(03) 9020 2905

Welcome to Bruce Brammall Financial

Tag: financial advice

SMSFs become a distorting force

SUMMARY: The power wielded by Australia’s SMSF sector is growing. Will we use that power wisely, or just in individual self-interest? When it comes to throwing its weight around, there is one super fund that can put quakes and quivers into the spines of board directors globally. CalPERS, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, can […]

Getting your SMSF 2014 ready

SUMMARY: Here are nine steps to get your SMSF ready for whatever’s ahead in 2014. In life, you can look forward or you can look back. But it usually pays to do a bit of both. While the final results aren’t in yet for calendar 2013, it was a fine year for investors and self-managed […]

SMSFs still ahead

SUMMARY: The future of super under an Abbott Government is being unveiled – slowly, but surely. And SMSFs will be relative winners. What is said before an election, whether promises or stated intentions, means little. It’s what gets delivered afterwards that’s counts. This was illustrated forcefully last week with the reversal of the Abbott Government’s […]

Super duo strategies to cut tax

PORTFOLIO POINT: Uneven incomes in your couple? And at least one of you is considering a pension? Here’s a strategy for you. Money is, from the results of most surveys, one of the top three topics for arguments in a household. The joining of a couple’s finances can lead to all sorts of tensions, from […]

Why compulsory annuities won’t suit SMSFs

PORTFOLIO POINT: The spectre of compulsory super annuities is increasing. And I don’t think SMSF trustees will be too thrilled. A considerable number of voices believe it’s one of the last great reforms needed to get Australia’s superannuation system up to world’s best. Compulsory annuities. When you hit retirement age – or some defined qualifying […]

Inside ASIC’s SMSF push

PORTFOLIO POINT: ASIC will make it tougher for industry professionals to push clients down the path of opening a SMSFs. The snowball in the numbers of SMSFs and the associated members and trustees continues rolling and growing. The latest tax office data, released over the weekend, shows SMSFs numbered 509,362 at 30 June, with a […]

Super frauds target SMSFs

PORTFOLIO POINT: Could you become a target of a super scam or SMSF fraud? Your SMSF is not safe. Here’s what to look out for. Bees and honeypots. Frauds and moneypots. It’s a similarly sticky attraction. The list of those who have lost wads to fraudsters and scam artists continually grows. Email and the internet […]

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 […]