![Keep your ear to the ground for financial advice.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/a/7/q/z/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gs193t.png/1476428748723.jpg)
Investing
![Keep your ear to the ground for financial advice.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/a/7/q/z/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gs193t.png/1476428748723.jpg)
The best way to become a financial winner
![Telstra was one of the big public floats of the 1990s and 2000s.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/1/d/b/6/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs1dc2.png/1476421322311.jpg)
The most likely way to become a financial winner is to make good quality growth investments and then get out of the way and let time do the work.
Motley Fool: The elephant in the bank inquiry room
![Inappropriate incentives are at the heart of the banks' cultural problems. Illustration: Kerrie Leishman](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/w/4/2/7/image.related.landscape.120x80.grykqy.png/1476171025826.jpg)
Bank staff's remuneration is not aligned with their customers' success – only the banks'.
It's a good time to buy Telstra shares
![If history is any guide, the time is right for Telstra.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/o/k/3/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.grykkq.png/1476145874982.jpg)
Telstra and the banks are major income stocks and they share the same pattern of seasonal peaks and troughs over the past 20 years.
Race winner posts 33 per cent gain with back-to-back wins
![The strong performance of Mesoblast moved Money editor Caitlin Fitzsimmons to third in the Shares Race, from second-last ...](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/l/e/m/r/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwyff.png/1475918778485.jpg)
Money reader Mendy Amzalak has ended the four-week Shares Race with one of the most emphatic wins ever.
8 reasons home ownership is one of the best investments you can make
![Home ownership is a good foundation for building wealth.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/s/v/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwrke.png/1475760280738.jpg)
You may have to take on a large debt to buy it, but the family home also becomes your biggest asset.
What the banking inquiry means for shareholders
![NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn at the parliamentary bank inquiry last week.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/5/v/1/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwbab.png/1475826574633.jpg)
The big bank CEOs seem contrite at the parliamentary inquiry, but the banks are probably safe from real consequences.
Chinese investors expected at sale of Buddhist and Hindu statues
![A pair of bronze Buddhist attendants, 18th century.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/u/u/z/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.gruuhe.png/1475585497363.jpg)
Demand for Asian art is largely driven by the Chinese economy, which dipped in 2015 but appears to be up again this year.
Was buying Blue Poles for $1.3m in 1973 worth it?
![Jackson Pollock's 'Blue Poles' is on loan to the Royal Academy of Arts in London for the 'Abstract Expressionism' exhibition.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/l/f/v/image.related.landscape.120x80.grtlca.png/1475806359793.jpg)
The government was mocked for spending $1.3 million on Blue Poles in 1973. It's now worth $350 million. Was it a good investment?
Sandwiches for the long run
![Invest for the long term and then you can enjoy a steak sandwich in peace.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/l/1/h/image.related.landscape.120x80.grtl0u.png/1475457778492.jpg)
Contracts for differences let you short companies, but it adds short-term stress to investment decisions.
The king of speculation surges ahead
![Speculative stocks, including a junior miner, have played well for the shares race leader.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/9/h/p/2/image.related.landscape.120x80.grs9qk.png/1475231159281.jpg)
Money reader Mendy Amzalak is doing it again. He has picked two highly speculative stocks that are coming up trumps.
Catherine left an abusive ex and wants to rebuild her finances
![Growing numbers of Australians are renting their homes and investing elsewhere.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/r/1/g/j/image.related.landscape.120x80.grr14d.png/1475718071598.jpg)
Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon has a new column helping fight financial injustice.
Why I changed my superannuation strategy for the US election
![Will Donald Trump be the next US president, or Hillary Clinton? Some fund managers don't care either way because they ...](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/q/t/i/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.grqthl.png/1475473496805.jpg)
It's time to tune into the US election. You may not get a vote, but you can prepare - financially at least.
What to do in a falling share market
![Appropriate reactions to a falling market include, first of all, to sell.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/k/b/k/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.groefb.png/1474956946622.jpg)
Amuse yourself somewhere warm while you watch and wait for things to get better.
Motley Fool: Ignore market tantrums over central bank policies
![The market threw a tantrum over the US Federal Reserve's decision to wind down quantitative easing.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/w/5/q/v/image.related.landscape.120x80.grokyy.png/1474892675299.jpg)
Markets behave illogically about interest-rate moves and expect central bankers to signal their every move.
BHP and Rio are understating profits
![BHP Billiton's giant Escondida mine in Chile.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/x/x/p/w/image.related.landscape.120x80.groqnj.png/1474889259463.jpg)
Analysts don't get it. Now that the mining boom is over, the two big miners are much more profitable than they look.
Mendy's Midas touch
![BHP Billiton shares boosted chartist Richard Pritchard and columnist Phil Baker's portfolio this week.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/d/y/k/3/image.related.landscape.120x80.grmlm2.png/1475803848480.jpg)
One Money reader has taken a seemingly unassailable lead in week two.
Five ways to know you're a good investor
![Having half your money spread across each of the big four banks doesn't count as a well-diversified portfolio.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/j/8/n/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.grj8d1.png/1476408506471.jpg)
We all get lucky investing from time to time. Here's how to know whether your results are from skill or luck.
Two of everything is for zookeepers, not investors
![Two of everything is not a wise investment strategy. Illustration: Andrew Dyson](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/j/8/8/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.grj866.png/1474364056090.jpg)
One of the biggest challenges for investors is engaging our rational brains and banishing our emotions.
Shares Race Week 1: Money reader off the blocks
![A junior miner has set up Money reader Mendy Amazlak's stellar lead after week one.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/4/9/u/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.grhkup.png/1473987036142.jpg)
The surprise winner of the last Shares Race has set a formidable lead in the first week of a fresh contest.
Why Warren Buffett doesn't care that he just lost $1.9 billion
![Billionaire investor Warren Buffett.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/h/s/z/d/image.related.landscape.120x80.grgxen.png/1473912103293.jpg)
No matter how far your portfolio has fallen in the past, you've never had a day like Warren Buffett just had.
Big tech is the worst place for young Aussies to invest right now
![Chris Brycki, founder of automated investment advisor Stockspot, says the technology sector is too frothy.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/g/j/c/n/image.related.landscape.120x80.grgdsi.png/1473891190618.jpg)
The launch of a new super product with a technology focus targeted at millennials has attracted attention, but caution is warranted.
There's no such thing as 'smart money'
![Demand from China has sent Bellamy's stock soaring, making it one of the ASX's recent success stories.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/u/c/5/1/image.related.landscape.120x80.grf9j4.png/1473995634461.jpg)
The idea that there is a 'big end of town' that trades in and out of companies before you and I have a chance is a myth.
Tech-focused super product called Spaceship to target millennials
![Spaceship founders Paul Bennetts, Andrew Sellen, Dave Kuhn and Kaushik Sen have raised $1.6 million from tech heavyweights.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/e/x/t/7/image.related.landscape.120x80.grfay9.png/1473913135107.jpg)
Software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes is leading a who's who of the Australian technology industry in backing a new superannuation product with a technology focus aimed at millennials.
Fractional ownership of residential property a first
![Petar Sabados owns a slice of two investment properties, which he tracks on his phone.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/c/k/l/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.gre0eg.png/1473721434049.jpg)
Petar Sabados wants to buy an investment property; but he needs to save the deposit.
The investor's guide to picking stocks
![The only way to achieve growth in a flat market is to pick the right stocks.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/3/u/t/p/image.related.landscape.120x80.grdyjm.png/1473742142117.jpg)
Riding the market is no longer enough, the only way to make money is to pick the right stocks and know when to sell them.
Is it fair for my shares to be consolidated?
![Is it braver to be a contestant in Ten's Survivor, or to buy Ten Network shares?](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/l/z/9/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gra48o.png/1473227195651.jpg)
Financial expert George Cochrane answers readers' questions.
The best CEOs you may not know
![Corporate Travel Management chief executive Jamie Pherous started the company more than 20 years ago.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/7/a/j/j/image.related.landscape.120x80.gr7ao1.png/1472785796084.jpg)
True success or failure should really be measured only after a chief executive has been in the chair for five years or more - preferably 10.
AFR's Baker opens up commanding lead
![The shares race is likely to close with a clear winner, thanks to Ausdrill and Cleanaway.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/h/7/g/0/7/image.related.landscape.120x80.gr76ti.png/1473846454297.jpg)
It is week three of the shares race and the AFR's Phil Baker has hit a purple patch.
Market expectations are a short-term drag for companies
![The new CEO of Woolworths, Brad Banducci, on the day the company announced its 2015-2016 results.](/web/20161014162503im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/0/s/w/2/image.related.landscape.120x80.gr2r5c.png/1472522804743.jpg)
Results matter less - in the short term - than you might think.