(03) 9020 2905

Welcome to Bruce Brammall Financial

Making a retirement U-turn

  SUMMARY: Can you return to work after “retiring” and starting a super pension? Of course, but there are some rules to know. You’ve hit retirement and you’ve started a superannuation pension. And everything in the after-work life was going fine. For a while. Then boredom set in. Or your marriage broke down, leaving you […]

Lower LVRs put a squeeze on SMSFs

    SUMMARY: Lending for SMSFs has been turned on its head. Does it still work as a strategy? It’s tighter, but yes. Property investment is a honey pot. It attracts everyone interested in making a dime. And not just from an investment perspective – developers and the lending industry too. Property’s role, from a […]

Trust issues with Shorten’s plan

      “Frothing at the mouth”: a description of someone white hot with rage, ranting feverishly over what is usually not much of an issue. This is something I occasionally do. Sometimes for fun. Sometimes right here in this column. But mostly over topics that would bore most. Most recently, I did it last […]

Rates are rising – get set for battle

  If you’re a long-term property investor with a mortgage, how pissed off are you right now? Put me down for “seriously pissed off”. I just received notification from my bank to say the interest rates on my investment loans are being hiked by about 50 basis points. Half a freakin’ per cent! That’s two […]

Did your SMSF smash the average?

    SUMMARY: Playing it safe gave no help for returns in 2017. It was all about risk. Did you get your SMSF to beat 7.93%? Every streak must come to an end. And for FY2017, that meant a year where being too defensive was a serious drag on your portfolio. It was a year […]

Making a mega super fund

        SUMMARY: What’s the biggest super fund that can now be built? Around $9.3m … and here’s how that is done. Want to build the biggest super fund possible? Do you want to have a self-managed super fund that smashes the $1.6m transfer balance cap and keeps growing, with millions taxed at only […]

Back your mortality with some bucks

    Death has been on my mind. A little more than usual, lately. I don’t deal with death well. Not a big fan. I’m not good at dealing with the death of others. I don’t like thinking about the possibility of my own. Though I’m not stupid. I have prepared for it somewhat. My […]

Four strategies under the new super rules

      SUMMARY: Four strategies for SMSFs to consider immediately, now that super’s big changes have arrived. We’ve been talking about it forever, but it has finally arrived. Superannuation’s less-generous future is now on us. A future of lower contribution limits and of lower tax-free pensions and even taxed pensions. A time when it […]

Preservation age table

Table of preservation ages for access to superannuation Table 1: Attaining preservation age Born after … Born before … Preservation age 30/06/1960 55 1/07/1960 30/06/1961 56 1/07/1961 30/06/1962 57 1/07/1962 30/06/1963 58 1/07/1963 30/06/1964 59 1/07/1964 60

Pension hazard ahead: Act now

                SUMMARY: It’s not too late for transition-to-retirement pensions to be updated to tax-free account-based pensionss. Here’s how. For a year, it has felt like we’ve been madly running a race that finishes on 30 June at midnight. For many, that was the case. A year-long marathon, with a sprint finish. […]