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Welcome to Bruce Brammall Financial

Banks looking for friends

Debt Man column – The West Australian (Money) For: November 2, 2009 Bruce Brammall Debt Man Have you got a sordid past you want to disappear? Are there some misdemeanours you’d like zapped from the public record? Is there a festering sore on your reputation that you want erased? Well, you could write your own […]

“Partnerships in property: What do you think about taking a three or four-way share in residential real estate?”

No problem at all – so long as all partners promise never to change any of their personal circumstances. Ever. Nobody is to get married, divorced, have any more children, lose their jobs, or die. They’re not allowed to develop gambling addictions, poor tickers, a life-threatening illness, or a thing for the cute nanny/gym instructor. […]

“Building a nest egg is vital, but is there a better alternative to superannuation instead of locking your money away until age 60?”

Milli Vanilli had two problems. Their names were Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan. Both were singing frauds. Similarly, super has two major downsides for Gen X. The first is access: We can’t touch it until we’re at least 60 (anyone born after June 30, 1964). The second is legislative risk: Governments tinker with super just […]

Super noose tightens another notch

PORTFOLIO POINT: Heard about “reportable super contributions”? They’re another Rudd Government attack on the wealthy. Here’s how they work. Means testing was launched back onto the political agenda with the incoming Rudd Government, who decided to make a feature of whacking the wealthy to save a few bucks for the Budget’s bottom line. It was […]

“Budgeting is one of the most boring words in the English language. Can we make budgeting sexy?”

You want boring? Kevin Costner’s The Postman. You want sexy? Rolling around in big piles of cash in your underwear, like Allison Dine (Anna Hutchison) in Underbelly. Bucks and budgets are intertwined, like yin and yang. Being loaded can be very sexy. How else do you explain the phenomenon of rich, crinkly, old men attracting […]

Rise in interest rates creates a lather of blather

Debt Man column – The West Australian (Business news) For: October 16, 2009 Bruce Brammall Debt Man We’re off and racing! It’s that time again. But we’re not talking anything as fun as the horses. No, ma’am, we’re talking interest rates, bank bashing and politicians speaking bollocks. When interest rates move, our elected representatives feel […]

Winning the lottery is many people’s idea of a financial plan. If you do strike it lucky, what should you do with it?

Show no emotion. For God’s sake, zip it! Stuff the ticket back in your pocket and continue to stare at the TV or newspaper like nothing happened. Calmly, get the car keys. Start driving. When far enough from home, with the stereo turned up to “ear bleed”, you can safely scream. Next, chuck a sickie. […]

DIY funds grow, as do their challenges

Two of the worst years for investing in the nation’s history and legal headwinds for trustees have not dented Australians’ desire to take personal control of their super. At the end of June, the number of SMSFs in Australia jumped above 410,000 for the first time – and the take-up rate only slowed marginally for […]

Sellers lose more as boost pared

Debt Man column – The West Australian (Money) For: October 5, 2009 Bruce Brammall Debt Man During exciting moments in football, the mathematical probability is that roughly 49 per cent of the audience will roar and 49 per cent will groan. The other 2 per cent missed it because they were in the bar or […]

“How should people react if a family member or friend asks to borrow money, and how much is too much?”

“Danger, Will Robinson!” Like Lost in Space’s Robot, complete with arms flailing. Money is a top-three cause of the demise of relationships that include sex and can just as quickly end friendships where there’s no hanky panky. (And then there’s “friends with benefits”. Tell me, do they ever end well?) Friend/family loans that morph into […]