Shows / The Money Puzzle
The Money Puzzle
Unlock your wealth potential with The Money Puzzle.
Featuring two power-packed episodes each week packed with smart money-making strategies, from superannuation to investing in shares, plus in-depth analysis of property markets.
Get tips from leading experts and practical tools to help build lasting wealth.
Submit your questions at themoneypuzzle@theaustralian.com.au.
Episodes
- The Money Puzzle
Why it's so hard to get property advice (with James Gerrard)
They call it an 'information gap': Property professionals know property but can't be expected to offer independent advice. Meanwhile, independent financial…
- The Money Puzzle
What financial risks to avoid in the year ahead (with Liam Shorte)
Interest rates are set to fall in 2025 - and we may have to say goodbye to the days of 5 per cent returns for zero risk. Of course, there is no lack of…
- The Money Puzzle
Fires, floods and property values (with Nerida Conisbee)
After the Los Angeles fires, it would be reasonable to assume that property values take a serious hit in the wake of a natural disaster. But this is not the…
- The Money Puzzle
Your complete 2025 investment outlook
Over the summer holidays we put together a series of shows on the outlook for the year ahead: In those three episodes we looked at share markets and property…
- The Money Puzzle
Your property investment in 2025
The experts tell us house prices should move higher by between one and four per cent in 2025. But that average forecast conceals a wide range of variables…
- The Money Puzzle
Your Shares in 2025 - Part 2 : Top Picks
If bank stocks ran too hot on the ASX in 2024, should investors chase them again in 2025? Perhaps there are better opportunities in the year ahead: We're…
- The Money Puzzle
Your shares in 2025- Part 1 : Sharemarket outlook
How could the sharemarkets possibly repeat the powerful performance of 2024 in the year ahead? It's time to take a look at what the experts are predicting for…
- The Money Puzzle
FIRE - Financial Independence, Retire Early - Could you do it?
What is the FIRE movement and how did it get started? It's not a club or a cult: It doesn't have a headquarters, rather it's a set of investment principles…
- The Money Puzzle
2024: Last-minute wobbles in a very good year
Never count your chickens...until the last day of the year: A sober call from US Federal Reserve chair, Jay Powell, has cooled US markets this week while on…
- The Money Puzzle
What top stock CEOs are expecting in 2025
Call it key person risk - or perhaps ' key person opportunity': Either way, the personality of the CEO is crucial to the operation of most top stocks on the…
- The Money Puzzle
Too late to join Wall Street’s bull run?
Can the US possibly repeat its bumper returns again in 2025? Well, the pundits tell us that US markets will return at least twice the total return from the ASX…
- The Money Puzzle
Your property questions answered
The inbox at themoneypuzzle@theaustralian.com.au is not going to get cleared by Xmas if we don't do something soon! Here's a collection of our recent…
- The Money Puzzle
How to find a financial advisor
There were 30,000 advisers in Australia and there are 15,000 today. Worse still, there are only a teeny number of new recruits joining the sector each year…
- The Money Puzzle
Distressed property sales rising - but are they bargains?
It does not take long for distressed sales to appear in a soft property market: In Sydney and Melbourne there is now clear weakness in inner-city apartment…
- The Money Puzzle
Relax... the new super tax looks dead in the water
Call it a surprise if you like: But the unexpected, highly irregular, badly drafted new super tax is off the agenda: What's more, it's unlikely to reappear in…
- The Money Puzzle
My super, my property - What's possible?
You can already use funds from an SMSF to buy an investment property. But what if you could use money from your Big Super fund to buy a home? It's hardly a…
- The Money Puzzle
Special edition: 2024 Top Advisers list
Need some advice about advice? At The Australian, we have expanded our annual roll call of the best advisers: The List: Top 150 Financial Advisers is out this…
- The Money Puzzle
Big super cock-ups - Should you switch?
The Big Super funds are having a woeful run of high-profile cock-ups where customers have been let down by inept management procedures: Led by Cbus, the…
- The Money Puzzle
Investing in Trump time
Australian investors have flocked to Wall Street in recent times favouring the 'Magnificent Seven' big tech stocks - and Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway…
- The Money Puzzle
Unlocking the professional formula for investment property success
Many property investors never know if they will win or lose on a property until the day they finally sell it: In contrast, professional investors don't fly…
- The Money Puzzle
HECs - what just happened to your bill?
The average HECs bill is now $27,000 and many listeners will have bills that are higher than that: This week the government restructured the entire working of…
- The Money Puzzle
Is Sophisticated Investor status worth the effort?
There are two classes of private investor in Australia: Everyday retail investors and legally certified sophisticated investors (defined by law as having an…
- The Money Puzzle
Are wayward CEOs costing you money?
CEO scandals are flooding the share market: Qantas, Wisetech, MinRes...the list keeps growing. The thing is, each of those companies has a board that is paid…
- The Money Puzzle
Biggest mistakes property buyers make at auction
Buying at auction might seem straightforward, but unfortunately you are likely to become a bunny in the headlights when it comes to the big day. Still, knowing…
- The Money Puzzle
Could you handle a share market crash?
This week - in 1987 - the ASX fell 25 per cent IN A DAY. Just now the local share market is going gangbusters: In fact, it is testing its all- time valuation…
- The Money Puzzle
Should we follow the PM to the beach?
Every spring property investors are tempted again by the lure of the beach house: This year the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made his move with a…
- The Money Puzzle
Disappearing dividends - The hidden problem in our hot share market
The chances are that your share portfolio is going gangbusters. But a paradox of our bull market on the ASX is that the dividend payouts are sliding: Anyone…
- The Money Puzzle
Yes, I'd use my super to buy a home - here's why
There are now several efforts afoot to use super for home buying: Liberal party politicians are pushing to allow first-home buyers to tap up to $50,000…
- The Money Puzzle
We have to talk about the inheritance tax on super (with Noel Whittaker)
Australia has no inheritance tax, or so they say: In reality, many people will have most of their life savings in super - and much of that money may be taxed…
- The Money Puzzle
Keep that investment property out of super - here's why
Property tax concessions are highly popular - and widely debated - because they work so well. So why would you water down those concessions by having a…
- The Money Puzzle
What can a 24 year-old tell you about investing? (you will be surprised)
Today's guest runs a social enterprise, owns several investment properties and got out of school as fast as he could. He's just written his first book -…
- The Money Puzzle
March of the millennials:The biggest trend in property
For property investors looking long term, the future shape of Australia will dictate the future shape of investment returns...and the single biggest trend is…
- The Money Puzzle
Things you've always wanted to ask a lawyer
It's usually too late to act when you realise you need a lawyer. And when it comes to money and finances, it is always good to be clued up on the legal side of…
- The Money Puzzle
Key indicators for long-term property success – what to focus on
Warren Buffett once remarked that “forecasters will fill your ears but never your wallet.” With the media saturated by property price predictions, it's…
- The Money Puzzle
Let's face it - no one likes tax, but how do we pay less of it?
Like the old saying goes there are only a few things certain in life - death and taxes. In this episode we cover some of the most important tax strategies for…
- The Money Puzzle
Investment Lending Hits All-Time High: What’s Driving the Surge?
Lending to property investors has surged by 47% over the past 5 months, despite high interest rates, a drop in interest-only loans from 40% to 10%, rising…
- The Money Puzzle
Private equity playbook - tips from an insider
Ever thought about investing in private equity but not sure where to start, what sort of returns are on offer and how to assess the risks, well this episode is…
- The Money Puzzle
Spring Property Market Outlook: What to Expect
Spring's peak property market begins in September, making it the ideal time to for us explore what to expect. Capital city markets are at various stages…
- The Money Puzzle
Do You Need a Financial Adviser? The Truth About Picking and Being Chosen
How to pick a financial adviser? It's one of the most common questions for investors...but a more realistic question is: Should you even bother? Another valid…
- The Money Puzzle
Sunny outlook for Queensland property
The Australian property market has always been a collection of regional sectors: But one regional property sector stands out with the strongest long-term…
- The Money Puzzle
ETFs: Just when you thought you understood them, they've changed
It's taken about two decades for the wider investment public to understand ETFs: The index funds that allow you to buy anything from the ASX 200 to the S&P 500…
- The Money Puzzle
If you don't buy, you rent until you die ... discuss
We hear it more and more: 'Property is so dear, it's impossible...so we are just going to give up now.' Today the author who coined the contentious line about…
- The Money Puzzle
He manages $120 billion, what keeps him awake?
Anyone with an investment portfolio has experienced stress: But what if you had nearly two million people depending on your investment skills to manage their…
- The Money Puzzle
If banks are cutting deposit rates, will lending rates follow?
The big banks have jumped the gun, putting through hefty cuts on deposit rates before the RBA has even conceded that official rates can move lower.Money…
- The Money Puzzle
Why the rich are comfortable with investments they can't cash out fast
Our guest today has been rated as one of the top advisers in the market for many years. He makes the point that virtually every Australian investor loves…
- The Money Puzzle
FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) - Does it work?
One of the biggest ‘movements’ in finance is the FIRE concept. You work hard, you save even harder and you retire early. Does it work? Does it pay off? Does it…
- The Money Puzzle
If the market has recovered, shouldn't you be bargain hunting?
As today's guest points out, we are looking at a 'most distrusted share market rally' where investors are still trying to figure out what on earth prompted a…
- The Money Puzzle
What the share market pullback tells every investor
The worst share market drop on the ASX for four years will have ripple effects for investors in every asset class. For a start, it takes speculation of further…
- The Money Puzzle
The AI Share Market Backlash
It had to happen: The excitement around Artificial Intelligence ran hot on the share market and now the question is, where are the profits? For investors…
- The Money Puzzle
The state with an oversupply of property
New data this week reveals the key to a slump in Victoria: Believe it or not there has been too much new property built in Melbourne. Moreover, there are now…
- The Money Puzzle
Setting up for the new financial year
So, you probably did very well in the year to June as an active investor: But what are your plans for the year ahead? Do you still believe rates are going…
- The Money Puzzle
Can’t pay that mortgage? Three ways to fix it
Whether you are an investor or an owner-occupier, the interest rate rises of recent years can be a squeeze. But you do have options, including extending the…
- The Money Puzzle
Red-hot sharemarket - your next moves
The ASX is up 12 per cent in a year, the US S&P is up 24 per cent and now 'pro-market' Republican Donald Trump looks set to win the US election. What are…
- The Money Puzzle
Would we be better off with less landlords?
Investors with multiple properties often get a hard time: Anissa Cavallo owns 15 investment properties having started as a divorced mum living in her parent's…
- The Money Puzzle
If Trump wins...what would it mean for sharemarkets?
The sharemarkets are firing - the US market is on an absolute tear...and now we have the prospect that Republican Donald Trump could win again. The last time…
- The Money Puzzle
Villa Units: What's not to like for the smart investor?
Property investors and home buyers take a second look! Villa units - the humble single storey dwellings to be found in every metropolitan suburb are being…
- The Money Puzzle
How much should you have in super…seriously!
It’s the single most common question among Australian investors and the answer is different for everyone. But there are firm principles you can follow and…
- The Money Puzzle
The four magic words for a better mortgage deal
How much is property costing you? Home loan borrowers are extending their mortgages to keep costs down: Investors are absorbing higher running charges with an…
- The Money Puzzle
Big Shorts: CBA, Guzman Y Gomex...what's up?
The share market is heading for another strong year, but the short sellers are working hard to pull down some champion stocks on the ASX: Blue chip CBA and IPO…
- The Money Puzzle
Secrets of buying your first home
You may think you are ready to join the property market but do you have your squad of professionals in place? And have you considered the humble villa unit? In…