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Can a balloon rise forever?

Time to pull those Commonwealth Bank shares out of the bottom draw

The first shares in the Commonwealth Bank of Australia were sold by the Federal Government in 1991 when it released 30 per cent of the bank’s shares to the public at $5.40 a piece with a minimum number of 400 shares for a total of $2,160. So

Higher super contributions to boost super savings by $125,000

A significant change to the compulsory superannuation contribution system starting today, means that all employees will start receiving super compulsory super contributions at the rate of 12.5 per cent up from 12 per cent previously. This is effectively a pay rise of 0.5 per cent across the board

Changes to boost women’s super

When Paul Keating introduced compulsory superannuation some 30 years ago, the main losers were women with their extended breaks from paid work, part-time workers and people with multiple superannuation accounts, collected as they move from one employer to another. Over the years, the Federal Government has worked to redress

A Taxing Time of Year

Unbelievably, we are already in June! As always, this is the time of year to take a step back,  review your finances and where all your money is going and particularly review any opportunities you might have to reduce your overall tax bill. Making additional contributions to super must be

Reducing your tax bill this year

As June 30 and the end of the financial year looms over us, it’s important that everyone pause and think about whether it is possible to reduce their overall tax bill by making extra contributions to super. While there are a number of strategies that may or may not

What if you exceed your contribution caps

While we’re discussing putting extra money into super, it is important that you realize what sort of contributions you can make to super and when and what should happen if for some reasons you should inadvertently exceed your contributions caps. Basically, there are two types of contributions to super.

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The $3 million super tax

Are you getting your full Super Contributions?

Disappointingly there are still employers that are reluctant or slow to pay the full super guarantee contributions on the wages when they pay their staff. More, many staff members are unsure what their entitlements are. As with most things to do with superannuation, the rules are constantly changing. The Federal

What the markets thinks of Donald Trump 50 days on

Again, given Donald Trump has taken up so much space in the media since his election last year, its interesting to step back and look his first 50 or so days in Government and how it has impacted on the world share markets. To date, it seems the world has

On election eve, what's going to happen?

As we head towards a federal election tomorrow, there seems to me to be greater air of uncertainty, particularly in the investments markets, than we have ever faced before in Australia. However, as Paul Keating once said, if you look back at history, the Australian people have never got it

Why is CBA trading so strongly?

There doesn’t seem to be anything stopping the meteoric rise of the share price of Australia’s largest bank the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which has climbed from $113 a share to a high of $168 during the past twelve months. Most analysts say it is completely nonsensical and

Now is the time to chat with your tax agent about contributing more to super

Many Australians don’t realize that they can potentially reduce their overall tax bill by making additional contributions to superannuation and claiming a tax deduction for doing so. While you can claim up to $30,000 as a concessional tax deduction, including the super guarantee contribution paid by their employer,

Why owning shares in rare earth miners is so high risk

The growing tensions between China and the United States has focused attention on several issues, including the importance of rare earths in future technology such as mobile phones and batteries through to sophisticated military hardware. Just the very name suggests that investing in rare earths is a sure-fire way

Beating the cost of living – lessons from the pandemic

Again, this election has been dominated by arguments about the so called ‘Cost-of-Living Crisis’, and there are obviously a lot of Australians, including some in full-time work, that are doing it really tough. There are also some drivers in the economy that have made life more challenging.

Helping first home buyers

There has been a lot said during this election campaign about buying your first home and I know this is something that concerns many Australians, including parents and grandparents of potential first home buyers. It’s important to remember, it has always been hard to buy your own home in

Rest Assured

Recent events in the United States have, as I am sure most readers will know, culminated in a significant sell off in the United States share market last week and this is flowing through as I write, to a sell off in the Australian share market. As I have often

Where to from here……

While there is so much uncertainty in the world, largely due to events in the US and President Trump seemingly taking a new stance on major geo-political issues every day, there are some things you can rely on. That regardless of which side of politics is in power, the

The Budget's impact on Super

The Federal Government, regardless of who is in power, can’t resist twitching or making changes to super every time they have a major financial policy announcement or hand down a budget. But hey, if you live long enough you will see everything! Last week’s Federal budget was very

Now is the time to buy

There’s been so much panic talk in the media since the election of Donald Trump to the US presidency that many investors are suddenly worried about their investments and what might be the best course of action from here. The most important thing to remember is to not panic.

What is happening to the world?

Gosh… what a difference a month can make. The euphoria that surrounded the run-up to and actual election of Donald Trump to the White House, caused the US share market to climb almost 10 per cent since November.   But the sudden realization of what an actual Trump Presidency means

Stay healthy in old age

I don’t often write about maintaining a good healthy regime as you move through retirement in this newsletter and sometimes, I think that’s a mistake as its good to be constantly reminded of the need to be proactive about your health. Of course, this doesn’t mean adopting

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What now for Australia’s big banks?

Big super controlling retirements

The Australian Government is increasingly concerned that more and more Australians are dying with more superannuation than they entered retirement with, meaning they are not spending enough through retirement.   This has prompted the Government to spend a lot of time trying to generate income products, that is where you put

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What if there is a major share market correction in 2025?