I've only just come back to Hot Copper and noticed they have a...

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    I've only just come back to Hot Copper and noticed they have a fixed interest topic. As a Responsible Officer for a mortgage fund it peaked my interest to have a look. To briefly answer your questions fixed interest is (as the name suggests) an investment (usually for a fixed term) where you receive a regular interest return (such as monthly).
    Financial planners are of value to someone who doesn't have a clue about investments and/or has been living under a rock for decades. In my experience they are driven more by their fees than their interest in their clients well being. Like accountant's and real estate agents they serve a purpose, come at a cost and sometimes don't add much to the equation (apologies to the accountants reading this).
    I'd strongly suggest you look at mortgage funds as they pay a return of about 7% - 8% pa paid monthly and the better ones are backed by first mortgage, residential security with loan to value ratios of 50% - 60%. There are contributory and pooled mortgage funds. The former are very popular with retirees and SMSF trustees because investors can select the property that backs your investment and investment terms are usually around 12 months. With a pooled mortgage fund your investment is backed not by one property but all the mortgages in the fund. There are positives and negatives with both. Are they safe? We've been running our funds for more than a decade and never lost $1 of investor capital or interest.
    There are mortgage funds that take on higher risk lending to achieve a more attractive return, so you need to do your homework. If you are a sophisticated/wholesale investor then there are unregistered mortgage funds that pay returns of 10% - 14% but they do usually involve higher risk and are (almost) totally unregulated. On the other hand retail funds often take investments from as little as $10,000 and are audited internally and externally by compliance and financial auditors. All mortgage fund managers are required to hold an AFSL.

 
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