I do love a “do you want the good news, or the bad news” scenario. A little bit Divinyls’ “Pleasure and Pain” all rolled into one. Good news first, or the bad news? And which choice makes me a glass half-full, or glass half-empty, sort of guy? Choosing the good news first means you’re setting […]
PORTFOLIO POINT: Looking to adjust your pension mid-year because of market volatility? Here’s a strategy to keep in mind. Super pensions can be a relatively simple affair. Take the value at June 30 of the previous year and decide what percentage – within your limits – you want to take for the year. If you’re […]
Grill a potential adviser like a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Apply heat and pressure and the good ones will, metaphorically, make your cheese gooey, giving you confidence that they’ll do what’s right for you. Here are my top five. Who ultimately owns your licensee? Independence. If the adviser is ultimately licensed through a product […]
PORTFOLIO POINT: Super returns? What returns? Here’s how to turn the tables and bounce back. Plus reader feedback to why SMSF contributions have taken a dive. From a super returns perspective, we’ve known things have been pretty miserable for a long time. But they’re becoming so on a grander and grander scale. Typical balanced funds […]
It was when Shane Warne retired from international cricket after the 2006-07 Ashes series that the lightning bolt struck me. Bugger! How’d I get this old, this fast? Not moving-into-nursing-home old. Not time-to-get-regular-prostate-checks old. Not even where’d-that-grey-hair-come-from old (too late). But old enough to realise some childhood dreams were now, finally, a snowflake’s chance in […]
I love modern society. It’s awesome. Everything is immediate. Waiting? B-a-a-h! We can work from home in our Reg Grundies, choose from 10,000 TV channels and video call our overseas friends on our computers, for FREE! Remember paying Telstra $487 a second to call London? Outrageous! I am NOT a good shopper. When I shop […]
Great. Let’s throw some divisive domestic distributions into the mix of these Generations questions. What am I? A marriage counsellor? You’re making me Danny DeVito between Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in The War of the Roses here! It’s a tough question, but a really important one. From a financial/tax perspective: If you have a […]
PORTFOLIO POINT: Your super contributions have slumped further! What you’re putting in now is down a full one-third on two years ago. Tell me why. What’s the story with your super contributions? Where’s your love for super? A bit over a year go, I reported that contributions to SMSFs had fallen down a very deep […]
Be an intergalactic rock/sport/film star. Be as rich as Bill Gates. Then self-implode in a dazzling global media-frenzied meltdown, like Charlie Sheen. Oh, hang on … that was teenage-hood. Have a stupendously high-paying, awesome job. The biggest house in the best suburb. Be retired and backpacking the world by 40. Adolescent optimism? Bugger! DING! The […]
If anybody thinks that the Melbourne Cup is actually about horses and jockeys and trainers … I’m here to tell you, you’re dreamin’. It’s about money. Obscenely large amounts of it. If Australian horse racing were an independent economy, I’m thinking it would be bigger than Tasmania. Just on Cup Day itself, tens of millions […]
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