Are our memories really that short; or do we simply believe historical cycles are irrelevant?

Looking at financial markets and economies throughout history, we often feel like we are witnessing déjà vu.

There is a lot of talk at the moment about the affordability of property and a lot of discussion about the impact of overseas buyers on the local market.

With Facebook users reaching around 1.44 billion globally and users posting around 250 million pieces of information per hour on the site, the expansion of information is mind boggling.

There is often a lot of noise in the markets around the next hot IPO (initial public offering), but is this method of investment really the deal of a lifetime?

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking down Greville Street, Melbourne and a man silently breezed past me on a segway. I felt like I had been plunged into the movie set of Back to the Future.

A very good friend of mine a few years back undertook one of Australia’s most gruelling 4WD adventures know as the “Canning Stock Route”.

With the average wedding in Australia these days costing between $36,700 and $48,296, I recently came across an interesting study. Unfortunately, the findings might horrify some brides!

The past few months we have been witnessing the steady drop in oil price. The below chart shows the oil price going from over $105 a barrel to below $50.

Sometimes when you are looking to put some high octane into your investment portfolio, we often look to emerging industries, sectors or ideas. Over the decades segments of the market change from time to time, but today,

One of the hardest urges to resist when it comes to investing is to not get caught up with the herd or the “group think of a market place”. This happens in all investment asset classes, and to some degree, why we see bubbles occur in a range of asset classes. The main cause of the problem is that people start to extrapolate the returns out into the future as if this is the new norm.

Most people don’t realise that in a lot of cases the best investment they own is themselves.

The main reason is that a person has the ability to generate income every year as long as you remain either self employed or employed. Despite market fluctuations, for some people this income source is pretty reliable.

Each day we are constantly assessing the risk in the global market – whether it be Europe and the problems with one of their struggling members, or China with their dodgy economic data or bad loans.

The accumulation of wealth, and what people perceive as being wealthy, has fascinated me over the decades. Below I have provided you with 2 very stereotypical examples and as you read each one, I would like you to pick which person is the wealthier?

So lets start….

1. The dream home—Life is not perfect but sometimes, the bruises and bumps along the way make the fabric of life all the more interesting. The pursuit of having the ‘dream home’ can be intoxicating; an endless quest for perfection.

Should I be thinking about downsizing the home prior to retirement or hold off and take advantage of any future potential increase in value?

For a lot of people the family home represents a large portion of the households wealth. However unlike a normal investment, this asset provides both financial benefits and also can hold strong emotional ties.

I was recently reading the Wall Street Journey and noticed an interesting statistic….70% of inherited wealth is lost by the second generation and 90% by the third.

Over the long weekend, I was lucky enough to attend a wedding of a relative. With a touch of summer still left in the air the weather could not have been any better for the event. Sitting at the table enjoying the festivities, it crossed my mind that the cost to host a wedding these days has certainly increased.

This week Youtube reported 1 billion viewers which is an astonishing number! The organisation however, is yet to turn a profit – despite generating $4 billion in revenue.

If you suffer from a love affair with property like many Australians, then you will often ponder the above two choices when deliberating how to build wealth long-term with this asset class.