Time for a check-up: Take a closer look at your private health insurance
It’s that time of the year again. Your advice about the annual rise in your health insurance premiums has just arrived. But don’t just sigh and make a mental note of the extra dollars coming out in a few days. Take it as a sign - a sign to reexamine your policy and make sure it is working for you.
It’s not just about your age, but your stage in life. Are you thinking about having a baby? Do you need a lot of physio? Is your health deteriorating to the point you think you might be more likely than not to need to go to hospital within the next year?
You may not want to ditch your health insurance altogether, but by taking a closer look and thinking about what and where your policy delivers - or isn’t delivering - you could get a lot better value for money.
Unclaimed money: Do you own a slice of $1.5 billion?
We’ve all dreamt of winning the lottery but you could already have a tidy sum — a small fortune, even - in your name and not know it.
According to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), there’s about $1.5 billion of unclaimed money just waiting to be returned to its rightful owners. This money may be tied up in forgotten bank accounts, life insurance policies, superannuation, or other financial accounts. If you think you may have some unclaimed cash, it’s worth doing a little digging.
World Consumer Rights Day: It’s time to make yourself heard
“Their voice is not always as loudly heard in Washington as the voices of smaller and better-organized groups – nor is their point of view always defined and presented. But under our economic as well as our political form of democracy, we share an obligation to protect the common interest in every decision we make.”
John F. Kennedy was writing on March 15, 1962, on what is now known as World Consumer Rights Day, in a “special message to Congress on protecting the consumer interest”. But swap Sydney or Melbourne for Washington and the then US President’s words are just as true for Australian consumers in the 21st century. If not more so.
Know your LED: How to buy the right TV
Buying a TV used to be straightforward. You'd simply pick a model with the largest screen that you could afford, and you’d be home on the couch with the remote in no time.
Now, there's a whole new vocabulary with bewildering terms like 8K, HDR and Quantum Dots. What does any of it mean? And how do you determine whether that $3000 television really is worth more than the one half its price?
Is pet insurance worth the money?
With more than 30 million pets across the country, Australia has one of the highest pet ownership rates in the world and we fork out a pretty penny to keep our fur babies happy too.
According to Animal Medicines Australia’s Pets and the Pandemic report, dog owners spend about $3200 a year, while feline owners spend about $2100 per cat.