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Doomsayers are getting louder as global financial markets struggle. What are your predictions?

In the next 12 months, a Brazilian transexual will win Eurovision, Tanzania’s swim team will scoop the pool in London, I will make the next Who magazine’s “sexiest people” list … and the world’s financial markets will get a freakin’ grip on it and come to their senses. The first three have a chance of […]

Beating the superman syndrome

PORTFOLIO POINT: For very good reason, there’s a new mandatory requirement for SMSFs from July 1. In the enthusiastic rush to start your own self-managed super fund, there are countless mistakes that can be made. Thankfully, most of them aren’t disastrous. More of an annoyance. Messing up ABN and TFN documents, choosing the wrong type […]

As interest rates head lower, what are some of the best ways to make this benefit your finances?

Something to cheer about? “Yeah, yeah!” There would really be something to celebrate if the bastard banks had passed on the cuts in full. No generation has more to gain from lower rates than Gen X. To generalise, our generation is geared to the gizzards. (It’s Aunty Kerrin’s retirees who are going to suffer.) Monster […]

Combating fear the way to go for first home buyers

Virgins, it must be said, don’t know what they’re missing. No matter how countless the hours they spend anticipating, fantasising and obsessing about “it”, they simply can’t know what the fuss is about until they’ve actually done it. It’s the same thing with virgins of the first home owner variety. They longingly visit open homes. […]

Debt Man Investment Newsletter # 44

It’s June, so it’s grand final time in the financial advice industry, as well as so many others But amongst all the professional thunderbolts and lightning that are spraying around your workplace, you simply have to take time for yourself, even if its done on nights or weekends. You have to make sure that you’re […]

Transfer countdown

PORTFOLIO POINT: The market’s recent slump is perfectly timed for those looking to make curtain-call in-specie transfers to their SMSFs. If you’re a trustee and enjoying life at the moment, you must have been sitting in cash. It’s been a nightmare five or six weeks. Few SMSFs that are loaded up with Australian shares are […]

Falling property prices have renewed the debate about renting versus buying a home. What are your views?

Listen up: If rent money is “dead” money, it’s no more “dead” money than mortgage interest. So, that is what you compare. Short term, renting is far cheaper. Long term, however, buying … kicks … ass. Let’s assume two identical houses, side by side. One is up for rent, the other for sale. The rent […]

Clear skies for geared property

PORTFOLIO POINT: SMSF property borrowing gets more appealing, thanks to the ATO’s response to trustee’s queries. It would appear there have been more questions than at a post-grand final press conference on the subject of SMSF property borrowing. But amid all the confusion, the good news is … your side won! Congratulations. Particularly those who […]

EOFY super strategies

It’s hard to get your super to soar like an eagle when it’s regulated by a bunch of turkeys. And whether the gobblers pulling the strings in Canberra are politicians or public servants matters little. Super will be a lot less so from next month. Forget the recent market gyrations and their impact on your […]

What are some of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to paying off their debts?

Not all debt is the devil. There are actually three kinds of debt: “dumb”; “okay”; and “great” debt. To categorise them, you need to ask two questions. One: Will the purchase increase in value? Two: Is the interest tax deductible? Dumb debt answers “no” to both. These assets fall in value and the interest is […]