LIC & LIT Listed Investment Companies (LICs) 2019

Exactly. A similar thing dawned on me recently. Hence why I’ve gone back more to how I used to do things prior to filling my head with all sorts of investing theory mumbo jumbo... . Deleted heaps of related online stuff, got rid of all investing books / material, decided to stop researching investing stuff. Life is good.

 

I would normally have pension withdrawals from SMSF to invest in personal names. However I’m not drawing this year’s pension until early January after I turn 60. Hence it’ll all be tax free then.

 

Yes the tax-free pension aspect is a most attractive one. Almost reaches status of the Holy Grail for many. Not dissing it.

I have thought about it but:

(a) Do I actually need it; and
(b) I'd most likely invest the lot which would increase my taxable income.

So for me it became an issue of do I want to have the earnings of those funds taxed at my marginal rate or leave them in the fund where the earnings are taxed at 15%?

I chose the latter course of action.

I can, if necessary, easily get my hands on them should push come to shove.

 

That would be very irritating to me and it seems to be so with yourself @twobobsworth. @mistercoffee is ducking and weaving to avoid it.

Really it'd be nice if managers stopped wasting the time of shareholders and staff. Get on with properly managing their funds and cease giving the impression of being touts. Shareholders I assume want managers to make money for them. They are paying for that and not to engage in conversation about how well you do your job - or to attempt to encourage them to place more funds although I am sure that is not the intention of any such conversation.

I don't hold FGX/FGG or any other product which may be managed by the relevant firm.

 

We have much more in the SMSF than personal names and given there are the two of us for income splitting it makes sense at this stage to take the tax free pension. My wife can’t commence her pension until 58 in around 18 months time so she’s still fully in accumulation mode. Due to pension cap I also have an accumulation account.

The SMSF doesn’t interest me as much as investing in personal names so pension withdrawals also provide me with cash to invest accordingly.

 

Me single.

Gotta get me a consort (of the princess variety not the criminal associate one) to be able to sorta split some dosh for tax purposes - and other meaningful reasons.

 

hey DG, nothing sinister, am just seeing US markets as very expensive right now, so been taking some risk off...don’t forget I’m probably 15 years older than a lot of you guys, so probably more risk averse!

simplest approaches are often the most effective and easiest to adhere to

but i’ve always believed in disclosure & that’s what I’ve been up to - doesn’t mean it’s for everyone by any means...just got to look at markets in the context of your own situation, stage of life etc. and decide on your own framework.

I still have LICs and FTSE 100 index funds - but been directing new $$ elsewhere

As for change of view - I wrote my first book in 2011 when the S&P was at 1,200, but now it’s at >3,000 so it’s a different environment atm

generally and personally I much prefer passive investing so if markets come back a bit it’d be great to hoist the sail and let the markets do the hard work again!

PW

 

ha, sorry it might appear that way from standalone blog posts

my observations, simply: (i) US is very expensive, so (ii) holding some cash might be a good idea

don't think either point is exactly rocking the boat...and obviously DCA can still work if you have regular income (as i'm sure someone would/should've already pointed out)

 

Pete is right. Read Yes, You Can Time The Market.

plus if you understand the Kelly criterion and the flaws of Markowitz then buy and hold does not always work.

1982-2000 bull market returned 16% compound

2000-now return is basically nothing after inflation.

you do not need to be a professional. They promote B&H because that is how they make fees and income and also because that is what is taught at business school. It is better form them not you.

 

Wow. A mean and deepingful insight there @SteveG63. I must follow up the approach.

 

I'm not that bloody desperate to save tax but thanks for the suggestion anyway.

 

Yeah. Everything seems so obvious at first...

So the US has over-performed - I should invest in Australia. But... we haven't had a recession in 30 years, and things aren't looking great. However, Australia has franking credits and has been the one of the best performing markets for the past 100 years! But Australia also is very top heavy and over-weight in 2 sectors - I should invest in the US where all the good companies are. I know tech will continue to perform! But because of the trade-war I shouldn't invest in the US, who knows what Trump will do... Then I will invest in Europe instead! But Europe has been under-performing, why would anyone want to invest there... plus the currency risk... I'm going to invest in China, that's the new superpower. Oh wait, I can't trust China, they fudge their GDP so their companies can't be trusted either. I will invest in Japan then, they have some solid companies - oh wait, declining population. I can't afford to have decades of under-performance. Australia has an increasing population, I will invest there. Oh, but the housing market. We are so screwed here... Emerging markets, that's the next best thing. But can I trust the governments in Third World countries? And I'm pretty sure it'll be the companies from the developed world that will reap the benefits of that growth. Like the companies in the US!

Never ends.

 

He he. Re US market could be a lot worse than Trump. Imagine what would happen if Elizebeth Warren became President:

 

F Suspended Diminished Demented 7th is a key you can't lose.

 

Buy a dartboard. Throw 8 darts and sum those numbers. Multiply by your phone number and divide by your house address during the last stock market crash. Average this number with your age and subtract Pi.

Now invest in the market using your strategic asset allocation rebalancing with inflows.

 

Books that talk in hindsight about how the author was right, 999. Books that accurately predict the future, 0.

Oh wait Nostradamus said some people were going to do stuff while the sun was shining and they were near a mountain. That dude was a savant.

Overheard in ETF contrarian investing AGM: "We've gone back to hedging with A200 since the inflows to VAS have decreased since they lowered their fees, we're now about 40/60 A200 / VAS and comfortable with this position.
<Crowd murmurs then bursts into applause.>

 

I consider that a slur. So insulting.

 

All that is needed. The rest is just hard work.

In any case Pi may cause a stack overflow as the number of decimal places has not been defined.

 

I'm certain that no tax optimisation is taking place here, but if AUI claim more than $15 dollars on website build a year you know they're dodgying up the books.