When you’re busily running on the treadmill of life, you often fail to notice hidden savings that occur as your children grow up. For example, it is not uncommon for parents to spend from $10,000 to $19,000 per child per year on child care fees. When your child starts primary school (assuming it’s not a […]
Would you buy a house with friends or relatives?
Article from Knowledge Shop It’s not uncommon for friends and relatives to band together to capitalise on the investment property market. But what happens when it all goes wrong? The Housing Industry Association shows that it now takes 2.04 average full time salaries to comfortably service a standard mortgage on a median priced detached house […]
Making Donations in a Tax Effective Way
As you look forward to a new year, you may wish to review your charitable giving and how tax effective your philanthropy is. Not all charitable donations are tax deductible. Registered deductible gift recipients (DGRs) provide you with a receipt stating that the gifts are deductible. The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has a […]
Why SMSF’s are Perfectly Placed for the Incoming Super Reforms
Witi Suma, GFM Wealth Advisory – Friday, 10 February 2017 http://www.nestegg.com.au/from-the-experts/expert-opinion/10554-why-smsfs-are-perfectly-placed-for-the-incoming-super-reforms?utm_source=nestegg.com.au&utm_campaign=10_02_17&utm_medium=email&utm_content=3 While the looming changes to Australia’s superannuation system may have retail and industry fund members worried, SMSFs can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they’re holding the best retirement vehicle to navigate the reforms. In light of the upcoming changes to superannuation from […]
Strategies for the $1.6M pension cap – to implement before 30 June 2017
If you have a super member balance over $1.6M, here are some strategies you may consider to minimise your tax. Note that you will have to implement these before 30/6/17. If your super member balance is only a little over the $1.6M cap, and you have low taxable income outside of super, then you may […]
Sweeping Super Reform a Reality
Sweeping super reform a reality Article from Knowledge Shop In December 2016 the Senate passed a series of the broad ranging superannuation reforms originally proposed in the 2016-17 Federal Budget. Amongst other measures, the Bills: Introduce a $1.6 million cap on the amount of capital that can be transferred to the tax-free earnings retirement phase […]
Secrets of How the Rich, Smart Money Invest….. via Private Equity Placements
Private Equity as an asset class has attracted a growing amount of interest from investors over recent years as it continues to outperform traditional asset classes. Previously access to the private equity market was only limited to institutional investors, but in recent years, sophisticated investors (with net worth of over $2.5M or income of $250,000 […]
Earn Part Time Income with Your Car
Earn Part Time Income with Your Car (The Uber Driver and Tax) Are you a stay-at-home mother or retiree? Or do you need extra income to pay off that mortgage? It is becoming more popular for people to provide ride-sourcing services like Uber as part of the sharing economy. You just need to be aware […]
Rare Opportunities for Sophisticated Investors, including Self Managed Super Funds
From time to time we receive proposals from institutions that are only available to sophisticated investors (with net assets of over $2.5 million or income of over $250,000 pa). For example: Investing in prime commercial property via a syndicate or unlisted property trust. Investing in private equity stakes in strong. growth-oriented, mid-size Australian companies (unlisted). […]
Cashing Out Your Annual Leave
Annual Leave Cash Out! And a couple of other changes Employees covered by Modern Awards will finally, legally be able to cash out accrued annual leave, following a determination recently from the Fair Work Commission. There are a few rules around being able to do this: It must be by genuine agreement between both parties, […]
Tax Incentives to Invest in the next Uber
Imagine investing in the next Uber or Seek at an early stage. You can qualify for tax breaks when you invest in early stage innovative companies and then when you sell your investment. Here’s how it works When you invest, you get a 20 per cent non-refundable carry-forward tax offset on your investment, capped at […]
In the News – Super Reform Changes
The treasurer recently announced changes to the 2016 Budget super reforms. In summary, the changes are: The $500,000 lifetime cap for non-concessional contributions (NCCs) will be replaced with an annual $100,000 non-concessional contributions cap. The current NCC cap carry forward provisions will continue for those under age 65, allowing members to contribute up to $300,000 […]
7 Reasons Why You Should Consider Refinancing your Home Loan
Being locked into the same mortgage year after year may not be such a good idea if you’re missing out on some great benefits. Perhaps this spring time you should refresh your home loan – you might even find that it gets you ahead in some of these ways: Refinance to save money on a […]
Federal Budget May 2016
The 2016-17 Federal Budget was announced on Tuesday 3 May 2016. Our essential 2016-17 Federal Budgest summary can be accessed here. Rucker Financial 16-17 Budget Update
Building a better portfolio in times of fear
So how can a rational investor respond to the risk of market volatility? Ensure that your investments are suitable for your own needs and objectives. Also be alert to the risks of your chosen investment. Our view is that there are three key principles to bear in mind in constructing an investment portfolio, all of […]
How do the Age Pension asset test changes in Jan 2017 affect you?
Maximum limits before your pension is cut off: The ‘upper limit’ to receive a part-pension and the vital pensioner concession card will decrease to $823,000 for homeowner couples and $547,000 for single people. A couple who own their home, and with assets in excess of $823,000, stand to lose just under $13,000 in pension payments each […]
What is the Australian government’s “Innovation Package”?
The Prime Minister has announced that the Australian government will spend $1.1B over the next four years to promote business based research, development and innovation. Mr Turnbull called the initiative an “ideas boom”. He indicated that the key focus revolves around strengthening ties between the business community, universities and scientific institutions. The government has decried […]
Property Market Update
Significant commentary has been made about the state of the Australian Housing market, specifically with regards to its current value and potential of “bubble” market conditions. A significant point to note here, is that the Australian property market is made up of many markets, all with their own differing cycles with common macro and some […]
How Valuable is your business? (It’s all in the planning!)
Two minute scenarios… Business owners often don’t realise how vulnerable their investment is… Scenario One… Mark and Mike Scenario: Mark and Mike have spent the last 10 years building up their business. They have consistently re-invested profits back into it. What’s the issue? If one of them needs to, or wants to leave the partnership, […]
Invest better: 6 invaluable quotes from the legends of investment
“The ideal business is one that earns very high returns on capital and that keeps using lots of capital at those high returns. That becomes a compounding machine.” — Warren Buffett Investing for the long term in companies with sustainable competitive advantages builds wealth. “All you need for a lifetime of successful investing is a few big […]
