![Investors have enjoyed a bumper financial year](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/1/0/f/d/m/2/image.related.wideLandscape.940x529.gxewri.12uqus.png/1500738552742.jpg)
Money features
![insurance](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/j/5/i/x/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxh947.png/1500863204727.jpg)
The five flaws in our current risk insurance system
Today, I want to talk about the most ignored and, arguably, most vital piece of your financial security puzzle: risk insurance.
![Online betting company TopBetta is one of Angie Ellis' best performers.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/1/0/8/c/s/b/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxfo6z.png/1500601803994.jpg)
Angie Ellis' winning streak continues with strong start to new game
Fresh from her victory in the last Shares Race, Angie Ellis, of 80 20 Investments, takes a commanding lead in the first week of the new four-week race.
![The Tax Office's formula for valuing defined benefit schemes favours younger retirees.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/f/b/j/y/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxfbgd.png/1500589075604.jpg)
Questions remain over defined benefit schemes
While defined benefit pensioners now know precisely how the Australian Tax Office will value their pension in applying the new $1.6 million superannuation cap tax changes, the valuations for current contributions and deferred benefit members' entitlements are still works in progress.
![If you're claiming interest on an investment loan for a tax deduction, you need to keep it 100 per cent separate from ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/f/4/3/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxf3qe.png/1500651734196.jpg)
Investors falling foul of rules on tax-deductible interest
It is still common for people to find themselves in financial strife because they do not understand the tax implications of their actions.
![Inflation is likely to remain below the RBA's comfort zone for a while.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/e/r/n/y/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxfayd.png/1500815724174.jpg)
Rates are low. Here's how to take advantage while you can
The Reserve Bank suggested this week interest rates could more than double in the next few years.
![Trusts are an increasingly popular - and legal - way to minimise tax.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/n/6/w/j/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxf3k7.png/1500696730676.jpg)
Australia's multibillion-dollar legal tax avoidance loophole
Billions of dollars of tax revenue is being lost due to wealthy Australians using family trusts.
![Australian near the top in global rankings of retiree wellbeing](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/7/6/h/m/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxeb3s.png/1500651644196.jpg)
Australia near top in global retiree wellbeing
Australia is in sixth place in a global ranking of welfare in retirement of 43 countries
![Super funds added $140 billion to the national nest egg, with an average 10.4 per cent performance for balanced options.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/o/k/s/b/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxe8t2.png/1500457177630.jpg)
Sharemarket rebound adds $140b to super funds
Superannuation funds have rebounded in the 2017 financial year with the average balanced option delivering a 10.4 per cent return, according to SuperRatings research.
![Excluding "sin stocks", such as gambling companies, would not have harmed returns from the Australian market over the ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/9/u/a/y/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxacng.png/1500388630143.jpg)
Investing with a conscience needn't mean lower returns
Say what you will about ethics in finance, but a big change sweeping through large chunks of this industry is the shift towards investing with a social conscience.
![Ivy Huang, 29, admits her super is a low priority.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/c/p/j/a/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxd3tk.png/1500376243127.jpg)
Why super can't be 'set and forget' for women
Millions of women are missing out on thousands of dollars in investment earnings because they are not in the best performing funds, research shows.
![Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays Carrie, left, and Kristin Davis, who plays Charlotte, in a scene from <i>Sex and the ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/5/w/i/7/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxcdys.png/1500286830182.jpg)
Cure yourself of the Carrie Complex
Hands up who wanted to be Carrie from Sex and the City when they grew up?
![<p>](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/m/6/w/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxd2ra.png/1500328924103.jpg)
The superannuation lobby's field of straw men
It's an uncomfortable truth that ASFA's measure of a "comfortable" retirement supports an affluent lifestyle more luxurious than most Australians experience during their working lives.
![Ten-year investment returns will look better as the GFC recedes from view.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/9/u/c/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxcenr.png/1500246277397.jpg)
Beware of bragging money managers
​Investing is one of the most accountable pursuits you can undertake in one important way: the scoreboard is - metaphorically - 40 feet high and unavoidable.
![A2 shares are up more than 17 per cent since January after the company twice lifted sales guidance.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/e/2/m/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxblsz.png/1500021168302.jpg)
Ellis up 25pc at midpoint of Year-Long Shares Race
Halfway through the Year-Long Shares Race, seven of our 12 tipsters are in the black and beating the All Ordinaries Index.
![Vivienne Pearson and her two children, with the trampoline that cost them more than $4000, including accessories and ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/c/e/r/a/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxcelf.png/1500386562547.jpg)
'Why I spent $4000 on a backyard trampoline'
The trampoline is one of the few activities that my two kids, who have very different personalities, enjoy together without fighting.
![If you take a reverse mortgage and your property doesn't grow in value, your retirement plans could come unstuck.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/b/8/g/v/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxb86z.png/1500013316949.jpg)
Do the sums before you sign up to a reverse mortgage
The property boom of the past few decades means that many Australians retire asset rich, but cash poor.
![Employers now have less power over super.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/o/k/w/f/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxaux0.png/1500446625147.jpg)
Time to review salary sacrifice
For those wanting to lower tax bills and build up retirement assets, making tax deductible super contributions is now much easier.
![There are ways to tap into housing wealth for aged care, besides selling the property. Illustration: Andrew Dyson](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/8/7/u/5/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxanu7.png/1500386587826.jpg)
The alternative to selling your home to fund aged care
Selling your home to fund aged care might be the right decision, but sometimes borrowing against the home is necessary, or even a better choice.
![J. D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy, has become the US' go-to white, rural translator.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/d/b/9/8/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxasmi.png/1500386622480.jpg)
What we can learn from the Trump-voting 'hillbillies'
There are practical ways to combat learned helplessness when it comes to your finances, writes Catherine Robson.
!["It's not believable that someone on the age pension who owns their home would never suffer financial stress."](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/y/y/j/4/image.related.landscape.120x80.gxawho.png/1500282211616.jpg)
Super industry defends 'comfortable' retirement
Australians need to make up their own minds about the standard of living they aspire to in retirement.
![Bernard Stahr believes his good credit rating will hold him in good stead once the new credit reporting rules come in. ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/8/j/2/0/image.related.landscape.120x80.gx7mnr.png/1499834195280.jpg)
'I know how ruthless they are': What the new credit reporting system means for you
A warts and all approach to credit history is being phased in, and it could have major ramifications for Australian borrowers.
![New York-based Australian writer Emma Vuletic let her Brooklyn apartment via Airbnb to stave off financial trouble.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170724034935im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/5/q/b/d/image.related.landscape.120x80.gx7sqi.png/1500386649823.jpg)
How a dip in child support and Airbnb helped one mum make more than $10,000
An Australian writer in New York City gets creative with her apartment.