The Aussie housing bubble is worst than the States
The First Home Owners Boost (as it is officially known) has certainly given the Government bang for its buck. By spending roughly $200 million of its own money to date, it has added about $3 billion to the housing market. But the additional $2.8 billion has come from increased mortgage debt taken on by those…
Strategies that can turn sharemarket losses into gains
Strategy, firm decision-making and flexibility can help investors reverse unrealised losses in their share portfolios, according to finance experts that TheBull spoke to. The first step is to examine your share portfolio and separate the gains from the losses. So if you are currently nursing losses on a stock that you believe has strong fundamentals…
At 65, can I live off saved income and let my super accumulate for another 12 months?
I have a SMSF and turn 65 shortly. At aged 65 can I live off saved income and let my super accumulate for another 12 months before converting it to an allocated pension. Thanks, Dave. Answer: The rules applying to Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF) are no different to those affecting all superannuation when it…
Venture Capital
Investing in venture capital goes against everything the text books recommend as an appropriate investment. Venture capital in Australia has a minimal track record, the funds are mainly illiquid and the risks inherent in the portfolio of companies chosen by venture capitalists are pretty well as high as you can get. Having said that, venture…
Time decay
Traders beware: warrants become less valuable as they approach their expiry date, often declining rapidly in the last third of their life. Time decay happens regardless of what’s happening to the underlying share price, which means that buying a warrant close to its expiry date is a risky practice indeed. And if the warrant happens…
Loan To Value Ratio (LVR)
Loan to value ratios (LVRs) on shares and managed funds sound complicated but they’re not. Just think of this ratio as the amount the lender is willing to cough up. So if the LVR is 70 per cent, then the lender is willing to lend you 70 per cent of the total value of the…
Margin Call
Let’s say that you pledge $30,000 of your own shares and borrow a further $70,000 from a margin lender and invest the entire amount, $100,000, into a portfolio of shares. Your LVR in this example is 70%. If the value of the portfolio falls from $100,000 to $90,000, the LVR of 70% will be exceeded…
Overseas shares not so taxing
It’s all very well to talk about buying overseas shares, but what about the tax issues? As one of our readers pointed out, two issues that may impact negatively on Australians investing in foreign shares are our dividend imputation system, and the foreign with-holding taxes on dividends and capital gains. Let’s deal with the second…
Overseas shares not so taxing
It’s all very well to talk about buying overseas shares, but what about the tax issues? As one of our readers pointed out, two issues that may impact negatively on Australians investing in foreign shares are our dividend imputation system, and the foreign with-holding taxes on dividends and capital gains. Let’s deal with the second…
Take a look at what Bob Jane owns
Tyre magnate Bob Jane holds grave fears for the Australian car industry. He believes between 40 and 50 per cent of the nation’s car dealers will close their doors during the next six months after floor plan financiers GE Money and GMAC Finance recently announced they would withdraw from the Australian industry. “Car dealers in…
