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Category: Articles

Borrowing to invest: Is it still a worthwhile investment strategy today?

There’s a fringe element out there – certifiably crazy, in my opinion, like Charlie Sheen’s spectacular brain implosion – that believes debt is the devil. These, um, fools, claim embracing debt is essentially Russian roulette, using a revolver with ammo in every cylinder. Forfeit enjoyment until all debt is repaid. If debt is evil, how […]

Five financial mistakes

Time to name your weakness. What’s the stupid thing you do time and again? I’ll go first. Buffet. I’m hopeless. If a waiter hands me an empty plate (with more empties ready for courses two to 13) and says “Knock yourself out”, I follow orders. I have an exemplary record. When I finish at a […]

What should you do if your wage comes up in a conversation with your colleagues?

Implement previously rehearsed emergency tactical diversion techniques. This is not a drill. This situation is live! Go to the bathroom. “Sorry, I’m off. It’s washing night.” Wander off to order another drink. Pretend your mobile is ringing (on silent). Look at your phone and exclaim “Oh, my God! I’ve got to answer this text!” “Wow, […]

What should you do if your wage comes up in a conversation with your colleagues?

Implement previously rehearsed emergency tactical diversion techniques. This is not a drill. This situation is live! Go to the bathroom. “Sorry, I’m off. It’s washing night.” Wander off to order another drink. Pretend your mobile is ringing (on silent). Look at your phone and exclaim “Oh, my God! I’ve got to answer this text!” “Wow, […]

Enemy of the SMSF people

PORTFOLIO POINT: Lies, damned lies and statistics. Selective quoting of stats won’t make ACOSS a friend of SMSF trustees. Today I’m going to declare an “enemy” of self-managed super funds. This doesn’t happen often. Sometimes, some people, or some organisations, start proposing changes that would so fundamentally impact on your interests, that I feel compelled. […]

Eating out can cause financial fights. Who pays on a first date and who pays at a family dinner?

FOOD fight! Cool, I feel like a Blazing Saddles pie fight. The default position for payment for all restaurant meals is … Boomers, of course, should pay for everything. While they still can. And then for some time after, given they will be mooching off the labours and taxes of Gen X and Gen Y […]

How to start your DIY pension

PORTFOLIO POINT: It’s not quite as simple as “insert pension, press play”. So how do you “flick on” a pension in your SMSF? Pensions are, literally, what super is all about. The provision of retirement benefits is numero uno on the definition of superannuation’s sole purpose test. It’s the end game. But it’s an end […]

Which generation is the biggest threat to your own generation’s financial future?

Boomers. Question answered. Am I done? But we can’t blame the Boomers directly. They were only such a large generation because the parents who spawned them were so darn … horny! When I think about my grandma – the credit card addict – just writing that sentence makes my spine shiver. It’s that whole visualisation […]

Clock ticking on DIY property

PORTFOLIO POINT: A super opportunity could be closing. If you were thinking it’s for you, you’ll need to get started very, very soon. Like sands through the hourglass … a two-year egg timer started flowing in the last few months of calendar 2010. The last grains are due to fall through later this year. It […]

Is it worthwhile seeking professional advice about your superannuation account?

Gen Xers have major distractions in their lives – burgeoning careers, cash-guzzling and time-devouring rugrats plus monster mortgages. It’s possible to do everything yourself … if your time is unlimited. But most Gen Xers understand time doesn’t grow on trees and they need to outsource some stuff. If personal finance isn’t your strength, get professionals […]