Access to the latest investment information is getting faster, easier and more comprehensive as more apps come on to the market. Our current favourites are;

. Yahoo!’s Market Dash delivers real time numbers, news and interactive charts on your iPad.

. ASX iPhone App is one of the best in the game for Aussie investors. Allows a portfolio of 20 stocks to be stored as favourites, with all their announcements displayed and viewable alongside price and volume details. Can be set up to send alerts if one of these companies makes an announcement.

. Bloomberg app features charts, a short company description and basic details on the current days trading for each stock. It’s easy to use, covers every major global stock exchange and has a great news feed. ASX stock information is a bit limited.

. iTrade is a virtual trading app that simulates buying and selling stocks, including actual prices,  simulated broking fees, real news feeds and all the other bits involved in investing in shares.

. CNN Money news is the strong suit of this app. Chock full of articles categorised into specific areas of interest, the app also has a stash of business news videos.

Separating or divorcing from a partner or defacto can be absolutely devastating both emotionally and financially.

As emotions career out of control it is easy to let your financial well being fall by the wayside. Many never fully recover from the hammering their wealth takes from the pounding of separation.

But there are several steps you can take to regain control and rebuild your new financial future.

1) Protect What You’ve Got

Rebuilding your wealth starts the minute your partner walks out the door. We know you’ll probably be an emotional wreck but you need to focus for a short while to secure what is yours financially and that you’re not cleaned out.

. Keep documentation of any joint assets in a safety deposit box, rather than in the home especially if you suspect that your ex may try to tamper with. Remove any personal property to a safe location or take photos to prove the items existed.

. Take money out of any joint bank accounts and set up your own, but be fair. For example, if there is $10,000 in a joint bank account only take out $5,000.

. Cancel any joint credit cards so that your ex doesn’t go on a spending spree and leave you holding the bill.

When kids grow up and leave the nest it can be hard, but it can also be a relief. So when they occasionally return, it can be a bit of a shock. Whenever this happens to us, we welcome them in because we love them, and let’s face it, it’s in our nature. But there’s a difference between helping your child out, and letting them take you for a ride.

If an older child lives at, or returns home they are adults and more than capable of paying their way, even if they are studying. With our kids once they reached a certain age, we’d charge them a standard weekly board at a fixed price (it’s increased for the younger ones with inflation). But we’d also expect them to do their own laundry, help with housework, and shout/cook a weekly meal.

We’d draw up a sort of family lease agreement which set everything out in black and white so there is no argument.

We set this in place with the oldest child, then it just became standard practice for the others, and they never complained. If you set out the rules and your child knows what to expect, they have no grounds to argue or compromise.

While the summer weather may have been dodgy in parts of Australia, the sun was certainly shining on investment markets. Global sharemarkets in January and February turned in their best performance for years.

But we can’t help but wonder whether equity markets have raced ahead of reality and there could be stormy times ahead. The ugly stick could be about to drop.

Last week served up a healthy dose of reality;

. China downgraded their economic growth forecast to 7.5 per cent for the next year. Its always been thought China needed 8 per cent growth to soak up new employment and avoid social unrest, so the downgrade caught everyone by surprise. Mind you the Chinese aren’t stupid.

They have been paying top dollar for commodities as prices have risen strongly on the assumption Chinese demand would stay strong. By spooking the market, commodity prices have fallen so China won’t be paying as much for raw materials. Smart.

. Australia’s economic growth for the December quarter turned out to half what the experts predicted and showed the low gear of the two speed economy is affecting the whole country.

. nervousness returned to the state of Europe after troubled southern European countries showed they still can’t deliver on their promises.

Bottom line is that while equity markets have been buoyant, there is still a lot of uncertainty around so be careful.