The above is very true,... hence,... it is always very healthy to try earning foreign currencies.

If you have the Singapore Dollar, that A$500K house will now cost cheaper than S$500K.

Bill Shorten and Chris Bowen - almost 100% in,...

Yeah,.. 'sorry' - I was wrong,.. but I was just quoting from the polls.

In his victory speech, Mr Morrison said this is a victory for the quiet Australians,... very true,... I'm 'one' of the quiet ones,...

They will need time to roll-out new programs promised earlier,... but whatever that has been running, such policies will remain so,.. especially on those parts about franking credits refunds, zero tax on family trusts, and another one,.. sorry can't remember,...

Frankly,.. that Self-Managed Superfund feature should not be regarded as a loophole. Many elderly Australians, retirees do manage their own investments without engaging a trust or buying the LICs. They are,... entitled to the credit,... be they in tax deductions OR in cash refunds. The Howard gov't gave a very good debate on this when they implemented this back in,... 2002 ??

Anyway,.. since there's no change now, no need to debate too much,.. Mr Morrison was the Treasurer before he became PM after ousting Turnbull,.. he knows what to do.

I'm really waiting for the 5% thing to come in,... many counters in The ASX has dropped a lot because of falling home prices,.. commercial prices are still okay, but when home prices start to fall,... the problem start to snowball over to other sectors of the economy.

Home prices fell because of :-

1) stagnant employment numbers,... but now even this is starting to fall,..

2) the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) activities,... loans became more difficult to get.

If you are buying a hse there using RM,... wait longer,... when the RBA chops rates in beginning of June, the AUD may weaken further,... I think,....

Now that the coalition has won,... we can appeal for more,...set up a petition,..

That was what some LICs did when Labor was talking abt doing away with the franking credit refunds.

I think can get,...

Guys,.. it's 15%, not 5% ! Aus Gov't guarantee,....

Yeah,.. aware of the above,.. tq,...I was talking abt the guarantee, which is 15%. The earlier inputs were talking abt guarantee at 5% instead.

In fact,.. it's better to put down more,.. to reduce the monthly payment. Which is a standard thinking everywhere in the world,...

Yes bro,... the mkt has bottomed,.. or is near to it - with the GE over, Scomo won, he re-installed most of the earlier office-bearers and lending being loosened now. Now's a good time to start investing !

Guys,... I'm just tapping your opinions here,... would it be a plus if your parents sent you here earlier, say you did your Middle School here ?

YOu would then have had a lot of time to assimilate into the society, and would have made your networks there,...

Yes,.. this is one way,...

Getting into a uni there won't be so stringent anymore if the kid studied at their Senior College, right ? Like,... eg, no need to take IELTS anymore,.. as an example only,... there would be many others,...

Tq limeuu,....how abt being able to do their VET ?

VET = Vocational Education and Training.

Four levels of certificate. Lets a trainee undergo work experience -related training in their chosen course,... many types of courses are available.

Ok,..

I believe different folks will have different preferences towards monetary policies.

What you mentioned above is correct, and I would also like to add on top that in the equities mkt (ASX), banks and property-mkt-related ctrs are beginning to see some light. Still banks are still sluggish because they are still being disturbed by regulatory issues.

However, on the flip side, retirees who have a lot of their funds in safe Term Deposits are not celebrating. The bank in Australia with the highest TD rate that I know of, namely Arab Bank Australia, has TD rates dropping to its all-time low today. I think you would know the rest of the story,... i'm sure you have heard of elderly folks there commenting to you too.

Finally, the 'slight' rebound of the Aussie Dollar recently is not really commendable compared to the days when the Aussie Dollar was matching 1 to 1 with the Singapore Dollar. I have friends commenting to me that they now start to choose locations to go to for their holidays. They are not even happy to go to Singapore anymore.

For myself,... I would say I am neutral towards this policy by the RBA now. My spendings in Australia are 'low', my equities are showing signs of turning round BUT my 'dormant' funds are not earning good FDs returns.

Bros here,... AUD may have more downside,... good news for bros intending to move to Aus,... not-so-good news for bros using the Aussie Dollar now to move to cheaper countries,...

https://www.dbs.com.sg/treasures/aics/templ...extfx_tacticals

Edited by adding : There are high chances for a further 0.25% rate cut come RBA Mtg on NOvember 5th... let's watch the date. RBA Mtg in Sydney normally at 12 noon. Thought this was an important point worth adding,....

This post has been edited by Hansel: Oct 19 2019, 09:00 AM

Tq.

How would your International shares perform well as the Aussie falls ? What is the correlation here ?

I do not participate too much in Aus benefits because of its tax structure, yes, I know abt these benefits for the elderly. One way of hedging against a falling currency is, of course, by investing into an instrument which carries a different currency. I recalled Magellan has LICs too,... but I don't know it offers instruments in the USD.

I am an Income Investor, in Australia, I focus on Banking counters certain good REITs. One or two shares are good too.

I would like to share below some writings I made today in another forum :-

Moving forward, looks like the low-interest rate environment is going to go into full-swing. When we talk abt low-risk instruments, we are always talking abt Bonds (Investment Grade and Sovereign, SSBs) and their funds/etfs, Term Deposits and FDs. These instruments are all affected by interest rates, hence, returns will be low, and lower as the days go by.

When the instruments in-hand mature, the renewal rates will not be so attractive anymore.

Will the returns then be enough ? And subsequently, when more renewals come, will things becomes worse ?

Hence, low-risk instruments are becoming impossible to sustain a lifestyle, unless of course, we lower our demands in life. But how many can do this ?

I witness the above first-hand in my Term Deposits in Australia and Canada, in SSBs and in some bond funds that I used to hold.

Well,... the other side of the argument is that these people have worked hard all their lives and have paid hefty amount of taxes as they went along in their early years. Hence it is only fair that they sit back and enjoy life today. This is what I heard from my investor friends in Australia.

The accountants told me the business-owners would extract funds from their businesses and out them into family-trusts. I believe there are many ways to avoid taxes in Australia today,...in addition to what you have mentioned,... all being legal in the constitution.

Somehow, I believed Mr MOrrison's govt will soon be forced to do something here when the fiscal deficit start to widen again,... soon. If my memory serves me correctly, I think the deficit has been narrowed in the recent Budget in May this year, and will soon be totally removed next year (if I remembered correctly),...

If Chris Bowen's party won last few mths,.. I would think everything would have been cut quickly !!!!!!!

Tq Gary.

I can see where you are coming from as bolded in the above, but I have to mention too there is al higher risk when investing in shares, be there in other bourses or in our bourse, the ASX is : when the ctr turns south, we start to lose money. Most of the time, if we're talking abt the AUD, I'm afraid when a USD ctr turns south, the loss incurred quantum will, almost always surpass the gain in the exchange rate, creating a net loss for us.

Though,.. this loss may be alleviated slightly if there has been dividends collected.

Betw the Aussie and the RM, yes, I too would prefer to hold the AUD. I think you have nothing to worry abt because you are earning the USD too from your international investments. If the AUD shld weaken, the USD will hold your purchasing power, because at the end of the day, your currency-of-usage is the RM.

Tq again, Gary,...

To your first para above,... I'm afraid if this was presented to another Aussie whoo has been splurging all his life, he would reply with : why did you not do the same ? Nobody forced you to take that frugal path in life, and had to pay the big taxes too.. just saying,...

The Australian Pension will be reduced soon,... it is a matter of time,...

Your ATO has been at fault for the matter of the PRCs and the Hongkongers. Why did they not tax them on their International Income ? Why did the constitution still allow then to shelter their wealth unfairly vs other diligent taxpayers ?