You should pray for a little intervention from Pixar in your life. (You know, the makers of favourite kiddie movies, including Toy Story and Finding Nemo.) You want a giant cartoon character hand to magically appear, firmly slap the asker across the chops, then disappear. Your inquisitor would be so flummoxed by what had just […]

Love it or hate it, the great message I got out of Forrest Gump was: “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something”. But even more importantly … “Run, Forrest! Run!” If you’re starting your own business, expect steep learning curves. And you won’t have time for a casual stroll. You’ll have to […]

“Aah, come grasshopper, wisdom you seek.” Okay, I might be mixing my Kung Fu quote with my poor Yoda impersonation there. Honestly? I disagree with the statement. It’s no harder to achieve wealth than it ever was. It might seem more difficult, but that’s explainable. We got into a false belief up to 2007 that […]

When minds turn to tax matters, some divine intervention wouldn’t go astray. So I generally channel Australia’s patron saint of tax minimisation, Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer. “If anybody in this country doesn’t minimise their tax, they want their heads read because, as a government, I can tell you, you’re not spending it that well that […]

Pulling out the crystal ball, hey? “Danger Will Robinson!” I hate one-year predictions. Hero? Or zero? That said … here are my punts. Shares: With shares stagnant at levels of five years ago, it feels like they are ready for a canter. (But I would have said that last year too – zero!). Stay diversified. […]

“GIDDYUP!” Don’t be alarmed. That’s just me mounting one of my hobby horses. Listen up Xers, because a superannuation hand grenade was tossed directly at us in 2009. The old rule of thumb, for those to the right, used to be: In your 50s, when the mortgage is largely paid down and the kids are […]

Is that all? Just the $36 billion? Come on Australia! My out-of-control, credit-card addict, Grandma owes nearly a quarter of that herself. Seriously! Are the rest of you really even trying? I … think … not! The Reserve Bank says the average credit card debt is $3321, which means you’re paying nearly $50 a month […]

Got any daredevil in you? A little bit Evel Knievel, flying high on motorbikes? Or would you feel more at home in the engineering department at Volvo during their 80s boring box-car period? The likely answer is somewhere in between – a bit more average, like Richie Cunningham from Happy Days. A risk profile is […]

What do you care if you’re dead? Instead, let me give you a plan to make money from death. Talk your way into other people’s Wills! Be nice to Aunt Helen. Go and mow Great Uncle Richard’s lawns once or twice a summer. Hang on! Better idea! There’s got to be easy millions in the […]

Huddle in, Xers. Logically, this isn’t a question aimed at us. Well, at least not the second half. Only the oldest Gen Xers – in their mid to late 40s – have had time to build much wealth yet. Even then, it’s hardly likely to be enough to justify going into defensive mode (as those […]