We examine four situations where individuals make poor choices and review the research to show where the brain makes those decisions. In each case, we present some ideas about how to overcome the potentially suboptimal choice when it comes to investing.

Financial pundits routinely claim that US inflation is much higher than the reported statistics. Viewed over the longer term, however, US inflation is far lower than reflected in the published data, according to economist, Dr Woody Brock.

The US Fed is near-certain to start its tightening cycle on 16 December. Apart from praising Yellen for consistency and foresight (instead of castigating her for confusion and indecisiveness), how should investors react?

To harness the full potential of India's growth story, investors should seek exposure to India's mid and small cap companies, rather than just the large, liquid companies with significant global revenue bases which dominate benchmark allocations.

Between 15 and 30 years ago, there were several studies into the importance of asset allocation. Is asset allocation still important today, and in the Australian fund context? How successful is active management?

In Fodder this week - earn CPD with 5 accredited presentations and white papers

In Fodder this week - earn CPD with 5 accredited presentations and white papers

In Fodder this week - Kitces, Edesess and Roe, plus earn CPD with 2 top rated presentations from Conference 2015

In Fodder this week - Kitces, Edesess & Roe, plus earn CPD with 2 top rated presentations from Conference 2015

Arguably, the future of designing portfolios for accumulators in particular is that the asset class and sector exposures of the portfolio should be adjusted around the risk/return characteristics of the worker's job.

According to a Harvard Business School study, the percentage of US GDP attributable to the financial industry tripled from 1950 to the 2000s. Has any of this increase improved the services rendered by the financial services industry to the real economy?

According to Dr David Lazenby, finology provides a framework for re-envisioning advice from the customer experience perspective - because the traditional advice process can be extremely daunting for clients, and may leave them feeling quite vulnerable.

The efficient frontier for retirement income generally consists of combinations of stocks and income annuities - perhaps surprisingly, bond funds do not serve a useful role in the optimal retirement income portfolio.

The influx of refugees and economic migrants from Africa, Asia, and the Middle East appears as broad-based as the ancient migrations that defined Europe throughout history. Europe needs migrants from a purely economic perspective.

With the US on its way to energy independence, there's a risk it and its Western allies will consider the Middle East less important. That's wishful thinking - a burning Middle East can destabilise the world economically and socially.

With interest rates at record lows, it is a really good time to revisit how we build debt portfolios. A three box approach can really help in making and communicating investment decisions for the secure part of their portfolio in the new, low interest rate environment.

In Fodder this week - Dom McCormick, Ross Barry, Michael Furey & Don Ezra plus earn CPD on Michael Kitces' presentation from Conference 2015.

In Fodder this week - Dom McCormick, Ross Barry, Michael Furey & Don Ezra plus earn CPD on Michael Kitces' presentation from Conference 2015.

An Oxford Uni paper in 2013¹ severely criticised consultants for failing to pick winners via their fund manager research. The New York Times picked it up. But the fact that consultants couldn't identify gold medal winners in advance doesn't matter.

In Fodder this week - Anatole Kaletsky & Bob Gay on Fed rate fallout plus Papic on EM value trap & Kitces on human capital