How to dump $450,000 into your super in one year
Let’s say you sell an investment property and you have a significant sum of money to invest somewhere – can you dump the lot into super? There is a whole host of rules surrounding how much money you can dump into your super fund and many come under the bring-forward rule, which you should be…
Self-managed super funds and tax exemptions on pension assets
I am over 70, but my wife is only 62 and we are both retired. We have a SMSF that commenced in 2005 from which we both draw a pension. Each year I have donated funds to my wife’s super in order to claim the Co-contribution. Apparently this means that the SMSF is in both…
Super fund decimated? Strategies to get it back on track
Retirees, battered and bruised over shrinking nest eggs, should stay the superannuation course during volatile financial markets, but are advised to closely examine fund performance and investment strategy. It’s not the time for disillusioned members to make rash and emotional decisions in light of weaker equity markets during the past 18 months, although shares have…
Investing for your child’s future
Future generations are going to need all the financial assistance they can get as government financial support for education, home ownership and retirement looks set to become just a bitter sweet memory. We sought advice from financial planners concerning the Dos and Don’ts of when, how and why to invest for children. Why consider children’s…
Think you don’t need financial advice? Think again.
If you’re a DIY investor who researches thoroughly and has translated that into a well-managed and high performing portfolio, you may think you don’t need a financial advisor. If so it may pay you to think again… and read on. You might find that you don’t know as much as you thought you did. Dominic…
The perils of sudden wealth
Two lottery wins in two consecutive years and the combined total of $5.4 million gone in just over two decades. Evelyn Adams, who achieved the Great American Dream twice when she won the New Jersey lottery in 1985 and 1986, is now destitute and living in a trailer. The tragedy is that hers is not…
The ultimate starter strategy for building wealth
Instalment gearing is fast becoming the ultimate starter strategy for the capital-challenged, novice investor focused on building wealth. Buzz words such as ‘set and forget’ and ‘user-friendly’ sum up its marketability. “Instalment gearing can be done very cost effectively and has an amazing application for a wide range of people,” says Peter van der Westhuyzen,…
Investment clubs: is pooling resources good for your wealth?
When picking stocks, or choosing funds, do you make better investment decisions by going it alone – or in a group format, where investing ideas are put to the crowd? Investment clubs are big believers in the latter: a group of investors can be more successful than a single investor, but there is disagreement in…
Building a trust fund portfolio
Probably the best known “family trust” in Australia was the estate of George Adams, which was founded in the late 19th century. It eventually became the listed public company, Tattersall’s Limited, in 2005. Most modern family trusts are more modest affairs, but there are now more than 500,000 of them in this country. Most are…
Your retirement: how much income do you need?
Australians might now be more aware of the real need to crank up their superannuation savings, but working out exactly how much is needed to fund a retirement that is free of monetary worries is still difficult. There are so many variables at play – with the most important being that it is very hard…
