The effectiveness of the Cashless Welfare Card has always been disputed. What is certain is that it humiliated thousands and complicated their lives unnecessarily. It also scared older Australians on the Age Pension, who thought they would be put on it.
Various state and territory governments have introduced energy saving schemes that have the potential to really reduce your power bill. A round-up.
Pension indexation never increases your purchasing power except when inflation goes down. Here's how it works.
The cost-of-living index increase was published today. It came out below the CPI increase, which will therefore be used in pension indexation next month.
There's nothing mandatory about the cash rate. Banks can set their own rates. Nobody, including the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, is going to stop them. Fact is, the banks pay close attention to the cash rate. Why is it so, and what effect does the cash rate have on term deposit rates?
An end-of-life care plan can make things so much easier for yourself, your family and your friends when the time comes. Only one-in-four people have such a plan. Don't be in that number!
Mandatory means 'must do'. No excuses. Not in aged care, where around-the-clock nursing care will become mandatory from 1 July 2023 unless a nursing home has an ... Chances are every nursing home that wants one, will get one.
High inflation means big pension indexation increases, but today's inflation number of 6.1 per cent doesn't mean the next indexation will produce a pension increase of the same size. And how good is it to be self-funded?
A homelessness crisis, a rental crisis, time for government to step in and make a difference! You would think, but the political mind is differently constructed, it seems.
If investment risk is what stopping you from putting your money into term deposits and term deposits only, here's some food for thought and a practical suggestion too.
It's called telehealth, and it's something you may not need now but may be dependent on in the future.
Power, gas and fuel. If you look after the pennies, the pounds will look after themselves? Maybe now is the time to look after the pounds as well, at a time when prices for these essentials have gone through the roof.
Up all hours, red-eyed and frustrated? Science hasn't got all the answers about sleeping and sleeping disorders yet, but there are a few things you can do beyond not drinking coffee just before going to bed.
Life expectancy continues to go up, but it can't go up forever. At some point even the oldest people die. What of?
No, it’s not a new spy thriller by Robert Ludlum, but a document telling superannuation funds to start doing what they have avoided for the thirty years that compulsory superannuation has now been around: look after their members. Will it take another thirty years for funds comply? The suspense is killing current retirees, because it is more than likely little will change before they pass on.
Following the Reserve Bank’s July decision to raise the cash rate to 1.35 per cent, many financial institutions have increased their term deposit rates.
The best way of avoiding becoming a scam victim it seems, is to get rid of your computer, your home phone, your mobile phone and your fax machine and move to a deserted island, impose a no-fly zone to prevent blimps and light aircraft from delivering aerial scam messages and also ignore any bottles that wash up.
On 1 August, power will become much much more expensive, and there's nothing anybody can do to make it go away in the short term. Trying to use less power will help. Enter the hot water tank.
Picking the right super fund is not that easy, especially when the economy is not doing great. Help of sorts is at hand.
Raising the pension increases the popularity of any Government. Why don't they?