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Welcome to Bruce Brammall Financial

NAB’s got a nerve to cuddle up to customers

It sounds about as credible as a Tiger Woods sermon on chastity or David Hasselhoff writing a how-to handbook on sobriety. Or maybe it’s more like the wolf dressed up as grandma in “Little Red Riding Hood”. You know, so smugly dishonest that you can see the animal that wants to eat you alive drooling. […]

“When it comes to household finances, should couples have joint bank accounts or separate ones?”

Good question, Mr Editor … if your aim was to create a flood of bookings with couples counsellors and divorce lawyers like Arnie Becker (Corbin Bernsen in LA Law). The answer should be simple. But when it comes to couples, “simple” would require relationships to be routinely built on trust, equality and other ridiculous concepts, […]

The DIY mortgage buster

PORTFOLIO POINT: Here’s another super salary sacrifice strategy touted to help pay off your home loan faster. If you can tick the boxes, it could save you a $10,000 to $30,000. Everybody loves paying less tax. And falling marginal tax rates – as most people just received again on July 1 – is generally appreciated. […]

“Should property investment be about rental income or capital gains? And will that change as I age?”

We’re talking property, so we’re talking fences. Here’s a general rule for Generation X and property investment: If it doesn’t have a fence, then steer clear of it. Capital gains and rental income are a trade off with property investment, just like shares. And Gen Xers should aim more for capital gains than income. More […]

Super’s pressing need: Education

PORTFOLIO POINT: Take note Jeremy Cooper – Australians want to know more about their super. And that education can have multiple benefits. Everybody knows the gag about being treated like a mushroom, don’t they? You know, where people/things are left in the dark and fed crap. Well, to me, that’s Jeremy Cooper’s plan for the […]

“What lesson did you learn as a child that has helped you through the investment challenges of recent years?”

It was the toughest lesson of my life and I still grapple with it today. But if I hadn’t learned it, I could never have become an investor at all. As a kid, I had an issue with making decisions. My parents called it procrastination. I believed I just wanted to ensure I got the […]

The day 10,000 stormtroopers invaded my inbox

Debt Man column – The West Australian (Business) For: September 17, 2010. This column should be legalled. My mobile is 0434-024-274 Bruce Brammall Debt Man We all know that money is a honeypot for the greedy, a magnet that attracts the naive and a beacon of light that attracts the stupid like moths. I’ve been […]

Will Shorten make a difference to super

PORTFOLIO POINT: Bill Shorten and APRA stats. Should Australia’s superannuation industry be fearful or welcoming of Bill Shorten? The former Victorian union leader was sworn in yesterday as the new Superannuation Minister to serve under Julia Gillard’s minority government. While Shorten is a tough nut, a seasoned media performer, engaging and ambitious, he’s been most […]

“Australians are notorious non-savers, with about half of us having no savings. How much should we put away for a rainy day?”

Died-way-too-young singer Karen Carpenter said it wasn’t only rainy days that bummed her out. She lumped Mondays in to the same category. But Karen believed being with someone special fixed “rainy days and Mondays”. Mmmm. Perhaps emotionally. But a cuddle won’t pay the rent, put petrol in the car, or keep beer and vino in […]

Check your “retirement readiness”

PORTFOLIO POINT: With Labor confirmed in government, here’s an interesting piece of research about the potential impact their retirement and super policies. Sometimes, a survey that has little to do with you, or your situation, is worth reading. Just because it gives you a “big picture” insight into what’s going on outside our own little […]