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Category: Articles

Property investing for dummies: Lending lines for DIY funds

PORTFOLIO POINT: Adding a negatively geared property to your SMSF can provide an extremely low-tax environment, even for accumulation SMSFs. As SMSF trustees, we pride ourselves on our thirst for knowledge. And that includes tax. Superannuation is, after all, a vehicle that is primarily about tax-effective saving and income streams, for your retirement. That’s one […]

Age is no barrier to building wealth, but how do you work out the best investments for your age?

THPPPPT! Wealth? Are you serious? Gen Xers are supposed to do that … how? We’re getting married, saving deposits, replacing those savings with monster mortgages, preparing for and then raising midgets, often on one salary … Creating wealth is possible for my generation. Not. Actually, Gen Xers, they’re excuses. And they’re pathetic, like the recent […]

Prepare to die. It will save your loved ones $100,000

Always look on the bright side of death / Just before you draw your terminal breath The “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, whistle-your-blues-away, approach to your impending demise might be a little hard to put into practice. While Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” got us laughing about it, death itself is one of life’s imponderables. Hey, […]

I’m a SMSF trustee. And I vote

PORTFOLIO POINT: Watch out, Canberra. The army is growing. Annoy them at your peril in this election year. With due deference to Paul Hogan (who was talking about knives in the original Crocodile Dundee): “That’s not an army. THIS is an army!” If the nation’s political leaders are considering aggravating SMSF trustees, they might want to […]

Should your generation be spending money on private health insurance? Why or why not?

The question ain’t fair! I’m a financial adviser. How can I possibly say “no”? And I wouldn’t say no. But I will say, emphatically, the government is making it really hard to say “yes” for Gen Xers. A bigger grudge purchase than insurance normally is. The Federal Government just ticked off on premium increases of […]

The mechanics of DIY gearing

PORTFOLIO POINT: Debt, as an investment tool, is staging a comeback. Here’s how trustees prepared to up the risk can potentially rebuild battered SMSF balances. Debt is roaring back onto the agenda for SMSFs, as a happy confluence of investment triggers push trustees into mindsets of considering more risk. Virtually zero real cash interest rates, […]

What are the key positives and negatives of starting your own business?

A self-employed friend once said via Facebook, “everyone should start a business in their lifetime”. I couldn’t disagree more. I understood his point – when things are clicking, the feeling is euphoric – but there are good reasons why so many small businesses fail. So I’ll start with the negatives. The hours can be brutal, […]

Growth or income? It’s a taxing issue

PORTFOLIO POINT: Are you targeting income or growth? And why? Here’s how tax impacts that choice in the longer term for SMSFs. The market’s on the move. It has been now for around eight months. And for those who have been invested, it’s made for a pleasant change. Over nearly five years of chaos on […]

How can couples stay financially happy ever after?

Cue Louis Armstrong: “You like to-may-to. I like to-mah-to. Let’s call the whole thing off.” Yup, there is only one way. And I think, deep down, y’all know what it is. So, walk up to your partner, say thanks for the lovely, if sometimes challenging, times you’ve shared and have a kiss. Then call it […]