(03) 9020 2905

Welcome to Bruce Brammall Financial

Author: Helen

Asset allocation: The DIY option

PORTFOLIO POINT: Super returns? What returns? Here’s how to turn the tables and bounce back. Plus reader feedback to why SMSF contributions have taken a dive. From a super returns perspective, we’ve known things have been pretty miserable for a long time. But they’re becoming so on a grander and grander scale. Typical balanced funds […]

Age wearies them

It was when Shane Warne retired from international cricket after the 2006-07 Ashes series that the lightning bolt struck me. Bugger! How’d I get this old, this fast? Not moving-into-nursing-home old. Not time-to-get-regular-prostate-checks old. Not even where’d-that-grey-hair-come-from old (too late). But old enough to realise some childhood dreams were now, finally, a snowflake’s chance in […]

SMSF inflow eases

PORTFOLIO POINT: Your super contributions have slumped further! What you’re putting in now is down a full one-third on two years ago. Tell me why. What’s the story with your super contributions? Where’s your love for super? A bit over a year go, I reported that contributions to SMSFs had fallen down a very deep […]

RBA and Melbourne Cup

If anybody thinks that the Melbourne Cup is actually about horses and jockeys and trainers … I’m here to tell you, you’re dreamin’. It’s about money. Obscenely large amounts of it. If Australian horse racing were an independent economy, I’m thinking it would be bigger than Tasmania. Just on Cup Day itself, tens of millions […]

DIY fund’s deft footwork

PORTFOLIO POINT: There has been a ferocious shift to defensive assets in recent months. Are you leading, following, or ignoring the trend? In a few days – November 1 – it will be four years since the top of the Australian equities market. Investment changed on that date. Few saw it coming. But investors’ understanding […]

Make the most of CCs

PORTFOLIO POINT: Concessional contributions are the base of super. Current rules mean your contribution limits are wasted if you don’t use them each year. Are you making the most of your opportunities? Waiting. I hope nobody out there is holding their breath, because you’ll probably pass out soon. The pressure is growing on the government […]

Manage your wealth

“EX-TER-MI-NATE! Debt is the devil! It will kill you! You must not relax until all debt has been eliminated! Cancel worldly pleasures until debt is destroyed!” Um … you’re not a dalek. No, it’s not. No, it won’t. Yes you can. And the only person you’ll be punishing is yourself. Seriously, enough of this rubbish […]

We’re that close to world-best super

PORTFOLIO POINT: Hmmm, not bad Australia. Our retirement incomes system is “back on the podium”. Now, how do we get to pole and, more importantly, into the “A” grade? In the last 12 months, I wouldn’t have thought that too much has changed in Australia’s retirement income streams system. That is, the things that I’ve […]

Diamond in the guff

PORTFOLIO POINT: Parliament House was filled with enough hot air to nearly see it float off like a hot air balloon during the tax summit. Buried deep, however, were some interesting ideas for super. “Much of what has been said has been quite predictable. I could have written the script for this before coming in.” […]

Give your bank a sock kapow

Everyone has a love-hate relationship in their life. If you don’t, you should go out and get one. It should be a pre-requisite for getting a licence to breathe. Love-hate relationships are about passion. If you’re not passionate about something … anything … you’re probably wasting oxygen. (And your licence to breathe may be revoked!) […]