It sounds like a stupid question but it's actually a really good one.

Improving global growth and profits as well as low interest rates have underpinned very strong returns for sharemarkets.

It is still common for people to find themselves in financial strife because they do not understand the tax implications of their actions.

​Investing is one of the most accountable pursuits you can undertake in one important way: the scoreboard is - metaphorically - 40 feet high and unavoidable.

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.

• SHARES RACE

Halfway through the Year-Long Shares Race, seven of our 12 tipsters are in the black and beating the All Ordinaries Index.

So, you've given up the dream of home ownership – for the moment, at least.

When Damian was born, his grandmother bought him a couple of hundred dollars of Telstra shares. Now at 22, he has $25,000 invested in index funds.

Often, company share prices fall for very good reasons but sometimes it's caused by a market over-reaction.

Market volatility has destroyed the concept of "safe income" in equities, but there are options to ensure a smoother investment ride.

• COMMENT

Elon Musk stole all the headlines with the announcement that Tesla's largest ever battery would be built 200 kilometres north of Adelaide.

Angie Ellis of 80 20 Investments wins the four-week Shares Race.

• COMMENT

"You keep using that word", Inigo Montoya said in the movie The Princess Bride, "I do not think it means what you think it means."

Angie Ellis of 80 20 Investments continues to go from strength to strength in the third week of the four-week Shares Race with good performances from most of her 10 stock picks.

Uber runs the risk of stealing defeat from the jaws of victory. And largely because its "win at all costs and don't mind the collateral damage" approach saw it undermine its own customers' trust in, and respect for, the organisation.

Blame comes with the territory in all financial advice. It's why any agent gets paid commission.

A relative paid my HECS debt when I was 25. I'll always be grateful but if I could turn back time, I would have asked him to teach me how to invest instead.

• SHARES RACE

Angie Ellis boosts her lead in the second week of the Shares Race.

You don't have to be a mathematician to use the Rule of 72. It's simple, but once you understand how to use it, you'll wonder how you got by without it.

It's been a long flight back from a missed opportunity.

Angie Ellis of 80 20 Investments has taken the lead in week one of the new four-week Shares Race.

If you pay capital gains tax, it's worth thinking about selling loss-making stocks to offset the winners.

​The US list of most respected companies is out. Who would make the cut here?

For years I have been going on about the power of investing small sums of money.

Women are more risk averse and this translates positively in returns.

For a combination of reasons, index-following managed and exchange traded funds have become increasingly popular with both individual and institutional investors.

Are providers being too clever with the latest breed of the funds that use "smart beta" strategies that increase the risks for investors and have fees twice that of vanilla exchange traded funds (ETFs).

This year was going to be different.

• COMMENT

So far, financial year superannuation fund returns have been good with the prospect of double digit returns if world share markets don't tank in June.