The past year has been awash with suggestions countries such as Australia are experiencing a “great resignation” as workers previously loyal to their employers quit their jobs and look for others elsewhere. Last year, newspaper articles aside, there was little evidence for this in Australia, although substantial evidence in the United States where the term…
Amid the excitement of buying a new property, it’s easy to let down your guard when it comes to insurance. But there are a number of options you should consider to get peace of mind against the unexpected. Whether you’ve found your forever home or you’re buying an investment property, these are the 3 key…
The rate of unemployment remained steady at 3.9% between April and May. Australia has now managed to keep a rate of unemployment below 4% for three consecutive months is extraordinarily good news. It gets better. While the unemployment rate didn’t improve, the labour market did, substantially. The number of Australians in jobs climbed by 60,620…
Barely a month ago, Anthony Albanese was derided as a “loose unit” for endorsing a 5.1% increase in the minimum wage. His rationale was, that with 5.1% inflation, the incomes of the lowest-paid Australians at least shouldn’t be going backwards. Now the Fair Work Commission’s expert panel, which reviews the minimum wage each year, has…
It is no surprise that the pandemic has changed how we think about our homes. There is nothing quite like being confined to your home for months on end to make you appreciate having a home that meets your needs or rankles at one that does not. Spurred by the experience of lockdown and self-isolation,…
Most Australian voters are either Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964), Generation Xers (1965 to 1980) or Millennials (1981 to 1996). And at one time or another most have been told that their generation is better off (or worse off) than the ones that came before it. It’s tempting to think the most recent generation…
The Reserve Bank has lifted the cash rate for the second time in two months, this time by 0.50 points to 0.85%. It won’t be the last such hike. Forecasters expect the cash rate to hit 2.5% by the end of next year. This would lift the typical variable mortgage rate to near 5%. Cue…
The Reserve Bank Board met last week and pushed up its cash interest rate for the second consecutive month. Why? According to the board’s official minutes, it’s: “to ensure that inflation in Australia returns to the target over time.” Some increase in interest rates is justified simply because, with higher inflation, real interest rates are…
By lifting its cash rate by 0.5 points, from 0.35% to 0.85%, the Reserve Bank has added about another $120 per month in payments for a A$500,000 mortgage. If financial markets are to be believed, by the end of this year it will have added a total of $800 per month – and, by the…
If your rental is badly damaged and becomes uninhabitable, you may need to relocate your tenants. But who covers the relocation costs? Fire, flood, violent weather, and vandalism… Sometimes, there are circumstances when, through no fault of the tenant or landlord, a rental property becomes uninhabitable. When that occurs, there are two main options. The…
