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Inflation — Who Really Pays the Price?

What exactly is inflation?I keep hearing the word inflation at the moment.It is on the news, in newspaper headlines and, of course, whenever interest rates are being discussed.But I started wondering …

magner · Sep 19, 2026 · 📖 13 min read

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Retirement "retirement life" Affordable Rental Costs

What Does a Comfortable Retirement Really Mean?

The numbers say one thing. Living it can be something quite different.I read an SBS article recently telling me that Australians now believe they need more than $1 million in super to enjoy a comforta…

magner · Sep 16, 2026 · 📖 5 min read

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Private Health Insurance aged care Pension Assets Retirement Income

Private Health Insurance in Retirement — When Does It Become Too Expensive?

When Sheila and I arrived in Brisbane in 1988, after spending 22 years in New Zealand, one of the things we decided to do was take out private health insurance.I can't remember the exact premium we pa…

magner · Sep 15, 2026 · 📖 3 min read

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Housing Family Home "family" Rental Costs rental increases

The Bank of Mum and Dad — What About Those Without One?

Has getting ahead in Australia become dependent on the family you were born into?I read an interesting SBS article recently about what it calls Australia's “Booster Economy” — more than $140 billion w…

magner · Sep 14, 2026 · 📖 8 min read

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rents bonds rental increases

One Rent Increase a Year — But How Much?

I've been writing quite a bit lately about affordable housing, and the more I look into the subject, the more questions I seem to have.One of those questions concerns the rules around rent increases i…

magner · Sep 12, 2026 · 📖 5 min read

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Affordable Renting in Retirement Rental Costs Interest Rates

Twenty Years to Fix Housing — What Are We Supposed to Do Until Then?

I read an ABC report recently about evidence given to a Senate inquiry by NAB chief economist Dr Sally Auld.What caught my attention wasn't simply the suggestion that Australia's housing problems coul…

magner · Sep 11, 2026 · 📖 3 min read

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mortgages renting bank's

When Did the Borrower Start Carrying All the Risk?

Looking back at buying homes in Britain and New Zealand — and wondering how mortgages became what they are todayI have been thinking about mortgages lately.Not because I am looking to buy another hom…

magner · Sep 09, 2026 · 📖 5 min read

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Superannuation — Who Was It Really For?

As time went by in my life, I never really gave much thought to retirement. When you're working and running a business, retirement seems a long way into the future. It wasn't something I spent much ti…

magner · Aug 31, 2026 · 📖 4 min read

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Age Pension Centrelink Retirement Income Finance Super

How the Age Pension Works in 2026 — Eligibility, Rates and the Means Test Explained in Plain English

The Age Pension is one of the most important financial topics for any Australian approaching or in retirement — yet it remains one of the most confusing. The rules change regularly, the jargon is dens…

admin · May 13, 2026 · 📖 8 min read

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Retirement Brain Health Mental Health Dementia Wellbeing

Staying Mentally Sharp in Retirement — What the Research Actually Says

There's a question that doesn't get asked often enough when people plan for retirement. We talk about money, we talk about health cover, we talk about where to live. But rarely do we ask: what am I go…

admin · May 13, 2026 · 📖 8 min read

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retirement Pension Assets

The Family Home and the Pension Assets Test — What Retirees Should Know

For many retirees, the family home is their largest asset — and often their greatest source of financial confusion.One of the most common questions people ask is:“Will selling my home affect my pensio…

admin · May 13, 2026 · 📖 1 min read

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Housing Age Pension Downsizing Retirement Villages Reverse Mortgage Family Home

Your Home in Retirement — Downsizing, Retirement Villages and Reverse Mortgages

For most Australians, the family home is the largest asset they own — often worth more than their superannuation, their savings, and everything else combined. Yet when it comes to retirement planning,…

admin · May 13, 2026 · 📖 10 min read

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Medicare Private Health Insurance Health Retirement

Title: Medicare vs Private Health Insurance in Retirement — Do You Still Need Both?

One of the questions I hear most often from people heading into retirement is this: now that I'm no longer working, do I still need private health insurance? Or can I just rely on Medicare?It's a fair…

admin · May 13, 2026 · 📖 6 min read

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energy technology

Tasmania Energy Prices

Here's the complete picture for Tasmania — and it has some genuinely good news compared to the rest of the country.Tasmania's unique advantage: the cheapest regulated prices in the NEMThe independent …

peter284 · May 03, 2026 · 📖 5 min read

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energy technology

North Territories Energy Prices

The big NT difference: effectively one retailer, government-regulated pricesThis is the most important thing to understand upfront. In the NT, all electricity plans strictly abide by the rates and pri…

peter284 · May 03, 2026 · 📖 5 min read

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energy technology

Western Australian Energy Prices

Here's the full rundown for South Australia — and fair warning upfront: SA consistently has the highest electricity prices in the country, which makes comparing plans here more important than anywhere…

peter284 · May 03, 2026 · 📖 5 min read

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energy technology

South Australia Energy Prices

Here's the full rundown for South Australia — and fair warning upfront: SA consistently has the highest electricity prices in the country, which makes comparing plans here more important than anywhere…

peter284 · May 03, 2026 · 📖 5 min read

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energy technology

Victoria Energy Prices

Victoria's benchmark: the Victorian Default Offer (VDO)Victoria has its own version of the reference price called the Victorian Default Offer, set independently by the Essential Services Commission (E…

peter284 · May 03, 2026 · 📖 4 min read

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energy technology

NSW Energy Prices

The most important number: the Reference PriceThe Australian Energy Regulator (AER) sets a Reference Price (also called the Default Market Offer or DMO) which acts as the benchmark. For a typical NSW …

peter284 · May 03, 2026 · 📖 4 min read

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Energy Electricity

Energy Prices QLD

The big QLD catch: where you live changes everythingThe electricity market in QLD is split into two very different systems. South East Queensland (on the Energex network) operates as a fully competiti…

peter284 · May 03, 2026 · 📖 4 min read

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Banks Housing Goverment

How many houses/apartments do could you build if you had say 10 billion dollars

Great question — let's run the numbers properly using the Brisbane costs we just discussed.Using realistic all-in costs per dwellingTypeLandBuildExtrasTotal per dwelling3-bed house (outer suburbs)$420…

peter284 · Apr 26, 2026 · 📖 3 min read

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Banks Housing Goverment Money

Does the Federal & State Governments borrow money

Yes, they do — and on a massive scale. Here's how it works:How governments borrowGovernments don't go to a bank and apply for a loan the way you or I would. Instead they issue bonds — also called gove…

peter284 · Apr 26, 2026 · 📖 3 min read

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So the big banks have the market all to themselves

Pretty much, yes — and it's not an accident.In Australia, the "Big Four" dominateCBA, Westpac, NAB and ANZ between them hold roughly 75-80% of all mortgages in Australia. That level of market concentr…

peter284 · Apr 26, 2026 · 📖 2 min read

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Why is it that you apply for a mortgage & after going thru an application to say that you are a good applicant & are given the mortgage an amount over 25years …

That's a really sharp observation and a question many mortgage holders ask — especially when rates rise sharply. Here's the core of it:The short answer is — the bank didn't actually lock in that money…

peter284 · Apr 26, 2026 · 📖 3 min read

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Banks Mortgages

Where do the banks get their money to give out mortgages?

That's a great question! Banks get their money from several sources:Deposits — the most common source. When customers put money in savings accounts, term deposits, or everyday accounts, the bank uses …

peter284 · Apr 26, 2026 · 📖 1 min read

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