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Tag: Property

Money for nothin’? You gotta earn it!

There is a period in every parent’s life where all vacations seem to be “holidays in hell”. Who would travel with kids by choice? Tired kids meet airport security. A truly volatile combination. I’ve never sweated more quickly than when I was forced to softly scream at my eight-year-old boy to stop talking about “blowing […]

What’s better? Tipping money into super or paying off a mortgage?

  Better questions. Who would you rather sleep with? Ladies, Brad Pitt or Matthew McConaughey? Lads, Jennifer Love Hewitt or Heather Locklear? If you’re straight, perhaps you answered a screaming “BOTH!”. If you’re gay or bi, you might have answered two, possibly more. If you’re a Gen Xer and answered one or less … then […]

Australians aspire to own their own home. How do you do it?

Oh, I dunno. Let’s ask a financial expert. The man in charge of Australia’s finances, Treasurer Joe Hockey. “If you’ve got a good job and it pays good money …” Um, Joe, had to punish you for that one again. You walked into it, buddy. The “how” you do it is dependent on only one […]

Now’s time to go hard, Gen-Xers!

I have a rule with Mrs DebtMan. Well, I have a few. So does she. And hers includes no mobile phones at the dinner table. She goes all Cujo-like – frothy at the mouth – if I receive 100 texts over dinner from the school-dad, punting-club “Turkeys”. Which is often. But one of my rules […]

Is all debt bad? What’s the difference between good and bad debt?

            All bad? Hell no! Stupid question! Are you bat-crazy, like Kanye West? Or just out-of-your-mind, like Charlie Sheen? Seriously? How can all debt be bad? If you’re not convinced, ask yourself the following simple question: “Who could buy their first home without debt?” A tiny fraction of 1 per […]

Which financial professionals do you need in your life?

Hire professionals? Why would a Gen Xer do that? We’re smart enough to do it ourselves. Plus, our careers and kids aren’t terribly time-taxing. We don’t need social lives, or to spend time with our partners. Thpppt! Crazy. Gen Xers need financial professionals, or need their heads read. Outsource the jobs you hate, won’t find […]

What expenses are the easiest to save money on?

Is that the sound of a chainsaw firing up on a Monday morning? Love it! “Chainsaw” Al Dunlap was an American executive legendary for downsizing by sacking staff. Kerry Packer hired him and briefly bought him to Australia. In his honour, I’ll take a chainsaw to my expenses … slash people costs. Personal trainer? Sacked. […]

Sydney fears get the lapdogs cowering

You know that feeling when you’re stretching something rubbery to its absolute limits? That creaking feeling right at the point of maximum tension? The rubber band on your fingers stretched a foot or so wide. Exert a little more pressure and watch it explode? Hold it and hope it doesn’t snap? Or, release the tension […]

What is the best piece of financial advice you were ever given?

I’m a melting pot of thousands of ideas that I’ve heard over the years. Singling out one? Whoa. Tough. I learn the most while reading. So the best “advice” I’ve ever received has usually come via books, or the media. And I’ve read some truly crappy advice during that time also. Some so inately offending my […]

‘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 […]