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Tag: Interest rates

Lessons learnt — let’s dive back in

It’s about this time of year that I become thankful. If I’m writing this, my liver held out for another summer. Come February, we’ve still got warmer weather. And the cold beer that accompanies it. Beer gardens are good times. I loved the (too-short) holiday I get, to hang out with the kids and with […]

Think twice about taking a super lump sum

SUMMARY: Wondering what to do with your super at retirement? Look harder at the pension option. Sometimes you need an outsider to come in to critique. Rip what you’re doing to shreds. And tell you how to reconstruct it properly. American Professor Robert C Merton has done just that to Australia’s super system. On a […]

Six ways to get ready for retirement

SUMMARY: Six steps to making sure your run up to retirement is as profitable as possible. There is a fuzzy point in your life when the retirement you have been working towards suddenly starts charging at you. It’s fuzzy because it’s going to be a different age for everyone. For most, it will happen somewhere […]

How to choose between super and the mortgage

SUMMARY: Paying off your home, or contributing more to super? Lower rates can make this an even more super idea. Sustained low interest rates has certainly made paying off the mortgage easier in recent years. But it’s also given a boost to a combined super/mortgage strategy. A question often asked by those in their 50s […]

A million reasons to watch SMSFs

SUMMARY: SMSFs continue to do what they know best – make sure that their own best interests are being looked after. UNDERDOG status is something with which DIY super funds have long been comfortable. Being underestimated has never worried them. Authorities and outsiders often misread them, misunderstand what drives them and mis-judge how they’re going […]

Renewed threat to SMSF property gearing

SUMMARY: Is the end nigh for SMSF property gearing strategies? If you’ve been considering making a geared property investment inside a SMSF for a while, I don’t know that I would be dithering for much longer. It’s beginning to feel like the vice handle is being turned and squeezing SMSFs. The end could be in […]

Secret lessons from DIY funds

SUMMARY: Taking SMSFs seriously – now fund managers and stock brokers want to know how we think so they can second guess us. Yes, self-managed super funds are a force to be reckoned with. You and I have known that for some time. But it’s only now just dawning on some elements in the finance […]

Something’s gotta give, honey

I spent a good portion of my Christmas break learning some pretty amazing, sometimes too intricate, details about a mate. Over many nights, and many lagers, I heard a lot of stories about his youth.  Many of them were stories about the 20-something backpacking lifestyle that I wished I’d lived. Others were experiences I’m happy […]

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 […]