Noel Whittaker's July newsletter mailbag answered the question most share and property owners are asking about the proposed capital gains tax changes: do I need to do something now? Mostly it's paperwork, not panic.
Selling the family home turns an asset Centrelink ignores into money it counts, and that scares a lot of people out of a move that would suit them better. Here's how the assets test, the 24-month exemption and the downsizer contribution actually work.
Noel Whittaker's latest column argues that "industry fund" and "ETF" have become badges of quality that guarantee nothing. What matters is what the fund owns, what it costs and what risk you are carrying.
Downsizing can free up real money for retirement, but the gain is rarely the difference between the two house prices. Here's how to work out what you'd actually be left with, and what it would mean for your pension, before you call an agent.
A reader asked Noel Whittaker what would happen if he moved out of his unit and rented it. The answer turned on a rule most people have never heard of — the six-year absence rule, which can keep a former home free of capital gains tax while it earns rent.
