Nick Bruining

The Retirement Income Expert

A multi-generational home can have relationship AND financial benefits in the right circumstances. Source: Getty

Downsizing

A granny flat can really work to a pensioner’s advantage … if you know the rules

There's a lot more to granny flats than being than a glorified garage in the backyard - they can make good financial sense in the right circumstances.

How super funds will compensate retirees for Labor’s franking credits grab

Retirees with superannuation funds worried about changes to franking credit refunds might be able to sleep a little easier.

Where there's a will, there's a way around most things, as super fund managers have found when it comes to franking tax credit refunds.

‘How can I sell a parcel of shares without paying a broker’s fee?’

Consult Starts at 60's panel of Money Club experts on the financial questions you're pondering.

When it comes to selling a parcel of shares of this value, using a broker is almost certainly necessary.

‘Where did the franking credits on my managed fund income distributions go?’

Fully franked dividends aren't the only component of a managed fund's income distribution, Nick Bruining explains. Source: Getty

‘Are we being silly to keep our retirement savings in a bank account?’

Got a money problem you can't solve? Ask our Money Club experts for their thoughts.

Keeping your long-term savings with a bank will shelter you from financial markets storms, but will see you missing out on potential gains. Source: Getty

Odds are shorter on a PM Shorten, so retiree shareholders should be on the alert

Retirees are a big mob of shareholding individuals, so Labor's list of exclusions from its franking tax credit refund policy is long.

The loss of tax refunds on franking credits will put an unexpected squeeze on some retirees' wallets. Source: Getty

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.