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More headaches for SMSFs

PORTFOLIO POINT: Halving the tax on interest earned outside super creates some more scales that need to be finely balanced for trustees. If SMSF trustees watching last night’s budget felt another headache coming on, then you don’t need me to say that reaching for the painkillers would have done you no good. A second or […]

“Big changes to the tax system are on the way thanks to the Henry Review. What do they mean for our personal finances?”

Nothing quite feeds an “us versus them” mentality as voraciously as cutting down tall poppies. It’s as Australian as tax evasion, bagging politicians and drinking cold beer in Bali. And the Henry Review makes all these national past-times related. So let’s tie them all together. Rudd’s tall poppies are very successful small business owners (who […]

“Compared to many countries, Australia has an enviable public health care system. Where does private health cover fit with this?”

Three months before my wedding, I had a nasty accident. Let’s just say: extreme sport, bad turn, torn knee cartilage. Actually, this is embarrassing. The “extreme sport” was golf and I don’t have a macho explanation for how it happened. I bent down to retrieve the ball and r-r-r-ip! Sober, too. I had two choices. […]

“Capital growth versus income. What should be more important to me and why?”

If there are any Gen X readers wealthy enough to retire now, let them raise their hands, so that the rest of us may bow down before them and give praise! Sacrilegious? Only in a Life of Brian sense. We don’t worship money here. But as the eldest of our generation is only now in […]

DIY and property: You be the banker

PORTFOLIO POINT: People can’t take their eyes off property. But the banks are reacting with typical glacial speed to the “new” rules for SMSFs. Have you considered being your own banker? If, like Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens, you find the current bouyancy of Australia’s residential property market a little hard to fathom, be thankful […]

No hoorays for Henry when finally released

Debt Man column – The West Australian (Money) For: April 19, 2010. Bruce Brammall Debt Man Like the Life Of Brian, the mocking chant to Caesar goes up: “Welease Henwy! Welease Henwy!” Something smells funny. I reckon all election years smell funny. You get a whiff of just about everything. The porky smell hanging around […]

“Aussies love to travel, but what does it mean for your budget and your investments?”

On our South American backpacking honeymoon, Mrs DebtMan and I wrote an email from a Bolivian internet cafe with this subject line: “Tear gassed in La Paz!” The student peasants were revolting (of course, says Mel Brooks) and police had tried to disperse them. Wind had pushed the vapours up the hill to where we […]

Your SMSFs June 30 checklist

PORTFOLIO POINT: The All Ords punching through 5000 points shouldn’t distract SMSF trustees from what’s important – making sure your super fund is shipshape for June 30. It felt almost like fairies had descended earlier this week when the All Ordinaries reached, albeit briefly, above 5000 points. When it first fell back below 5000 points, […]

What was the best piece of money advice you ever received? Who was it from and how did you use it?”

There’s been loads! Where did they come from? Everywhere! Billboards, books, Buffett and Bullmore. From adapting the Nike theme (“Just do it!”) to my personal finances, to the classic truism (“No-one ever went broke making a profit”) to Buffett’s book of the bizarre (“It’s only when the tide goes out that you see who’s been […]

My wishlist for super in the budget

PORTFOLIO POINT: Wayne Swan is bunkered down in Canberra writing his third Budget. Here’s what Eureka Report wants from the Treasurer next month. This time last year, few would have argued that Wayne Swan held the toughest job in the country. The 2009 Budget was going to be one of the most difficult ever to […]