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Category: Articles

Your SMSFs June 30 checklist

PORTFOLIO POINT: The All Ords punching through 5000 points shouldn’t distract SMSF trustees from what’s important – making sure your super fund is shipshape for June 30. It felt almost like fairies had descended earlier this week when the All Ordinaries reached, albeit briefly, above 5000 points. When it first fell back below 5000 points, […]

What was the best piece of money advice you ever received? Who was it from and how did you use it?”

There’s been loads! Where did they come from? Everywhere! Billboards, books, Buffett and Bullmore. From adapting the Nike theme (“Just do it!”) to my personal finances, to the classic truism (“No-one ever went broke making a profit”) to Buffett’s book of the bizarre (“It’s only when the tide goes out that you see who’s been […]

My wishlist for super in the budget

PORTFOLIO POINT: Wayne Swan is bunkered down in Canberra writing his third Budget. Here’s what Eureka Report wants from the Treasurer next month. This time last year, few would have argued that Wayne Swan held the toughest job in the country. The 2009 Budget was going to be one of the most difficult ever to […]

“Some people gulp down their Easter chocolates while others make them last for weeks. What do these behaviours say?”

This is a question about “delayed gratification”. It’s not Jung, Freud or Pavlov! It’s Walter Mischel! The guy who did the fascinating (but probably nowadays illegal) “marshmallow experiment” on Generation X toddlers in the 70s. Mischel put little kids in a room with a marshmallow. They were told that if they didn’t eat it before […]

Taxman warns on contributions

The small, small world of self-managed super fund legal eagles sounded like a henhouse with a fox loose yesterday when news broke of the sternest of Tax Office warnings. The ATO warned that it was aware of several law firms selling trust deeds (and potentially recommending associated strategies) with provisions that are designed to get […]

We’ve heard the cliche that opposites attract. How do you manage your money when a spender teams up with a saver?”

Opposites? You mean like Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher? Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills? Or like my wife and I? Whether it’s business, personalities or money, the most successful relationships are usually the ones where opposites combine successfully. Yin and yang. Think Tom Cruise from Jerry Maguire: “You complete me”. Sameness is not only […]

Cooper targets super back-office waste

PORTFOLIO POINT: Jeremy Cooper claims he can make or save super members and employers about $12 billion in 10 years with just two sensible changes. “Razor gang” is a largely political term, usually reserved for that arm of an incoming government that’s purpose is to thin out the lazy build up of a public service […]

“Lending money to friends and family can be dangerous. How do you ask for it back?”

You don’t ask for it back. First, you send them a toenail via Australia Post … then you make it known that you’ve got other friends who were pallbearers at Underbelly funerals. Never lend more than you can afford to kiss goodbye to forever. A payment plan might help, if you get yourself in a […]

Super gearing here to stay

PORTFOLIO POINT: Geared super can unpack its suitcase and settle in for an extended stay – with more protection for trustees and members. The super gearing rules that were introduced in the dying days of the Howard Government are officially here to stay. If there was ever any doubt – and there certainly was in […]

“Home equity. They talk about it. They rave about it. But if you’ve got some, what should you do with it?”

Older Gen Xers will have got stuck into the mortgage game many years ago. Through the combination of paying down the loan and the property rising in value, they have probably developed some reasonable equity by now. Younger Xers might have only recently bought their home, or are saving their deposit, so won’t have developed […]