(03) 9020 2905

Welcome to Bruce Brammall Financial

Category: Articles

Asking mum and dad for financial help seems more common these days. What rules should you set?

You don’t ask. Too much like pestering, like your own kids demanding the latest Barbie/Ben 10 widget. You want money from the oldies? Keep it family like … like the Mafia. You make threats. Emotional blackmail works a treat. (And doesn’t leave bruises!) Our parents are at ages when they’re worried about becoming physically and […]

Beware the property hard sell. ASIC is watching

PORTFOLIO POINT: ASIC applies the blowtorch to SMSF property spruikers, with advisers and accountants also feeling the heat. Better late than never. Property spruikers be warned – the consumer watchdog has had enough and a bunch of businesses who thought they were operating outside of the reach of the law are about to get a […]

Investors can suffer from information overload. What key sources should they use for learning?

UM, here! (Right answer, Mr Editor?) But you need more than we can fit here each week. We’re talking two commodities here. One is information. Two is time. There is, literally, truckloads of information. And, as luck would have it, Gen Xers have oodles of time on their hands. Careers, kids, after school and weekend […]

Contributions capers: Another year, another change

PORTFOLIO POINT: I give up. If you know what’s happening with concessional contribution limits, email me. To quote comic legend Rowan Atkinson playing the pastor addressing his flock in 80s sketch comedy classic Not the Nine O’Clock News: “You don’t know whether to sit, kneel or stand! You’re up and down like a whore’s drawers!” […]

Tax betrays long-held, trusted convention

If I could have just one super power, I think it might be … the power to tax! How cool would THAT be? Bit short of cash this month? Credit card crept away from you? Budget blown to smithereens and spending spinning out of control? Be cool. You can make everyone in the country chip […]

Balancing a household budget can be tricky – where is the best place to find savings?

A balanced budget? For Gen X? Seriously? If Treasurer Wayne Swan can’t do it – with the ultimate power to tax the population – what hope us? Gen Xers’ current life stage is known as “Mega Maid” – the giant vacuum cleaner in Spaceballs – as mortgages and midgets hoover the bank account. But we […]

Busting the super reforms myths

PORTFOLIO POINT: Let’s bust a few myths about the real losers of last week’s high-end super tax grab. One week out from the new changes to super and the uncertainty as to how everything will really work is no less confusing. There are way too many questions that need to be answered. For that, we’re […]

Rewards points, low rates or interest-free days – what should you look for in a credit card?

It’s time to lay the (credit) cards on the table. We’ve had a national “sorry” day. I believe it’s now time for a national, annual, “thankyou” day. And today is perfect! One week after April Fool’s Day! Australia’s credit card “fools” need some recognition. They shout the rest of us, who use credit cards properly, […]

I was cynical about health insurance until just now

  My doctor performed a few biopsies last week. Actually, he probably took dozens. But let’s focus on me for a second. On me, he gouged two. Literally, as I write this column, I’m hesitantly awaiting a phone call. He said there was a “one in thirty” chance of it being serious. “But doc, I’ve […]