Institutions covered by the Guarantee?
October 31, 2008 by Josie Kay · Leave a Comment
Q. Can you send me a list of all in financial institution covered by the government guarrentee of savings?
Josie’s answer: I think this is an easy one to answer. The following documents were published by the Government in October 2008. Remember, things are changing by the day. If in doubt, contact the financial institution and ask for something in writing.
government-guarantee-eligible-accounts-and-institutions
government-guarantee-paramaters-oct-08
The website that I sourced this information is www.treasury.gov.au (I call it the horse’s mouth) Read more
Financial Planning Factories - Money Tip without the Boring Stuff
It is a tough world out there. How do you find a financial planner that you can trust? First and foremost, we are not demigods (although I think I have met some that believe they are half human, half God).
It is not the first time you have heard me say that finance professionals cannot predict the future (obviously). It worries me no end that people (known as prospects to the financial planner) walk into extravagant financial planning offices and think to themselves ‘Wow, this guy must know what he is talking about!’ Look he is so successful!.
Intelligent investors know if anyone possessed the ability to consistently and accurately time the market, they would be instant billionaires. Why didn’t Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, anyone in the Top 500 Rich List walk into the same office? Oh that’s right.. I forgot they genuinely care about the little people. Codswallop! (not even sure if it is a word). If that is the case, why do they need to charge ridiculous fees? Why do they have to preach to the masses? Why do they need to advertise to get people to attend their seminars? Read more
Are the savings in our bank safe?
October 24, 2008 by Josie Kay · Leave a Comment
Q. I am wondering about savings we have with Suncorp Bank. Is it safe or should we pull it out for the time being also which banks have frozen accounts already?
Josie’s answer: If your money is sitting in a savings account within a bank, building society or credit union that is based in Australia, then the Government has guaranteed that you will not lose your money, for the next three years anyway. You will not find a better guarantor.
Foreign banks may be covered by the guarantee, provided they agree to pay a fee, but this can be a little confusing. For example, ING’s parent is based in Holland, but they are covered by the guarantee as they have an Australian subsidiary (up to a $1M. If greater than $1M then they will be charged a fee).
For example, institutions such as Duetche, Credit Suisse do not have an Australian subsidiary in Australia, just a branch office who reports to their parent overseas. Therefore, different rules apply to them. Some commentators argue that this is fair as they made the decisions they didn’t want to operate under the same rules and regulations that apply to our banks, building society and credit unions. Read more
Money Tip without the boring stuff - Is My Money Safe?
Even though the Government announced on Sunday 12th October, 2008 they would guarantee all savings within banks, building society and credit unions, I am still getting lots of queries.
Must admit it is confusing as the Government didn’t include the fine print. You will not find a better guarantor than the Australian government. Following is a link to the Treasury Department - www.treasury.gov.au.
Josie v Money Matters listener - understanding economics
October 24, 2008 by Josie Kay · Leave a Comment
Q. I was listening to your program on GoldFM last Sunday morning. I found it amazing the number of incorrect economic statements that were made concerning the federal governments “stimulus”package.
The bottom line is that the so called stimulus will have no impact as it is based on the mistaken belief that consumer spending drives the economy, when in fact business spending is the driver.
Any surplus is held by the Reserve Bank, and is still part of the money supply, so that it is money created out of thin air (as central banks have an addiction to which is one of the causes of inflation), but a draw down in money balances (often erroneously referred to as idle balances). Read more
Sneaky Telstra and pensioner discounts
October 18, 2008 by Josie Kay · Leave a Comment
Here I was thinking it was just another task I had to do for my parents. They regularly ask me to ring different companies on their behalf because their English is, let’s say, hopeless.
They get all muddled on the phone and thoroughly confused (Italian migrants). It’s tough enough working out which ‘number’ to select on the automated service.
You know that lovely lady who tries to direct you to the ‘right department’ and you end up going around in circles.
Anyway, they have been loyal Telstra customers for decades and having phoned them recently, we were told they were eligible for a pensioner discount on their land line service. Read more
5 simple ways to avoid overspending at the shops
October 15, 2008 by Josie Kay · Leave a Comment
Beat the Retailers at their own Game
We are all prone to overspending. Ladies, just look at all the clothes you have purchased over the years, and half of them you probably don’t wear. If I calculated how much I have spent just on clothes since I started work at 15 years of age, I would no doubt be horrified (best to stick my head in the sand!).
The men are not going to get away with it either. From my experience they tend to purchase big ticket items, such as big screen TVs, power tools, and stereos. Read more
Money Tip without the Boring Stuff - Will property prices fall?
October 10, 2008 by Josie Kay · Leave a Comment
Bricks and mortar - safe as houses? Not sure after surfing the internet trying to find a balanced argument in favour of buying property at the moment. Here is a summary of what I found. The blue (as in colour) comments are mine. Please share your thoughts on this subject.
John Hewson – former Liberal leader, economist – 7 October 08 Gold Coast Bulletin (quite pessimistic)
“Property markets are going to go down, and go down for some time.” said Dr Hewson.
He said that falls would be across the board, particularly commercial properties. “I think there could be a hell of a property shakeout.” Read more
How safe is our fixed term deposit with Suncorp?
October 9, 2008 by Josie Kay · 3 Comments
Q. How safe is our fixed term deposit of $260,000 with Suncorp that we have deposited for 3 years? I have heard a few rumours that Suncorp could be sold and wonder how safe are our funds a) if suncorp is not sold and b) if suncorp is sold. My husband and I are both now retired and wanted to be sure of our investment.
Josie’s answer: Lots of rumours flying around at the moment that Suncorp will be gobbled up by the Commonwealth Bank or ANZ. CBA have already pounced on Bank West.
Oh the poor banks they really seem to be really suffering at the moment (with my tongue firmly in my cheek!). Suncorp are a second tier bank, which means they don’t have the same rating as the big four i.e. Commonwealth, ANZ, NAB and Westpac. Read more
Help! I have lost my super.
October 6, 2008 by Josie Kay · 2 Comments
Q. Hello I have lost super and I have been told that I could use this to buy a house for our retirement. I am 55 and my wife is 51 we are renting and would like to have a house that is ours what can we do. thank you.
Josie answer: A common problem with billions of dollars lost. However, it is not really ‘lost’, just too many people not caring enough about their superannuation.
Super funds contact you on a regular basis, but if you have changed address it is very easy to forget. You have worked very hard for your money and great to see you have finally mustered up some energy to find all those lost superannuation accounts. Read more
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