There has to be more to life!
There has to be more to life than dealing with Dividend Streaming, Capital Gains Tax and advising clients on the correct application of GST and the Margin Scheme. This is a thought I have often at this time of year, when I begin dreaming of ways to earn money from wine tasting and experimenting in the kitchen!
I have discovered there IS more to life than these things, however these 'things' help pay for the things that make life that little bit more enjoyable.
By the way, a little bit of interesting(sic) tax information (I can't help myself) for my dear non-resident readers, recently the Government introduced a Bill into the Parliament that, if passed, will essentially allow non-residents who own shares in companies (or units in Managed Funds) in Australia to be exempt from any capital gains tax here in the land of OZ (therefore all gains will be tax free and all dividends will only be taxed at the relevant non-resident withholding rate). The same exemption will not apply to real property. The Government is obviously trying to attract foreign investment (I would guess from large UK and US pension funds and other internationl fund managers).
Whilst pondering the important questions of life such as 'should I get up from my seat in front of the TV to get the remote that the kids left on the floor because I hate this program?', 'where do all the other socks go?', I received a telephone call from one of my brothers.
I have two brothers, who both live in Canberra with their families (but we still like them), and one sister. Through a confluence of events, an alignment of the planets, or more accurately an overlapping of school vacation periods between Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, both brothers and their families will be making the prilgimage north to the best city in the world - Brisbane (sorry Ed, Cam, GW, Murray, Mike, TWC and everyone else) or here.
One brother, together with his wife and 4 of his 5 kids, is coming to stay with our little family for a week. It promises to be a great time! We will be eating and drinking ourselves silly - at least I hope so!
To celebrate we opened with Sunday night roast dinner a Lindeman's 'St George' 1997 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon (picture from Lindeman's website).
Here is what the wine maker says.
Here is what I reckon:
There was 13.5% alcohol and it was a dark brick red in appearance. The nose was sensational filled with loads of chocolate, some cigar, plums and maybe a touch of aniseed or fennel. It was medium to full bodied with big fruit flavours, firm tannins, good length and a long dry finish that had you panting for more. This is a very nice wine with still a few more years to go. Drinking well now and should continue to do so for 3 or 4 more years yet.
I gave it an overall score of 92-94/100
After scoring the individual components I came up with 18.5-19/20.
Would I buy it again? - yep! I hope to find some more as that was my last bottle (key sad music)
wine
wine tasting
food and drink
cabernet sauvignon
I have discovered there IS more to life than these things, however these 'things' help pay for the things that make life that little bit more enjoyable.
By the way, a little bit of interesting(sic) tax information (I can't help myself) for my dear non-resident readers, recently the Government introduced a Bill into the Parliament that, if passed, will essentially allow non-residents who own shares in companies (or units in Managed Funds) in Australia to be exempt from any capital gains tax here in the land of OZ (therefore all gains will be tax free and all dividends will only be taxed at the relevant non-resident withholding rate). The same exemption will not apply to real property. The Government is obviously trying to attract foreign investment (I would guess from large UK and US pension funds and other internationl fund managers).
Whilst pondering the important questions of life such as 'should I get up from my seat in front of the TV to get the remote that the kids left on the floor because I hate this program?', 'where do all the other socks go?', I received a telephone call from one of my brothers.
I have two brothers, who both live in Canberra with their families (but we still like them), and one sister. Through a confluence of events, an alignment of the planets, or more accurately an overlapping of school vacation periods between Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, both brothers and their families will be making the prilgimage north to the best city in the world - Brisbane (sorry Ed, Cam, GW, Murray, Mike, TWC and everyone else) or here.
One brother, together with his wife and 4 of his 5 kids, is coming to stay with our little family for a week. It promises to be a great time! We will be eating and drinking ourselves silly - at least I hope so!
To celebrate we opened with Sunday night roast dinner a Lindeman's 'St George' 1997 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon (picture from Lindeman's website).Here is what the wine maker says.
Here is what I reckon:
There was 13.5% alcohol and it was a dark brick red in appearance. The nose was sensational filled with loads of chocolate, some cigar, plums and maybe a touch of aniseed or fennel. It was medium to full bodied with big fruit flavours, firm tannins, good length and a long dry finish that had you panting for more. This is a very nice wine with still a few more years to go. Drinking well now and should continue to do so for 3 or 4 more years yet.
I gave it an overall score of 92-94/100
After scoring the individual components I came up with 18.5-19/20.
Would I buy it again? - yep! I hope to find some more as that was my last bottle (key sad music)
wine
wine tasting
food and drink
cabernet sauvignon
posted by Mal at 1:10 PM
2 Comments:
Any good wine leaves me panting for more, which is exactly the problem and why I can't take my doctor, Julie-Ann, seriously when she tells me one glass is enough. Fortunately, I have some really big glasses.
I have to say, Mal, that from all the photos I've seen of Brisbane, it certainly appears to be a gorgeous place.
If I were to live in a city, I often think it might be San Diego Ca USA but even so, I think Brisbane looks more inviting. Hard to judge, haven't been there, but still.
And it seems as though Brisbane may not have the "marine layer climate" that San Diego has, which means there are many days when the sun ain't out til noon. I'm a sun kind of guy so that's a drawback to SD.
And yes, there is more to life than taxes, but there is some pleasure to be had in helping people reduce their tax burden. Particularly when it is done in a clever sort of way.
What I hate is when you take a hard look at some projections and give someone an answer and then you look again a few months later and the answer is different. Then you heave a big sigh and say WTF? How did that happen?
Have you ever considered making your own wine? At Crushpad you can custom create you very own wine for personal consumption or commercial sale. Check it out at www.crushpadwine.com, we just got our first Parker 92!
Hayden
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