Search results

nice. You do get to places you otherwise would not think to go, getting off the tourist bus and just setting off. Actually athens reminds me, I should have added lamb souvlaki is also very good.

Agree. It all depends on how much time you have. If I am travelling for work it is planes, taxis, internet in the hotel, dinner in the hotel etc etc. It is only partly because I don't pay for it. :o When I travel for my own purposes I will take trains in foreign cities, go to internet...

I wish it were true. To justify the governments beuracracy it also forces buisiness through a whole lot of hoops and levies the likes of payroll tax making sure that business has a level of beuracracy to match the governments own. Gone are the days when the pay lady took around a lock box...

You will be pleased to know in this country for most employers it is illegal to pay cash. Of course if you just settle in cash and still retain PAYG tax, pay payroll tax and workers compensation i.e. declare them in your total wages pool then sure its legal to pay cash then as just the means of...

Don't get me wrong, I am with you about welfare. There has to be a safety net. At present the net is less than the aged pension which we know is probably too low to live so it is not something anyone would choose to be on unless they were really that way inclined. What do you do with these...

I look through the lens of yes minister for all my thoughts on government policy. My favourite was the tax on smoking when Humphrey explains to him that if they tax tobacco, while they will save in medical expenses think about what it will cost the government in pensions if people stopped...

In Australia we would sack the public servant who did that... Look at NSW first there was an incompetant government. Then over time as they weeded out anyone in the public service with a backbone and brains they ended up with a completely useless situation NSW has been in for the last few years.

If you back yourself to work with gearing or leverage than sure super is not the go. this is the only limitation with super, no futures, therefore hedging is possible. Also no gearing of your own capital is possible. For someone conservative like myself this is not an issue. I primarily...

Indeed this is true. I was going to make a quip about how people should know what marginal rate of tax they pay is, but then realised I really do not know what my own is? I have for some years worked it out based on 40c thinking that is near enough; i.e. do I really want that new laptop? hmmm...

Goond thing perhaps that an understanding of written English is not a strong driver of your retirement income? Few bigger drivers does not mean the only driver, nor does it mean the biggest for that matter? Though I guess it would be close to the biggest irrespective of your response...

One sobering thought just thinking about the above. In that 40 year plan 12 - 13 years into my working life I am in teh position I should have been in by year 7!

Nice post dazz. There are few bigger drivers of retirement income than how long you work. Assumptions: Invest 25k per annum into super after tax (this is significantly more for most than compulsory super...) Return avg. 6.5% per annum say a bond fund something safe. Inflation rate...

For Sydney maybe you are close. If you are a home owner of course the number is quite a lot lower. Saving you 30k per annum in rent in a joint like Sydney for a family home this is more like 50k before tax. All that said even myself on less than 150k while I can live comfortably here in...