Australian personal finance news, tips and advices.
by AFB
Understanding how interest affects your home loan is an important step in the loan process. Even if the interest rate remains relatively low it will still add up to a large portion of your total repayments over the duration of a 25-30 year home loan term.
Many people misunderstand how interest is calculated. For example, when investigating a $100,000 loan at 10% interest, a novice borrower might think the total amount of interest to be paid will be $10,000. ... (read more)
by AFB
Picture this: You just land a great job, but it’s in a different country. You make the necessary arrangements, and you move there. Problem is, you need to send money back to your country regularly, maybe to pay for a mortgage, a phone bill or your family’s expenses.
Come payday, you calculate your budget and come up with the money you need to send before visiting the bank, only to find out that you lose a significant chunk of money to the bank by sending it. This is because banks do not follow the mid-market rate. ... (read more)
by AFB
Are you someone who absolutely hates how long it takes to make a transaction using a credit or debit card? Do you worry about card fraud a lot? If so, you will love contactless payment systems, which involve the use of contactless cards, stickers, key fobs, mobile devices, and wearable gadgets.
In a nutshell:
Contactless payments make life a tad easier for the average consumer.
Contactless cards have been available in Australia since 2006 but it only started to gain traction in the last few years. From the 7.6 million cards issued in 2010, the number grew to 18 million in 2014. With more and more retailers accepting contactless payments, the total number of contactless cards in Australia should reach 33.9 million in 2019, Timetric predicts. ... (read more)
by AFB
Living a frugal lifestyle in the era of social media, where everyone flaunts what they have and where they’ve travelled to, can be quite challenging—but there’s nothing great about living paycheque to paycheque either.
If you aren’t conscious about your spending, you might end up accumulating credit card debt. It will only eat away at your limited earnings as well as the money you’ve set aside for emergencies. As a result, it can easily compromise your financial future. ... (read more)
by AFB
Renovating a home can be one of the most fulfilling achievements for a home owner or investor. However, when things go wrong (as they inevitably do) your renovations can turn into a financial nightmare. Taking out a home renovation loan that is tailored to your needs can be one of the most astute financial decisions you will ever make.
Understanding which home renovation loan best suits your project is the first step toward a successful outcome. The ‘plan’ in financial plan is more than just an idea; it’s an essential factor in making sure you add maximum value to your premises. Unless you have savings set aside for your home renovation, you need to understand what type of loan best suits you. ... (read more)
by AFB
Naturally, calling in sick shouldn’t be a big deal. But the nature of the modern workplace has changed. Working remotely is the way businesses have adapted to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now it’s not so easy with remote workers. With them, there is always the risk of disbelief when taking sick days. That is why a remote worker calling in sick from home needs to know what to say, when to say it and how to say it. ... (read more)
by AFB
Due to the pandemic, more employees have recently switched to a work-from-home setup. Many companies, however, didn’t have the time to organise their new remote work system or plan how to manage and handle various tasks and projects while functioning in an online-only environment. The work-from-home arrangement is new for both companies and employees. Many are also still adapting to this setup while looking for strategies to maintain and improve productivity. ... (read more)
by AFB
Remote work is one of the trends revolutionising modern business because of its benefits for the individual and business activities. Flexibility, convenience, fewer person-hours spent on commuting, convenience, and reduced operational costs are just some of the benefits of remote work.
Once upon a time, remote work (WFH) used to be a practice for freelancers who enjoyed the freedom of being lone rangers that traversed the business landscape and lived by their own rules. ... (read more)
by AFB
International money transfers are an increasingly important aspect of the global economy. With the pandemic forcing people to work from home, along with the rise in remote working and freelancing, even small businesses are reliant on international money transfers.
Once borders open up again, it’s easy to see how the growth of digital nomading, remote work, and globalisation in general is meaning that the overseas remittance market is ever-expanding. ... (read more)
by AFB
Back in the 1980s, when Australia’s compulsory superannuation system was born, it was quite common for people to work for one company across their entire careers. Fast-forward three decades, and that notion is pretty mind-boggling, since today the average Australian worker could have up to a dozen or more job changes – and this is particularly so amongst Millennials. One effect of all those job changes is the potential to accumulate multiple superannuation accounts, especially when an employee simply ticks the box for their new company’s default super fund. And to be fair, how many of us in our 20s really took much notice of super? ... (read more)