Money Expert

Nick Bruining

The Retirement Income Expert
Help! How do you keep the Age Pension when you sell your house?
Nick Bruining avatarNick Bruining
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‘If I were to withdraw most of my super to loan or gift to my children to buy a property, how would that affect my pension?’
Money Questions

‘If I were to withdraw most of my super to loan or gift to my children to buy a property, how would that affect my pension?’

‘If I were to withdraw most of my super to loan or gift to my children to buy a property, how would that affect my pension?’

What happens if I were to withdraw most of my super to loan or gift to my children? How would that affect my pension? Money expert weighs in.
From new rates to increased eligibility: Upcoming changes to the Age Pension you need to know
Age Pension

From new rates to increased eligibility: Upcoming changes to the Age Pension you need to know

From new rates to increased eligibility: Upcoming changes to the Age Pension you need to know

Money expert explains how some seniors might qualify for a part-pension for the first time while others are likely to see a big lift in their fortnightly pensions.
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Investment

Help! Why has my managed fund distributions resulted in a tax liability and what can I do about it?

Help! Why has my managed fund distributions resulted in a tax liability and what can I do about it?

Money expert Nick Bruining explains why the distributions from a managed fund could result in a tax liability.
“Transition to retirement” is a strategy often promoted to seniors approaching retirement. Source: Getty
Experts

Maximise your superannuation with the ‘transition to retirement’ strategy

Maximise your superannuation with the ‘transition to retirement’ strategy

"Ever wondered how you can use your super to smash your mortgage while you’re still working?"
The house you transferred to the trust will be assessed under the asset test now and, more importantly, into the foreseeable future. Source: Getty
Money Questions

‘Can we get a part-pension once it’s been 5yrs since we gave our son a house?’

‘Can we get a part-pension once it’s been 5yrs since we gave our son a house?’

Centrelink often view transfers into trusts and other structures as ways to avoid the effects of means testing, so it has strict rules in place to prevent this, explains Nick Bruining.
Tax returns lodged through the ATO's Tax Help service are completely free of charge. Source: Getty
Everyday money

How to score a free tax return through the Australian Tax Office

How to score a free tax return through the Australian Tax Office

You can now access a free tax-return service operated under the supervision of the ATO, writes Nick Bruining.
In March 2020, the ASX 200 hit an 11-year low point when it collapsed to about 4,400. Over the past couple of weeks of August 2021, it passed the 7,500 mark, representing a staggering 70 per cent improvement. Source: Getty
Investment

Easy tiger: Why you should scale down your sharemarket exposure

Easy tiger: Why you should scale down your sharemarket exposure

Beware the investment “gurus” who declare these times reflect a new world order or a paradigm shift. The old rules will still apply, Nick Bruining warns.
We would like to assume that your ability to holiday some time in the future is unquestionable. Source: Getty
Money Questions

‘Can I afford to buy a holiday on my modest retirement income?’

‘Can I afford to buy a holiday on my modest retirement income?’

Making the most of what we have becomes critical with relatively modest sums of money, Nick Bruining explains.
Even though the transfer of shares is a gift, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) will attach a value to the shares based on the closing price on the date the transfer takes place. Source: Getty
Money Questions

‘What are the costs of transferring shares to my grandkids?’

‘What are the costs of transferring shares to my grandkids?’

There are quite a few issues to consider here surrounding tax and Centrelink, Nick Bruining explains.

About Nick Bruining

Nick Bruining has always taken a frank, no-nonsense approach to money, back when he started out in 1989 as a certified financial planner – he was Money Management’s Financial Planner of the Year in 2003 – and in his current life as a personal finance correspondent for the Seven Network and writer for The West Australian. He specialises in understanding the money worries and providing practical guidance to real people through his newspaper columns, on-air reports and his hit 2015 book Don’t Panic: Why You Don’t Need $1 Million To Retire Well. He says the myth that it’s impossible to retire on far less than $1 million is perpetuated by vested interests and that the truth is, a couple can retire on an income of $48,000 a year created from the Age Pension and just $270,000 in super. Nick qualified as an economist and is a former lecturer on financial planning at Curtin University. In between filing newspaper and TV financial reports and working on a recently released update of his book, which you can purchase here, Nick tries his luck catching crabs and lobsters in Perth’s Mandurah Estuary.