Tips and Tools
Welcome to Mozo’s Tips & Tools zone, where we’ll crunch your financial numbers, give you insider tips and bust that banking jargon to get you money savvy. From home loan calculators to budgeting tools, we’ve got you covered.
Neat links
Helpful as we are, you might want to check out some other sites around the place that can help with money matters.
- Currency converter
- This online currency converter has the latest worldwide currency rates and lets you perform currency conversions in a flash.
XE Universal Currency Converter
- Credit report
- Get a free copy of your credit report at MyCreditFile and check your credit rating, which is used by lenders to assess your application for loans, credit cards, phone accounts and more.
Check out MyCreditFile
- First home owner grant
- The Government’s first home owner scheme provides a one off grant of up to $21,000 to eligible first home owners. You can find all the details and even apply online.
First home owner grant
- Lost super
- Looking for lost super? The ATO’s free online SuperSeeker service looks for your lost super in real time and finds possible matches. You can also do a more extensive lost super search over the phone.
SuperSeeker
- Consolidate super
- If you want to consolidate your super by transferring it from one fund to another, here’s a link to the ATO’s superannuation portability form which you can download online.
Super portability form
- Unclaimed money
- ASIC’s free online unclaimed money search tool will help you find money left in old bank accounts, company shares or life policies that you might have forgotten about or didn’t even know you had.
Unclaimed money search
- Financial Ombudsman
- If you need to make an official complaint against a banking, insurance or investment provider, the Financial Ombudsman is a free and independent dispute resolution service.
Check out the Financial Ombudsman
- Switching Bank Accounts
- The Government has introduced new measures to make it easier for you to switch banks if you are not
satisfied with your current one.
Get switching help
- First home saver account calculator
- If you're saving for your first home, FIDO's new home saver account calculator and checklist can help you decide if this type of account is for you.
Get first home saving help
Articles
Our articles have all the info you need to minimise fees, max out your benefits and get your finances sorted.
- Credit card articles
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Credit card holders 'not receptive to paywalls'
Aussies are among the most sceptical people in the world when it comes to paying for online content, a new study has confirmed.
Read more...
- Debit card articles
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Aussies head online to buy goods, study shows
A growing number of Aussies used their debit cards to buy goods online in the past 12 months, a new study has revealed.
Read more...
- Home loan articles
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Building approval rates decline in December
House hunters looking to secure a home loan in Australia have seen the number of residential building projects being approved decline.
Read more...
- Savings account articles
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Glasses wearers may have to dip into savings accounts
People who rely on state benefits in order to buy glasses could be forced to dip into their savings accounts to get their new frames, after the government announced funding cuts.
Read more...
- Term deposit articles
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Aussies 'live longer than almost anyone else'
Aussies may have more need for savings in term deposit accounts during their retirement than people in other countries in light of recent figures suggesting that their life expectancy is very high.
Read more...
- Reserve bank articles
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Most economists predict RBA interest rate cut
The majority of economists firmly believe that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will slash interest rates again this month. A survey conducted by the Australian Associated Press indicated that 13 out of 14 economists are predicting the RBA to reduce rates by a further 0.25 per cent. The Reserve Bank had already reduced rates to 4.25 per cent in November and December, but this has had limited impact on home loans and other markets thus far. Even if rates are trimmed, it does not necessarily mean that Australia's major banks will pass the reduction on to their customers. Chief economist at AMP Capital Shane Oliver told the news provider that there is a strong case to cut the cash rate. "The jobs market is weakening, retail sales and housing construction are weak, house prices are falling and consumer and business confidence are sub-par," he said. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham recently told the Herald Sun that the ongoing mining boom has stood the country's economy in relatively good stead.
Read more...
- Interest rate articles
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Slow inflation 'creates room for interest rate cuts'
It seems that further cuts to interest rates in early 2012 are a mere formality, as new figures have shown that inflation slowed down towards the end of 2011.
Read more...
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