News Archive for September 2023

With less than 100 days to go before Christmas, you may be thinking about your tree and decorations, but how about all those gifts?

As hundreds of thousands of fixed-rate home loans are set to expire in the next 12 months, existing borrowers have a few strategies at their disposal that could mean the difference between expensive rollover rates and a better deal.

It may only be the end of September, however it’s not too early to start thinking about advent calendars.

When it comes to money goals, a long-term view can lead to larger returns. But why is that? Generally, a mix of compound interest and regular monthly deposits can grow an initial balance of $1000 over a long period of time.

When was the last time you paid cash for your morning coffee?

It’s been three months since the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last raised interest rates. Its last decision brought the official cash rate to 4.10% – a decade high.

Australian insurance provider Budget Direct has been named Exceptional Value Insurer of the Year for car insurance and home insurance in the 2023 Mozo Experts Choice Awards^. This makes it the fifth year running that the provider has won a major award.

New research from AMP reveals some Aussies may be hitting a snag when it comes to dealing with the retirement system.

It's Grand Final week and what's more important than your snack food budget? Oh sure, you can worry about your team's creativity in attack or the pitch conditions come game time, but we all know the fan's greatest priority.

Your business can face financial obstacles from time to time and you may be eager for a smarter solution.

The Reserve Bank of Australia – the organisation in charge of Australia’s monetary policy – has had a new change in leadership. Former RBA governor Philip Lowe has been replaced by long-time deputy governor Michele Bullock, who assumed the role on 18 September 2023. She is the first woman to become governor of the RBA.

Dividends can be a great way of supplementing your existing income, but how about using them to build your portfolio faster? Dividend growth investing is one of the strategies that a lot of investors opt for, allowing them to take advantage of a compounding effect—most often described as the dividend snowball.

Many homeowners will need to prepare their homes for the upcoming summer, as the impact of El Niño is taking hold.

Whether you’re a first home buyer or looking to refinance, searching for a home loan can get a bit samey. It’s easy to think that once you’ve seen one home loan, you’ve seen them all, with some changes in rates and eligibility.

Spring property has kicked off with a bang. PropTrack says August saw an impressive +20.5% monthly bounce in listings across Australian housing markets. Home buyers might feel spoiled for choice now, but beware: there may be a pinch ahead. Australia could be facing a unit shortage.

For a more seamless budgeting process, Aussies may be looking at digital tools to help them manage their money.

For many Aussies, the intended age of retirement might not match up with their actual retirement age, recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows.

House prices in Australia have been daunting for a while, but while soaring values are good for investors and owners building home equity, they’re bad news for first-home buyers.

When you’re out doing your weekly shop, it’s usually easier to pick out the first product you see or maybe even the brand you’re most familiar with.

The New South Wales Government revealed today it will allocate $2.2 billion to address the state's housing supply and affordability issues.

With Sydney’s property market now in the top 10 most unaffordable cities globally, doing your homework on homebuying is more important than ever.

Fixed home loans are no longer out of the market – at least, according to the Mozo database.

The September school holidays are coming up which means your kids will be home for two whole weeks. If you’re out of ideas on how to keep them occupied during the holiday period, fear not! We have some creative, low budget (or free) activities that will keep the kids happy and allow for some family time!

With the news of bushfires in the Northern Territory town of Tennant Creek, Aussies might be feeling anxious about what’s in store this summer. Especially after fires hit other areas around the globe, including Hawaii, Canada, Algeria and Greece.

International airports have two energies. It’s about the journey, not the destination and dear God, are we there yet? There is no in-between.

Fintech Openmarkets’ latest quarterly share trading data reveals that Gen Y and Z portfolios outperformed those of Gen X and the Baby Boomers, with median 12-month returns of 6.15%.

Weddings are said to be the best moment of a person's life, maybe behind the birth of their children, so a budget makes complete sense for this special day. The true cost of a wedding is totally personal, but have you ever wondered what kind of wedding the average Aussie is throwing?

Are you an Australian investor looking to trade shares in the US shares? It’s not hard to see why you’d be interested—McDonald's, Apple, Coca-Cola, and a hundred other recognisable brands all trade on the American stock market. Not only that but getting access to the world's biggest stock markets can help you to diversify your portfolio.

A $900,000 home will get you pretty far in most places in Australia.

Talking about money can be awkward as you might feel like you aren’t doing enough or you’re handling your finances all wrong. But this feeling is more common than you might think.

Financial stress often gets overlooked as a source of anxiety. Money troubles are common enough to experience, but without support or management, the pressure of coping with the cost of living can have a significant physical, emotional, and mental toll on someone’s life.

With yet another pause in the cash rate, borrowers may be wondering if their home loan interest rates will remain static. However, some recent changes by two of the big four - NAB and Westpac - show that both fixed and variable rates can have adjustments up and down.

Spring property season is usually the busiest time of year for home sales. Not only are there more properties on the market, but there are more home loan deals and auctions to wade through. However, with some simple preparation, home buyers can certainly make hay while the sun shines.

Looking for a phone plan that costs between $50 to $100 per month? There are lots of options. If you want plenty of data, you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot. Find out about the plans that are available below.

Electric vehicles have taken well to Aussie roads, with EV sales up 120% since 2022. They are touted as the environmentally friendly option compared to their fuel powered equivalents, but Australian science agency CSIRO has recently come out with a new report about the next big eco car - the hydrogen vehicle.

Spring property season is usually the time of year when home buyers see more listings hit the market. But some of those listings can come with an…unusual character.

Despite dire predictions for the economy, Australia's housing market has rebounded to a staggering $10 trillion at the end of August, marking the first instance of hitting this double-digit value since June 2022, according to recent CoreLogic research.

Many homeowners are choosing to renovate rather than sell their homes this spring, data from Aussie home loans shows.

It seems many Aussies are spending less on discretionary goods and services in recent months, based on data from Commbank’s Consumer Insights report.

Consumer education website CreditSmart has looked into credit usage among millennials and seen increasing adoption among this cohort.

Are you in the market for a property and have questions about how much money you’ll need for a $750,000 home loan?

More than two-thirds of business owners are struggling to keep up with their bills, a recent survey conducted by fintech company Thriday finds.

If you’ve been looking to refinance to a competitive rate with flexible features, Qantas Money’s ground-breaking home loan is here to show you that you can expect more.

There’s a general distrust of home insurance. After all, “Isn’t it better to save your money for a rainy day instead of spending it on a policy?”

Despite residential property investment remaining the second most popular asset for Australians in 2023, there has been a downward trend in the number of people investing in housing, according to the latest Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) report.

Housing affordability in Australia has hit its worst level in three decades, according to PropTrack.

Your monthly phone bill can impact your bank account, especially if you are paying more than you need to be. While a lot of people still opt to go with one of the major telco providers like Optus, Vodafone or Telstra, you may find that you can get more bang for your buck by switching to a smaller provider.

After the Euro Summer we just saw, you might be wondering how everyone is affording these grand holidays during a pretty tough economic turndown. If you don’t have a bulked up savings account due to the rising cost of living expenses, don’t give up yet, it could still be you sipping an aperol spritz in Mykonos.

If you’re a home buyer in an Australian capital city, odds are finding anything below $600,000 is a minor miracle. But miracles happen every day, and Australia's average mortgage size is only $593,000. For the savvy borrower, this is quite achievable.

For Aussies wanting to watch sporting events live, now may be the time to start booking flight tickets before there’s a further increase in prices.

Australians have been spending more on essential services and less on recreational goods this year, according to the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in August.

Not many, if any, heads of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have had to deal with back-to-back economic crises, but Philip Lowe had the COVID-19 pandemic, runaway inflation, and an intense government review into the inner workings of the central bank to contend with – not to mention a harsh media spotlight.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia customers in search of a new mobile phone plan are in luck. Australian telco More has partnered with CommBank to offer exclusive savings across a range of their mobile plans. Let’s take a look.

The popularity of share trading in Australia is taking off, according to the Australian Securities Exchange’s (ASX) latest report, the Australian Investor Study 2023.

Aussies could be losing retirement money as some superannuation funds failed a recent performance test of choice super products.

With the cost of living continuing to add stress to the daily lives of everyday Aussie families, we’re all looking for ways to save money wherever we can. We’ve looked at ways to save on a budget and ways to earn extra money, but there’s an easy hack that could help you save on your day-to-day expenses: entering competitions.

The last half of winter was all quiet on the Reserve Bank front. But home loan interest rates? Astonishingly busy. But despite all the activity, from hikes to cuts, the average variable interest rate for owner-occupied home loans stayed at 6.60% p.a. in August.

Apple has just announced the upcoming release of the new iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.

For the third month in a row, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held the official cash rate at 4.10% – its highest level since 2012. The extended pause brings more relief to home loan borrowers hammered by a record-breaking rate cycle since May 2022.

The last two months have seen a pause in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate-tightening cycle. With the cash rate held at 4.10%, lenders haven’t faced additional pressure to hike interest rates on their home loans – bringing some relief to mortgage payments. Or so we thought.

The flowers are out, the weather’s warmer – Spring has sprung! But for those with seasonal allergies, the change in seasons might be a little less welcome. Atchoooo!!