Is that the sound of a chainsaw firing up on a Monday morning? Love it! “Chainsaw” Al Dunlap was an American executive legendary for downsizing by sacking staff. Kerry Packer hired him and briefly bought him to Australia. In his honour, I’ll take a chainsaw to my expenses … slash people costs. Personal trainer? Sacked. […]
You know that feeling when you’re stretching something rubbery to its absolute limits? That creaking feeling right at the point of maximum tension? The rubber band on your fingers stretched a foot or so wide. Exert a little more pressure and watch it explode? Hold it and hope it doesn’t snap? Or, release the tension […]
I’m a melting pot of thousands of ideas that I’ve heard over the years. Singling out one? Whoa. Tough. I learn the most while reading. So the best “advice” I’ve ever received has usually come via books, or the media. And I’ve read some truly crappy advice during that time also. Some so inately offending my […]
SUMMARY: Cash is dead. And it’s time SMSFs woke up to the real cost of their love affair with the folding stuff. There’s always an exception to the rule. Sir Isaac Newton and his “what goes up must come down” law can occasionally be proved wrong. For example, Australian self-managed super funds and their […]
STAY cool. Gen Xers need to channel Douglas Adams’ advice from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. “DON’T PANIC!” Market fluctuations? Schmucktuations. A Gen Xer’s long-term investment plan, when it comes to The Big Game, needs to accept that a market’s next move is as random as a deck of cards. With shares and property, […]
BLOWING our own trumpets? Most un-Australian. We don’t like bragging. Usually makes us sound like tossers. But that’s what the editor wants, so … I’ve got two answers. One personal, one professional. And, neatly, they’re linked. As a kid, I was always a good saver. Sure, I spent money on lollies and footy cards and […]
It’s natural to feel like an idiot when you make a mistake. But if soon afterwards you feel smarter, it’s because you’ve learned something. Yeah, I’ve stuffed up on occasion. Some of my errors have cost me thousands. Youthful exuberance. But the most annoying are not always the most costly. The cab driver in Santiago, […]
I know the call is coming. I should pre-empt it and call first. Or just raise it during a Sunday night Skype chat with them and the grandkids. It’s the call I should expect, from the Old Folks, when governments go and trample on their financial turf. “My Boy! We only recently got the age […]
SUMMARY: A small number of SMSFs holding cash were relative winners from yesterday’s rate cut. Have you heard of offset accounts? More than one million SMSF members will have winced a little when news of yesterday’s rate cut came through. SMSFs are huge holders of pure cash. Something north of $150 billion of the stuff […]
WHOA! Let’s bugger off this word “budget”, okay? It puts everyone, except Treasury officials, to sleep. Tomorrow night’s federal snorefest – well, I’ll be watching – has virtually no similarities to your own home finances. Pollies can raise taxes. They negotiate with dozens of vested interests in parliament. They quibble over billions of […]
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