Feed them. Clothe them. Shelter them. Love them. That’s what I was told when I signed up for kids. Nobody ever said anything about “Pay them”! Isn’t there some United Nations’ parental right to slave labour for menial (but time-saving) household chores for 15 or so years? My parents insisted there was! Before they sent […]
PORTFOLIO POINT: Tax-free super hasn’t entirely killed off the value of a recontribution strategy. Here’s how it can still make sense and why, if it’s in your armoury, you might want to fire it. The brand of tax-free super introduced in July 2007 bought Australian super members significant joy. Turning 60 really did become a […]
Who likes eggs? I’m generally a scrambled sort of guy. Occasionally, I go for hard boiled. And this question relates to how you boil your eggs. You want them easy, you do it quickly. You want it hard, you just make the process longer. The easy way to save for a deposit is simply to […]
PORTFOLIO POINT: Loans in super funds can be “forgiven” – a handy way of getting assets into a fund now and benefiting from the low-tax super environment. A starting point for all lending seems to be loan to valuation ratios (LVRs), which are a yardstick measure for how much a particular lender will agree to […]
Excellent topic to ask one of Australia’s most senior bankers, Sir Ralph Norris, from the Commonwealth Bank. Bruce: “Morning Ralphy.” Ralphy: “Morning Bruce.” (Hey, don’t forget his New Zealand accent.) Bruce: “Would it be a winning idea to consolidate all of my banking with CBA?” Ralphy: “Hell, yeah! I’d love you to! I’ll slug you […]
PORTFOLIO POINT: Legislators need to step in to force fund managers into “truth in labelling” to help super members. Because the existing schmozzle really isn’t a hard fix. That two funds calling themselves “balanced” super funds can have performance statistics that suggest they are not just from different performance cultures, but quite possibly from different […]
Earn more versus spend less? Oh no, the never-ending battle of good versus evil! But which is good? And which is evil? It’s like pitting Angelina Jolie against Brad Pitt in Mr and Mrs Smith. As a guy, I was rooting for Brad. But Brad, please don’t kill Angelina. For Gen Xers, the focus is […]
PORTFOLIO POINT: In-specie share transfers into your SMSF can be win-win for reducing tax outside super and increasing a tax-free (or tax-effective) income stream. We should all know that the tax benefits of a super fund in pension phase are considerable. A fund in pension phase pays no tax on earnings and, at worst, you […]
I’d get really cross and let her have both barrels. “Red card, Grandma! How many times have I told you? A thousand! There’s no more room left on your reverse mortgage and I’m not bailing you out this time. “You can’t use it at the RSL to pick up dinner and a night on the […]
PORTFOLIO POINT: How good is Australia’s super/retirement income system? Not as good as we might like to think. And some work is required to bring it up to scratch, an international survey reveals. Australians have a definite superiority complex about the nation’s retirement system. We generally believe that we have the world’s greatest superannuation regime. […]
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