Noel Whittaker's Blog
By Noel Whittaker
Welcome to a new year – it has certainly started off with the huge degree of volatility. Much of it is due to uncertainty about economic conditions generally thanks to Trump, Brexit, and the ongoing conflict between America and China. But as we move into 2019 with all its hope and uncertainty, remember that there …
The Chinese “Curse” is “may you live in interesting times” and the coming year promises to be just as interesting as last year. In Australia, a change of government is a strong possibility which opens up the possibility of significant changes to franking credits, negative gearing, and capital gains tax. On the international scene, the …
I have often heard older people talk about the way the pension system used to be. According to their recollections, part of the income tax you paid was supposed to be hived off and credited to a separate fund, out of which you would receive a pension for life. Because it was all so vague, …
I recently received an email pointing out that I often recommend interest-only loans for investment, and asking what the purpose of the strategy is. In the reader’s view, it seemed futile to take out a loan that you would never pay back. The purpose of using an interest-only loan is to minimise your monthly interest …
I continue to receive questions about using contributions to superannuation to reduce capital gains tax. The following is typical. “We have an investment property in joint names that we would like sell in a few years to fund our retirement. The capital gain should be approximately $250,000 and we are keen to consider strategies to …