February is confession season for most Australian listed companies, when they have to open their books and reveal their half year results and how they performed in the July-December period. It is a barrage of information and can be pretty overwhelming. There were fears higher interest rates, inflation and a slowing economy would take its… Read more »
At a time when the economy is sagging and household budgets are being squeezed by high inflation and interest rate increases, this week’s government-approved lift in private health insurance premiums on 1 April is the last thing Australians need. The fact the announcement was delayed until after the Dunkley by-election, and just three weeks before… Read more »
State governments are reaping billions from stamp duty and making it harder for home buyers. When property prices rise some of the biggest winners are state governments though their stamp duty river of financial gold. It is a major impediment to buying a property. I reckon every home buyer has felt the financial trauma of… Read more »
The facts are clear that while we have a housing rental crisis, private property investors are doing the heavy lifting. Governments complain but do very little in terms of solving the issues. The most recent data from the Australian Taxation Office shows 2,245,539 Australians or around 20 per cent of Australia’s 11.4 million taxpayers owned… Read more »
Interest rates are a blunt instrument, but governments have more options to help fight inflation. They’re just not using them. The Reserve Bank boss, Michele Bullock, recently said interest rates were a “blunt instrument” when it came to fighting inflation. In other words, the impact of interest rate rises can be a bit of a… Read more »
You may already have what you need to bring your car insurance premiums down an average of 4.15 per cent. Usually, small black boxes are associated with expensive rings, but what if one that many drivers already have could be saving you money instead? Car insurance comparison website Compare the Market (where I am Economic… Read more »
Drivers are ditching comprehensive car insurance and I get it, money is tight. But ditching, rather than switching, could cost you plenty down the track. Owning and maintaining a car can be one of the biggest contributors to the household bills, but according to new research from Compare the Market (where I am Economic Director)… Read more »
A couple of weeks ago I called out the federal government for once again (and it’s all sides of politics) caving in when it comes to tax reform. The Stage 3 tax cuts were rightly skewed toward low-to-middle income earners, but the 37 per cent tax bracket should also have been abolished as planned… but… Read more »
A tumultuous week for finance nerds like me who for years have excitedly marked the first Tuesday of the month in our calendars as “Reserve Bank Board Meeting Day”. This week was the last RBA board meeting on the first Tuesday of the month… the next one will be Tuesday March 19 as the RBA… Read more »
Interest rates may be on hold after this week’s RBA board meeting but thousands of homeowners are still paying more for their home loan because they have fallen onto so-called “back-book” rates. Back-book rates are where existing loyal customers are being charged a higher interest rate than new “front-book” customers. That difference is as much… Read more »
