Self Managed Super Funds - Your Perfect Match?

Sick of lack lustre returns?   Think you could do a better job investing your hard earned superannuation savings than the professionals?   If you would like to control where your money is invested, a Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) could be the answer.   A word of warning though - you might be biting off more than you chew!

Managing your own self managed superannuation fund can be time consuming,  and very few investors fully understand the responsibilities of being a Trustee of their own fund (and the ATO are onto them!).   To give you a hand to start your research to ascertain whether a SMSF is your perfect match, I have sourced the following publications on the Australian Taxation Office website:- Read more

Short selling stocks - Risky business?

To put it simply, short sellers make money when the share price goes down.  It goes a bit like this.  Let’s say you own 1000 BHP shares and the current share price is $40 (total value = $40,000).

Because I am a risk taker, I will take on the role of short seller.   I contact my broker who gives me, I mean borrow for a fee, your shares and then I immediately sell them on the stock exchange.    I have pocketed $40,000. Read more

Hate to Budget - Pay Yourself First!

 

Hate to budget? An oldie but a goodie - pay yourself first.

Set up a bank account and direct at least 10% of your salary and forget about it.   Works particularly well if your employer has the facilities to  direct debit straight from your salary to your bank account. Read more

Sharemarket volatility – friend or foe?

One day it’s up and the next it’s down.  In recent times the share market has experienced a lot of volatility which leads to some very nervous investors. There are a number of reasons why volatility seems to be prevalent. Technology, for one, has advanced enormously. At the push of a button investors can now move money in and out of markets at any given time. These movements affect market values much faster than they used to in the past. Another reason is the actual volume of money that is moved in and out of markets. Currently we have a larger proportion of share market investors who want to maximise investment returns, for example, baby-boomers nearing retirement. It’s wise to note that not only does the share market experience volatility, in fact most investments do, including residential property and fixed interest.

The only reason you don’t notice the ups and downs of residential property valuations is that you don’t have someone knocking on your door everyday giving you a valuation (wouldn’t that be interesting!).

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