Will QE ruin retirement? Looking back at the risks inflation has presented in the past helps us look forward to the potential consequences.

It is that time of the year where practitioners think in detail about the year ahead - most are hoping for that big "break through" year. You just need to focus on the right TASKS.

Our Forum Fodder e-newsletter alerts Members to what's new on PortfolioConstruction.com.au and live progams. In Fodder this week - 10 pieces of holiday reading, great prep for a refreshed and informed 2014. Fodder resumes mid Jan.

Come Christmas, there will no longer be any annuity product providers in New Zealand. Fidelity is pulling out, citing lack of demand. But a new player is hoping to set up in 2014.

My bottom line for 2014 is that investors should be overweight global equities, underweight bonds. My biggest call? China's stockmarket could be the best performing.

Our Forum Fodder e-newsletter alerts Members to what's new on PortfolioConstruction.com.au and live progams.

The export of inflation by the US can do far more damage to China's effort to become a self-sufficient superpower than almost anything else the US could have thought of.

We are introducing three new investment scenarios for 2014 - our base case, Low for Longer; our bull case Growth Breakout, and our bear scenario, Imbalances Tip Over.

Today's long period of very easy money and very low yields has distorted the financial system. This will cause unintended consequences in the near future as QE ends.

Our Forum Fodder e-newsletter alerts Members to what's new on PortfolioConstruction.com.au and live progams. This week - Woody Brock, Tim Farrelly, Simon Mawhinney and David Whitten

Why bother to get your CFP designation when AFA is the regulator's standard? Simple - 68% of CFP professionals generate higher revenues than those without certification.

Is the simplest smart beta approach just repackaging old investment ideas in higher fee structures?

Efficient market theory claims you can't beat the market. Seductive as it is, this claim is incorrect, as research makes clear.

For some clients, even achieving their goals is unsatisfying. Research suggests that financial planners could go a long way in helping clients to really derive more happiness from their money.

It's now time to start looking into alternatives to equities and bonds.

We have not achieved visibility in professional standards - we have achieved obscurity. That must change if we are to achieve public confidence as a profession.

The Academy Spring Seminar 2013 featured four sessions: Mock FOMC meeting; The state of economics/investing and of long-term expectations; A global perspective to bottom-up fundamental research, an Insurance sector case study; and, Investing in property.

Even our positive expectations of the much anticipated Third Plenary session of the Communist Party of China were exceeded.

Our Forum Fodder e-newsletter alerts Members to what's new on PortfolioConstruction.com.au and live progams.This week - an important piece from Michael Kitces plus articles from Charles Gave and Mohamed El-Erian

Most target-date funds have two shortcomings that can be improved.