full Blog HereQuarantining negative gearing doesn't just reduce a tax benefit; it can blow a hole in an investor's cash flow. Take a property with a $30,000 annual shortfall: previously …
Show notes
Quarantining negative gearing doesn't just reduce a tax benefit; it can blow a hole in an investor's cash flow. Take a property with a $30,000 annual shortfall: previously, offsetting that loss might have clawed back $12,000–$14,000 in tax, bringing the real cost to around $16,000–$18,000. Now that loss must be carried forward, potentially for 10 to 20 years, leaving the investor to fund the full $30,000 upfront. For many, that makes established property simply unaffordable.
In this episode, Stuart explores a financing structure to bridge that gap, borrowing the negative gearing benefit you no longer receive upfront, and repaying it when the deferred deduction is eventually realised. The goal is to align your cash outlay with the timing of the tax benefit, rather than paying years ahead of it. Crucially, it also frees investors to focus on asset quality rather than chasing yield in inferior locations.
He's characteristically balanced: this isn't a case for property over shares (which remain more effective), the numbers involve real trade-offs (a higher return but roughly 15% less wealth in dollar terms), and it demands equity, discipline and the right temperament. Get personalised tax and credit advice before acting.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A - Super recontributions, property versus ETFs, and the grandfathering question
Four listeners bring sharp, forward-looking questions. "Tony" wonders whether super recontribution strategies, used to cut the taxable component and reduce death benefit tax, could be the next target for a …
Show notes
Four listeners bring sharp, forward-looking questions. "Tony" wonders whether super recontribution strategies, used to cut the taxable component and reduce death benefit tax, could be the next target for a budgetary hatchet, and asks for Stuart's view without giving the government any ideas.
An anonymous listener, 37, mortgage-free on a rural Victorian property with $300k in cash, feels he's at a genuine crossroads: use a buyer's agent to acquire an inner-Melbourne house and hold, or aggressively invest into ETFs and super toward a $120k perpetual income? Stuart weighs the two paths. Tom, 36, with seven properties and a fast-growing portfolio, asks whether to keep buying with his available equity, whether his ETF choices stack up, whether to sell some property to build shares, and whether to diversify his property-only SMSF into something like VGS.
Finally, Alf poses an intriguing technical question: can you recycle equity from a grandfathered, pre-Budget investment property to buy new assets, and still negatively gear the newly drawn interest, since the underlying property isn't subject to the new rules?
Practical thinking on structure and sequencing throughout, with the usual reminder these are general discussions, not personal advice.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 422: Blame the 20-year growth cycle, not necessarily the Victorian government
Read Full Blog HereMelbourne has tested investors' patience like nowhere else. Its median house price has grown just 1.8% a year since early 2017, below inflation, meaning that, in real terms, property is …
Show notes
Melbourne has tested investors' patience like nowhere else. Its median house price has grown just 1.8% a year since early 2017, below inflation, meaning that, in real terms, property is cheaper today than it was almost a decade ago. Naturally, investors want someone to blame. But in this episode, Stuart argues the usual suspects are largely wrong.
Victoria's land tax regime, tenancy reforms and ballooning state debt get cited endlessly, and Stuart doesn't dismiss them. Still, he shows why the links to prices are weaker than they appear (in one case, buying another Brisbane property triggered a higher land tax bill than going to Melbourne).
The real driver, he contends, is what came before: an almost uninterrupted 20-year boom from 1997 to 2016, unmatched by any capital city in 45 years of data. The longer the boom, the longer the correction needed to work off the gap.
Using a declining long-run growth benchmark, Stuart's analysis puts Melbourne houses around 21% below trend and apartments 29%, the clear outlier while Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth run well ahead. With replacement costs now exceeding market values, he makes the case Melbourne may be intrinsically undervalued, and explains how to think about whether to hold or sell.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A- Structures, debt recycling, and accessing super
Six listeners grapple with how the new tax landscape reshapes their thinking. Nick, six years into regular ETF investing, asks whether to keep his current setup or start fresh for cleaner record-keeping, and …
Show notes
Six listeners grapple with how the new tax landscape reshapes their thinking. Nick, six years into regular ETF investing, asks whether to keep his current setup or start fresh for cleaner record-keeping, and whether a trust is now worth considering mid-journey. Matthew and Michael both probe the fine print: does the "property in a company" strategy become more attractive under a 30% minimum CGT rate, and does debt recycling for an IP deposit still preserve deductible interest?
Michelle explores buying a one-bedroom apartment as tenants in common with her 25-year-old daughter, using gifted shares as a deposit, plus whether capital gains can be directed into super. Danny lays out an ambitious Canberra-based portfolio and asks the big question: can he realistically achieve a $2.5M Perth home and a $200k perpetual retirement income within ten years without dismantling what he's built?
Finally, Daniel wants the rules around accessing super at 60 while continuing to work, what "retirement" actually requires, how brief a pause counts, whether a younger working spouse matters, and where transition-to-retirement fits.
Structural nuance throughout, with the usual reminder these are general discussions, not personal advice.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 421: Liquidity: what it really buys you
Read Full Blog HereIt's been fascinating to watch how differently asset classes have performed lately, share markets delivering strong double-digit returns while unlisted commercial property trusts and …
Show notes
It's been fascinating to watch how differently asset classes have performed lately, share markets delivering strong double-digit returns while unlisted commercial property trusts and residential property in Melbourne and Sydney have struggled.
But this episode isn't about which asset class wins. It's about something quietly more important: liquidity, and the optionality it buys you.
Liquidity is how quickly and cheaply you can turn an asset into cash without disruption, and crucially, it's not about whether you expect to need cash, but whether you can access it if your circumstances, your view, or the risks change.
Campbell makes the balanced case for both sides. Liquid, listed assets let you invest gradually, rebalance with new capital, manage concentration, and control your tax timing, but they also make it dangerously easy to act on emotion.
Illiquid assets can protect you from your own worst instincts and give you control over the asset itself, but you don't really know what they're worth until you sell, and "liquid" unlisted funds can freeze redemptions exactly when it matters.
The real insight? The right level of liquidity shifts across your lifetime, and knowing when illiquidity stops working for you is the key.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Q&A: Company land tax, debt recycling, and building versus selling
Six listeners bring some genuinely meaty questions. Sandy digs into the technical weeds of owning property through a company—whether a discretionary trust as sole shareholder forfeits the NSW land tax …
Show notes
Six listeners bring some genuinely meaty questions. Sandy digs into the technical weeds of owning property through a company—whether a discretionary trust as sole shareholder forfeits the NSW land tax threshold, and how the 25% versus 30% company tax rate applies when a capital gain lands. Prashant asks for a candid critique of his simple, four-ETF debt recycling portfolio and its cash-flow reality.
Mark poses a clever SMSF puzzle: is deliberately exceeding the concessional cap effectively an interest-free loan from the ATO—and what's he missing? Shiva wants Stuart's read on whether the CGT changes will choke listings, push prices up, and collide with reduced borrowing capacity.
Then two relatable crossroads. "Nick" in Hobart weighs a granny flat build that won't add net capital value—asking what else should inform the decision, and whether to simply wait for child support obligations to taper. And Justin, 32, having pivoted from high-income mining to community services, faces a construction crunch: sell the investment property he believes in, or stretch to refinance and keep it?
Structural nuance and real-life trade-offs throughout—with the usual reminder that these are general discussions, not personal advice.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Eight Rules Revisited #8- The four risks that can derail a plan
Eight Rules Revisited is a companion series to Stuart Wemyss's updated book, Wealth by Design, working through each of the original eight golden rules from his 2018 book, Investopoly, one episode at a …
Show notes
Eight Rules Revisited is a companion series to Stuart Wemyss's updated book, Wealth by Design, working through each of the original eight golden rules from his 2018 book, Investopoly, one episode at a time. In each episode, Stuart tests his 2018 thinking against eight more years of evidence and client experience, and is upfront about what has changed, what has simply sharpened, and what has held firm all along.
In this final episode of the series, Stuart takes on risk management, the rule underneath all the others, because a strategy that ignores the other seven rules can still survive a bad year, but a strategy with no defence against a foreseeable setback usually cannot. He starts by revisiting what Investopoly actually said in 2018: a four-step process of avoiding, insuring, adjusting or accepting risk, built mostly around personal insurance, income protection, life, total and permanent disability and trauma cover, plus practical detail on cost, quality and how much cover is enough.
He then walks through what has genuinely changed in Wealth by Design, and it's more than a rewording. The insurance-led checklist has been replaced with a structured process that starts by naming the handful of assumptions any plan actually depends on, then sorts everything that can go wrong into four categories: liquidity risk, leverage risk, regulatory and rule-change risk, and behavioural risk. Stuart explains why each category earned its place, including why refinancing and borrowing capacity deserve far more scrutiny than they got in 2018, why regulatory change has become a risk in its own right after nearly a decade of shifting lending rules and tax settings, and why behavioural failure, panic, mistimed decisions, one partner shouldering everything alone, now gets treated as seriously as any product risk. He's candid about where insurance still matters and where its role in the plan has shifted, including one specific change in priority order between total and permanent disability cover and life insurance.
The episode closes with a practical, twenty-minute stress test listeners can run on their own plan this week, four direct questions covering income, interest rates, insurance and household knowledge, designed to surface what would actually break first if life didn't cooperate.
As the last instalment in the series, this episode also closes the loop on all eight rules, a short, honest look at which parts of Stuart's thinking held, which sharpened, and which genuinely changed shape between the two books. Wealth by Design is available now, wherever books are sold.
Read Stuart's latest book? He's only got 19 reviews on Amazon so far, if Wealth by Design helped you, leaving one would mean a lot: https://www.amazon.com.au/review/create-review?asin=192318654X
Run your own business?
Check out Business by Design, Stuart and Mena's show on starting, growing and exiting a business, at https://www.businessbydesignpodcast.com/
Our most popular free guides:
Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
Got a question for the podcast?
Email us at [email protected]
Subscribe to my weekly blog:
Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
Ep 420: Can anything make property investing attractive again after the tax changes
Read Full Blog HereWith the negative gearing and CGT changes now law, the property industry is racing to devise workarounds to keep investor interest alive. As a genuinely independent, asset-class-agnostic firm …
Show notes
With the negative gearing and CGT changes now law, the property industry is racing to devise workarounds to keep investor interest alive. As a genuinely independent, asset-class-agnostic firm with no bias toward property, Stuart puts six of the most likely strategies under the microscope, because to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
The starting point: under the new rules, the after-tax internal rate of return on established property falls from around 11% to 8.4%. Can any lever claw that back? Stuart works through chasing a higher rental yield (and why starting gross yield is what matters), gearing less to reach neutral (which, counterintuitively, drags returns lower), and using a company structure to preserve deductions (a Part IVA minefield). He examines new-build dwellings that retain the old concessions, small-scale development, and high-yield specialised property like NDIS and co-living.
His verdict is refreshingly blunt: none of these currently stack up, and commercial property looks overpriced too. The real lesson? When someone promotes a clever workaround, check whether they have a vested interest, and remember property was never the only game in town.
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Over the years we've written hundreds of articles. These three bring our best thinking together on the topics that matter most right now: choosing a super fund, debt recycling, and navigating the new tax changes.
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Important
This podcast provides general information about finance, tax and credit. It doesn't take into account your specific objectives, financial situation or needs, so you need to assess whether it's relevant to your circumstances before acting on it. If you're not sure, speak to a licensed, trustworthy professional.
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