Our Team

James Kirby, The Australian’s Wealth Editor, is one of Australia’s most experienced financial journalists. He is a former managing editor and co-founder of Business Spectator and Eureka Report and has previously worked at the Australian Financial Review and the South China Morning Post. He is a regular commentator on radio and television, he is the author of several business biographies and has served on the Walkley Awards Advisory Board. James hosts The Australian’s Money Puzzle podcast.

@kirby_journo

Latest

WealthWealth

Cash rules: How the rich are riding out a rocky market

As an investor it’s always worth knowing what the big money is doing, and right now that means building up cash reserves to ride out market turmoil.

James Kirby

WealthWealth

A couple who have just signed up a mortgage after buying their first house. Generic first home buyers Picture: iStock.

Be warned, small home deposits are very risky

With just a 5 per cent deposit, first-home buyers face heightened risks and higher mortgage rates.

James Kirby

WealthWealth

Newspaper clippings and an image of US President Donald Trump are displayed on a desk as traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell on April 9, 2025, in New York City. Wall Street stocks were mixed in early trading Wednesday as markets digested the latest tariff hike by the United States and retaliatory moves by China and the European Union. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

Markets will recover, but do you have time for that?

Are we looking at a crash or a V-shaped recovery? Learn the six things every investor should know.

James Kirby

WealthWealth

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during afternoon trading on April 9, 2025 in New York. Wall Street stocks rocketed to close solidly higher Wednesday, with dramatic advances on all three major indexes as US President Donald Trump delayed steep new tariffs hours after they took effect. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 7.9 percent to 40,608.45, the broad-based S&P 500 Index rallied 9.5 percent to 5,456.90, and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index jumped more than 12.2 percent to 17,124.97. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

Investors win round one in the tariff turmoil… now what?

Advisers say don’t change your investment settings, but this does not mean bargain-hunting won’t pay handsomely — and this week it’s been very profitable.

James Kirby

WealthWealth

Sad disappointed mature middle-aged couple family wife and husband counting funds, savings, declarations, investments,paperwork, financial documents, bankruptcy, court case, bills, pension at home. Stressed seniors generic

Mum and dad investors jumped into a falling market … now the wait

Everyday investors – pumped up by big returns from the Covid-19 crash – are now making big bets on the tariff war.

James Kirby

WealthWealth

Houses listed for sale in some of Brisbane's peaking suburbs

Is your money safer in property right now?

A price turnaround and the prospect of accelerated rate cuts puts residential property back in favour as share markets turn sharply negative.

James Kirby

WealthWealth

Stock Boards at the ASX As Asia Markets Plunge After U.S. Stocks Fall Most in More Than Six Years A man holds a Listed@ASX magazine while looking at an electronic board displaying stock information at the Australian Securities Exchange, operated by ASX Ltd., in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018. Global equity markets are in retreat after Wall Street losses that began in the final session of last week worsened on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its biggest intraday point drop in history. Photgrapher: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg Topics AustralianOceaniaAsia Companies ASX Ltd Keywords StocksSecuritiesMarketsStock MarketsMarket ReactionsMarkets DownMarkets Red Information Date shot: 2/6/2018 2:54 pm Date published: 2/6/2018 4:34 pm Id: 323514059 Location: North Sydney, NS, AL Creator: Brendon Thorne Copyright: © 2018 Bloomberg Finance LP

Cyber hack compounds the pain for Big Super that can lift SMSFs

Overexposure to US stocks, general poor behaviour and cybersecurity breaches have put Big Super under siege, but it’s now that self-managed super funds can shine.

James Kirby

WealthWealth

COMPOSITE 4:3 - Australia's four big banks Commonwealth, Westpac, NAB, ANZ. Picture: NCA Newswire

Banks no longer on the nose as dividends put them back in vogue

Bank stocks led the ASX sell-off since the start of the year but they are now offering fully franked dividend yields of 7 per cent, making investors sit up and take notice.

James Kirby

WealthWealth

President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing in ceremony for Alina Habba as interim US Attorney General for New Jersey, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 28, 2025. (Pool via AP)

Have super funds walked into a market trap with Trump?

Your superannuation money is being poured into US shares just as Donald Trump threatens to up-end sharemarkets with his Liberation Day tariffs plan.

James Kirby

Election GuideBusiness

24 March 2025; a photo comp of Jim Chalmers for the Federal Budget 2025; Artwork by Emilia Tortorella. Sources: supplied and iStock. Ratio 16:9 for DIGITAL.

The investor’s guide to the election

What’s in the election for investors? Quite a lot actually with stark differences emerging between the major parties on investment choices from pensions to superannuation.

James Kirby

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/james-kirby