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Tag: Interest rates

‘Cash is king’ is dead

  SUMMARY: Cash is dead. And it’s time SMSFs woke up to the real cost of their love affair with the folding stuff. There’s always an exception to the rule. Sir Isaac Newton and his “what goes up must come down” law can occasionally be proved wrong. For example, Australian self-managed super funds and their […]

Success is a great feeling. What’s been your greatest financial achievement?

BLOWING our own trumpets? Most un-Australian. We don’t like bragging. Usually makes us sound like tossers. But that’s what the editor wants, so … I’ve got two answers. One personal, one professional. And, neatly, they’re linked. As a kid, I was always a good saver. Sure, I spent money on lollies and footy cards and […]

Even the experts can make mistakes. What’s the silliest financial blunder you’ve made?

It’s natural to feel like an idiot when you make a mistake. But if soon afterwards you feel smarter, it’s because you’ve learned something. Yeah, I’ve stuffed up on occasion. Some of my errors have cost me thousands. Youthful exuberance. But the most annoying are not always the most costly. The cab driver in Santiago, […]

Too good for too long, apparently…

I know the call is coming. I should pre-empt it and call first. Or just raise it during a Sunday night Skype chat with them and the grandkids. It’s the call I should expect, from the Old Folks, when governments go and trample on their financial turf. “My Boy! We only recently got the age […]

It’s budget day tomorrow. What are your top three budgeting tips?

    WHOA! Let’s bugger off this word “budget”, okay? It puts everyone, except Treasury officials, to sleep. Tomorrow night’s federal snorefest – well, I’ll be watching – has virtually no similarities to your own home finances. Pollies can raise taxes. They negotiate with dozens of vested interests in parliament. They quibble over billions of […]

It’s composting awareness week! What eco practices can we all do to save money as well?

“Cash-a-can, cash-a-can, it’s lots of fun to do!” My first inkling that being a tree-huggin’ hippy could be financially rewarding was via that 70s TV jingle. Every kid I knew would fight over aluminium cans to earn extra pocket money. Trawling around school fetes with a plastic bag was particularly profitable. Later in life, the […]

Exploiting low rates 2: Good numbers for gearing

SUMMARY: It’s the perfect cocktail for SMSF property investors. Two parts rising asset prices and one part low-interest rates. So, the bookies were wrong. An interest rate cut was odds-on favourite early yesterday afternoon. But nothing. Another month at least. Possibly longer. Every interest rate cut – for years, actually – has only been icing […]

Buying property a 10-year game

If you understand one fundamental “law of life”, making improvements to your lot becomes so much simpler. That law is this: “No long-term good ever comes without sacrifice”. Ever lost weight without cutting back on intake and/or pounding the pavement? Ever got an “A” without studying? Did you buy your first home without spending a […]

Mortgage rates remain at historical lows. How you can make the most of them?

Don’t cheer too hard. Leave the champagne on ice. Suck up to the boss. Batten down hatches. Interest rate cuts, sure, are like a pay rise. Sort of. Sadly, they can be taken away from you. They eventually will. You have no control over it. I don’t want to get all Nouriel Roubini (the guy […]

Property in a DIY fund can be a monstrous investment

SUMMARY: Low interest rate warning for SMSFs and potential property investment. Just when you thought the bonfire was fizzling out, the Reserve Bank throws on a little fuel. The Reserve Bank’s surprise interest rate cut last week will, no doubt, have property players frothing at the mouth. Or, perhaps, knocking the top off a frothy […]