Institutions covered by the Guarantee?

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

Are the savings in our bank safe?

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

Is my term deposit safe? I am very concerned the banks will collapse.

Q,. Josie, we have the proceeds of our recent house sale in a term deposit with a major Australian bank. How concerned should we be in regards to it’s safety in light of the current financial problems worldwide?

The amount concerned is in the vicinity of $250,000, and without this, to buy another house, we would be struggling.

Thanks for your time. Read more

We are not happy with the financial advice we received

Q.  You mentioned briefly on Sunday 13th July, MFS formerly Octaviar now managed by Wellington.

We are moderate risk investors and have found ourselves through our SMSF having a $50,000-00 holding in the above, not good from what we hear. Lonsec are employed by our financial advisers and supposed to have comprehensive research data to help formulate tailored plans. Read more