News Archive for November 2013

At its monthly meeting today, the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to leave the official cash rate on hold at 2.50%.

Contrary to common belief and financial product marketing practice, new findings from American researchers suggests that keeping it simple with a single savings account may be the most efficient way to maximise your savings.

New research into shopping shows credit card use can affect our perception of money and how wisely we spend it.

Plans to axe the rebate for low-income workers will affect the financial security of half of all working women and disproportionally hurt rural workers, according to a recent warning from industry superannuation funds.

According to the RaboDirect annual Savings and Debt Barometer, Gen Y are best generation of savers, with 29 per cent saving a regular amount each month compared with 19 per cent of baby boomers. Gen Y, who usually get a bad rap for credit card debt and irresponsible spending are proving the older generations wrong with their disciplined savings habits.

The Australian dollar has dipped below 92 US cents for the fist time in two and half months after RBA governor Glenn Stevens said he was considering intervention to lower the exchange rate.

The ballot is now open for Australians wanting to travel to Gallipoli to mark the 2015 centenary of the Anzac landings.

Ninety per cent of drivers would consider an autonomous car if it cut insurance rates, according to a recent US survey.

Research from American brain experts has indicated that playing video games makes people more able to make correct decisions quickly under time pressure - potentially turning them into superior drivers, soldiers or surgeons.

Potential first home buyers are being squeezed out of the housing market as investor activity drives up property prices. Just one in eight home loans are for newcomers, the lowest rate since records began, according to figures released this week.

The Abbott government is being urged to reduce the GST-free threshold for items bought online from overseas sources from $1000 to $20. The campaign would hit almost all goods purchased online with a 10 per cent tax. It is estimated that this will mean consumers have to pay an extra $1 billion per year for overseas purchases made online.

QBE is the first Australian car insurer to introduce the use of in-car telematics technology to divine drivers insurance rates.

Super reform may have come too late for baby boomers who expect to lose the house in order to fund their retirement. Forecasters are expecting a wave of family homes to hit the market as boomers cash in their properties and downsize to fund themselves into old age.

Although the RBA put rates on ice for Melbourne Cup Day, the party may be over for home buyers and refinancers who have been making the most of record-low home loan rates. Despite the RBA decision to lock the cash rate at 2.5, fixed rate home loans have been inching upwards with more than 10 lenders increasing their fixed rates through October in anticipation of a rate rise.