Indulgences such as caviar, wagyu beef and the finest bottles of wine shouldn’t count against you when lenders assess your application for finance, a Federal Court judge has said. Ok, so maybe Federal Court Justice Nye Perram has a slightly different grocery list to the rest of us. But his recent judgement should be welcome…

One in 10 consumers have switched credit products in the past year, according to new research, with Millennials and women in particular pouncing on offers from small banks, credit unions and building societies. The financial landscape is shifting. Over the past 12 months, 10% of consumers have switched credit providers, according to the Australian Consumer…

Businesses that put off paying large tax bills for too long may soon find that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has notified credit reporting bureaus. The proposal is part of The Treasury Laws Amendment (2019 Tax Integrity and Other Measures No.1) Bill, which was recently introduced into parliament. The Bill will provide the ATO with…

Good news for mortgage holders this week, with the RBA saying "it’s reasonable to expect an extended period of low interest rates". Figures released on Wednesday show that core inflation, the RBA's preferred measure, is currently at 1.4%. However, Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Philip Lowe says it is highly unlikely the RBA will…

Scams involving identity theft have cost Australians at least $16 million this year, and that figure is likely to be just the “tip of the iceberg”, says the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Worryingly, four in every 10 Scamwatch reports so far in 2019 have involved an attempt to gain information or the actual…

One of the most annoying myths for young homebuyers has to be the smashed avo breaky one. You know - to buy a property you have to forego delicious weekend breakfasts. Well, here are three easy recipes that prove otherwise. Today we’re going to have a little fun and trade in our finance professional cap…

Reckon you could scrounge together an extra $50 each week to pay off your mortgage? If so, latest modelling shows the average household with a $400,000 loan could save $46,992 and pay off their home loan four years faster. This week we’re going to look at the benefits of paying just a little bit more…

Great news for home buyers - housing affordability is the best it’s been since 1999, according to new data released by the nation’s peak housing and building body. That’s right - housing affordability is comparable to the days when the Y2K bug had us fearing for our lives, Nokia Snake was the pinnacle of mobile…

Whenever the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) changes the official cash rate we all hear about how it will impact home loans. But it affects many other areas of finance and the economy, which we’ll look into today. The RBA has cut the official cash rate to a new record low of 1%, just one…

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has cut the official cash rate by 25 basis points to a new record low of 1%. Yep, that's right, back-to-back rate cuts within just one month. The RBA last cut the official cash rate to the previously historic low of 1.25% on June 4, which also happened to…