(03) 9020 2905

Welcome to Bruce Brammall Financial

Category: Articles

Online shopping is booming, but what are the risks of buying financial products online?

Little known fact: I was the first ever victim of internet credit card fraud in Australia! Okay, not the first. But it was last century, which made it pretty early in the history of cyber crime. And it scared me off online purchasing for years. It was 1998 and I’d never bought anything over the […]

Paying your dumb debts first can save you thousands

I’m feeling an arctic breeze blowing through my world, but I can’t hear the “Happy Feet” tapping of penguins. I’m feeling a little vulnerable, a little skittish. Actually, I’m feeling a little like Tinkerbell. Peter Pan warned the kids that if Jane stopped believing in fairies, “Tink’s light’s gonna go out”. She’d just plain disappear. […]

Inside Labor’s super wealth tax plans

PORTFOLIO POINT: Labor is planning a major tax slug for super members who are a little above average. If you’ve got $1 million in super, you must read this. I accept that I can be a bit of a cynical bugger. It becomes ingrained with a few decades of journalism under one’s belt. So I […]

Don’t make the ultimate super sacrifice

PORTFOLIO POINT: Why you can’t leave planning your salary sacrifice to the last minute. Plus “Election 2013” – the super political promises have started. Concessional contributions are a fairly simple concept. There’s a limit you generally don’t want to go over. For the moment, that’s $25,000 for everyone who’s able to make contributions. (Let’s see […]

Insurance: Most of us need some, but what and how much? Where do you start?

MOST of us need? Seriously. All Gen Xers need it! Like we need air. And Sunnyboy iceblocks on 40 deg day. Ask yourselves the following. Have you got a mortgage, kids, partner, debt or a job? Still breathing? The more of those you said “uh-huh” to, the more insurance you need. Unless you won lotto […]

Drilling down into DIY super

PORTFOLIO POINT: How do you compare? The latest stats show some surprising trends in the SMSF sector. For years we moaned about the quality of up-to-date statistics on self-managed super funds. The data was years old by the time it came out. That is changing. We’ll never get up-to-the-minute figures like we do with share […]

Come off the sidelines and invest a little each year

For the nervous, the twitchy, the ones looking for an excuse … is it ever really a good time to invest? Nobody likes to “catch a falling knife”. With shares, picking a plummeting stock’s bottom is more luck than skill. Take investing any time in 2008. Every knife in the kitchen, sharpened by Gordon Ramsay […]

Strategy is vital for investors. What are your top three strategy tips for 2013?

WHOA, dudes! It’s January! Anyone for beach cricket, downing a few frothy ones and cheering congestion-free roads? Can’t we just bask in the glow of that gnarly second half of 2012, where Australian shares did 16 per cent? No? You’re right. It’ll be June 30 before we know it. Okay, the first strategy involves noting […]

Seven super tips for 2013

PORTFOLIO POINT: Take a moment to be thankful for returns in calendar 2012. Now, focus on what you need to do in 2013. In recent years, it’s been rare that SMSF trustees have had so much to be pleased with when it comes to performance. And returns in 2012 were something to put a smile […]

Ignorance does not make this prank righteous

A good prank call … ah, it can be a world of fun? Bart Simpson versus barkeep Moe? Classic comedy! Hours of laughter. However, as we’ve recently witnessed, it can, literally, turn deadly. The Sydney DJs and the royal pregnancy prank phone call have altered FM radio forever. I’m thinking anti-coal campaigner Jonathan Moylan was […]