Every week in the Canberra Times Newspaper, Phil Thompson from Rise Financial writes a column answering questions that the public have concerning subjects such as superannuation, insurance, investments, etc.

Provided below are a range of questions and answers printed in the Canberra Times newspaper, which will give you a feel for Phil's approach to financial planning issues.

12 August 2009 - Q 1 - I have been considering taking out a loan to buy an investment property, to start building a negatively geared investment portfolio. Do you have any comments that I should be aware of before buying one?

5 August 2009 - Q 1 - It is often said when it comes to investing that you should diversify. Is this simply a case of spreading the risk of bad performance, or is there more to it than that?

29 July 2009 - Q 1 - I know people who have been to financial planners before and found them to be helpful, but I have never been to see one. Can you please explain what a financial planner can do to help the average person?

22 July 2009 - Q 1 - I have friends who have been using loans to invest in shares for years but with the sharemarket falling over the last 18 months, their investment is now worth less than their investment loan. Is borrowing money to invest in the sharemarket still a useful strategy for creating wealth?

15 July 2009 - Q 1 - I understand that from 1 July 2009 there were going to be some changes to the Government co-contribution rules which would make this strategy less attractive. Will this strategy still be useful?

8 July 2009 - Q 1 - Reading your column for the last few years you always seem to have a very positive view of the Australian sharemarket over the long term. However, we are still seeing poor performances as we have just had this last financial year. Do you still have that positive view?

1 July 2009 - Q 1 - It had been announced during the 2008/2009 financial year that those people drawing account based pension payments would be able to reduce the minimum amount drawn by 50%, in recognition of fallen asset values during the global financial crisis. Is this reduction likely to continue during the 2009/2010 financial year?

24 June 2009 - Q 1 - Could you please say what you think about bank shares? I am about to collect my superannuation which I will take as pension (50%) and lump sum. I am anxious about what to do with the lump sum, and someone told me that bank shares might be better than fixed term deposits for this.

17 June 2009 - Q 1 - With the end of financial year approaching can you please advise some sensible financial strategies to consider implementing before 30 June 2009?

10 June 2009 - Q 1 - I am 48 years of age and have just lost my job after 15 years with the company. I have received a redundancy payment of $40,000 and payments for leave entitlements of $10,000. I still have a mortgage of $80,000 and a personal loan of $10,000. What tax will I need to pay on receiving these entitlements and are there any issues I should be aware of?

3 June 2009 - Q 1 - 3 years ago my 24 year old son took out a personal loan for $10,000 to purchase shares in 2 companies. He has recently repaid the loan in full and the shares are now worth $12,000. He would now like to purchase more shares in other companies by borrowing another $12,000 via a personal loan at an interest rate of 14.75%. Is this a good idea?