Our top investing insights from this week.

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Shani Jayamanne

Shani Jayamanne is a Senior Investment Specialist, Morningstar Australia.

In most states, first home buyers have a variation of the same policy where they avoid stamp duty if they meet purchase price conditions. One federal policy however, involves contributing and pulling out funds from superannuation accounts – the First Home Super Savers Scheme (FHSSS). Shani explores whether first home buyers should use the scheme as part of their strategy to scrape together a deposit.

Every month, Shani takes a look back at what Morningstar investors are buying and selling. June looks to be an anomaly - four of the top five buy trades by volume were ETFs. She explores the top 20, and what our manager research analysts think about the top three trades.

Monday signalled the beginning of the new Financial Year, with a slew of changes from the Federal Budget coming into effect. One of the largest changes that taxpayers will see immediately is the change to marginal tax rates. These changes place the median Aussie salary in the 30% tax rate. Fully franked dividends provide a 30% tax credit. That is a dividend which requires a payment of 0% in personal income tax. Shani looks at three fully franked stocks that are currently undervalued.

Read more of Shani's articles. 

Joseph Taylor

Joseph Taylor is an Associate Investment Specialist, Morningstar Australia.

This week, Joseph looks at two companies that are relatively small but have carved out strong positions in attractive markets. Both stocks are awarded moats by our equity analysts, meaning that they are able to protect and growth their earnings for at least the next 10 years (narrow moat) or 20 year (wide moat). According to our analysts, the shares also look cheap.

Joseph also interviews Morningstar equity analyst Lochlan Holloway on Myer's potential deal for Premier's Apparel Brands.

Read more of Joseph's articles.

Mark LaMonica

Mark LaMonica, CFA is Director of Personal Finance, Morningstar Australia.

Mark has been enjoying a well-deserved break in Thailand. This week, we featured some of his best timeless lessons.

Mark looks at three factors to consider if you want to retire early. They include taking care of retirement first, building a financial bridge to retirement and reducing future expenses. The article runs through each of the factors and offers investors food for thought about the pathways to achieve an early retirement.

The basis for Mark's article on 5 steps to achieve the life that you want through investing was imagined at the same hotel Mark is currently at in Thailand. He goes through the five investing lessons that he has learned from his life in this article.

Mark asks whether the investing baggage you carry hampering your ability to achieve your goals in this article. He explores the practice of self-reflection as a key to investing success.

Read more of Mark's articles. 

More content from Morningstar this week

James Gruber shared valuable insights this week with our readers. His article on '10 principles for staying vital, happy and sharp as you age' explores insights from US-based scientist, John Medina, who specialises in human brain development and the genetics of psychiatric disorders.

The best way to lose money in markets is to chase the latest stock fad. Conversely, the best way to build wealth is by pursuing a timeless investment strategy that won’t be swayed by short-term market gyrations. James explores the iron law of building wealth.

This week on Investing Compass

According to the AFR, a lot of the interest and buying of Guzman was from retail investors -specifically, Gen Z investors. This is following the Peter Lynch philosophy of buying shares in companies you know.

When trying to figure out a business and the competitive forces in a particular industry it is a lot easier to explore products and services that you use. It allows you to think about what are the factors that cause you to buy a particular brand over a competitor and to think about the competitive advantages that might be at play for a company. 

However, using a product or service does not necessarily maketh a good investment.

The episode goes through a simple framework that investors can use to evaluate a share, and whether it may make a good investment. We use Guzman y Gomez GYG as an example.

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