more things rising now than a bull market, page-65

And you can only offset capital losses against other capital gains, not income.

At least you can carry the loss forward until you can cancel it out.

But either way it sucks big time.

My presciption for anyone trying to get some wealth;

1. Buy a modest home, look after it, do some simple reno's and make the garden etc nice to increase it's value and it's amenity.
2. Pay it off as quickly as possible.
3. Upgrade via principal place of residence (CGT free) as many times as you need to, to get what/where you want.
4. Once it's completely owned then start buying other assets - shares, property, PM's, etc. Borrow some modest amounts if you want to negative gear over a long time frame but don't be greedy.
5. As these assets are paid off, put them aside and start on accumulating some new ones, always staying within your capacity to pay your debts as and when they are due. Building up equity to increase leverage is OK as long as you stay well within your limits. The tax system does favour this approach but you have to be CAREFUL.
6. Stay away from spruikers, spivs, sharks, olive trees, almond trees, double in 7yrs, property only goes up, pay only 15% tax, etc etc. Just stay away from all that crap because over the long run I don't think ANY of it makes much sense financially for most. Some get lucky. Most don't.
7. ALWAYS try and spend less than you earn, no matter how much you earn. There are plenty of "week to week" people earning big dollars.
8. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is - otherwise why would they be selling it to you?