![Jockey Michelle Payne after winning the Melbourne Cup.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/t/b/2/9/image.related.wideLandscape.940x529.gryfu5.12uqus.png/1476145954060.jpg)
Money features
![If history is any guide, the time is right for Telstra.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/o/k/3/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.grykkq.png/1476145874982.jpg)
It's a good time to buy Telstra shares
Telstra and the banks are major income stocks and they share the same pattern of seasonal peaks and troughs over the past 20 years.
![Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/t/t/y/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.gry5px.png/1476074673626.jpg)
Women half as likely to benefit from tax cuts as men
Male mining engineers, school principals, surgeons and anaesthetists will be the biggest beneficiaries of the high-end tax cut currently before the Senate, with men more than twice as likely to benefit as women.
![Rather than negative gearing, why not earn a profit on your investments and pay income tax? You're still ahead.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/a/l/w/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwamr.png/1475726734852.jpg)
Negative gearing isn't all it's cracked up to be
Financial expert George Cochrane answers readers' questions.
![Only a registered credit provider can record a payment default on your credit file.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/r/g/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwrch.png/1476171081000.jpg)
Nicole helps ... a reader escape a dodgy debt collection demand
Why you don't need to pay for services delivered without "due care and skill".
![Home ownership is a good foundation for building wealth.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/s/v/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwrke.png/1475760280738.jpg)
8 reasons home ownership is one of the best investments you can make
You may have to take on a large debt to buy it, but the family home also becomes your biggest asset.
![The strong performance of Mesoblast moved Money editor Caitlin Fitzsimmons to third in the Shares Race, from second-last ...](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/l/e/m/r/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwyff.png/1475918778485.jpg)
Race winner posts 33 per cent gain with back-to-back wins
Money reader Mendy Amzalak has ended the four-week Shares Race with one of the most emphatic wins ever.
![How banks work.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/x/d/y/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.grx2t3.png/1476000279286.jpg)
What if the banks were forced to treat us like everyone else?
Australia's bank chiefs could be forgiven for thinking they've survived the worst, says Peter Martin.
![George Ray, 85, has small amounts of money in super and in savings accounts.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/x/5/u/5/image.related.landscape.120x80.grw1vx.png/1476171013286.jpg)
Savings hit by record-low interest rates
George Ray reckons the banks could easily afford to increase the interest they pay on their cash deposits given the amount of money they are making.
![A one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work for defined benefit pensions.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/8/i/2/8/image.related.landscape.120x80.grx007.png/1475798606247.jpg)
Inequities in defined benefit pensions
The draft legislation contains tough and in some cases unrealistic valuations of the non-commutable defined benefit pensions received by retirees.
![NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn at the parliamentary bank inquiry last week.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/5/v/1/image.related.landscape.120x80.grwbab.png/1475826574633.jpg)
What the banking inquiry means for shareholders
The big bank CEOs seem contrite at the parliamentary inquiry, but the banks are probably safe from real consequences.
![A pair of bronze Buddhist attendants, 18th century.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/u/u/z/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.gruuhe.png/1475585497363.jpg)
Chinese investors expected at sale of Buddhist and Hindu statues
Demand for Asian art is largely driven by the Chinese economy, which dipped in 2015 but appears to be up again this year.
![Illustration: Simon Letch](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/k/0/x/image.related.landscape.120x80.grtk0j.png/1475590296071.jpg)
Is this super option too good to be true?
Financial expert Noel Whittaker answers readers' questions.
![Super fund members are entitled to know where their funds are investing.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/n/g/8/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.grs2hd.png/1475566476349.jpg)
Super funds keeping members in the dark for too long
Super fund members have a right to know what their funds are doing with their money.
![A little pain now in terms of planning can mean you avoid a financial hangover later on.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/k/f/1/image.related.landscape.120x80.grtkcu.png/1475455706297.jpg)
Plan ahead for the festive season to avoid a financial hangover
A little pain now in terms of planning can mean you avoid a whole lot of pain later on.
![A financial agreement gives peace of mind for (from left) Simon Lyster, Galileo Lima, 10, Shahrazad Lima 13, and ...](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/r/2/t/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.grr1pf.png/1475625459247.jpg)
How to keep what's yours when a relationship fails
Maintaining separate finances does not protect your assets if your relationship breaks up, but a properly drawn-up binding financial agreement does.
![Wealthy public servants look set to keep nearly all of their superannuation concessions under looming reforms](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/a/q/n/j/image.related.landscape.120x80.grtmhi.png/1476066199896.jpg)
Elite public servants to escape Morrison's super axe
The wealthy elite of the Australian Public Service to keep nearly all their generous superannuation concessions.
![Jackson Pollock's 'Blue Poles' is on loan to the Royal Academy of Arts in London for the 'Abstract Expressionism' exhibition.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/l/f/v/image.related.landscape.120x80.grtlca.png/1475806359793.jpg)
Was buying Blue Poles for $1.3m in 1973 worth it?
The government was mocked for spending $1.3 million on Blue Poles in 1973. It's now worth $350 million. Was it a good investment?
![Invest for the long term and then you can enjoy a steak sandwich in peace.](/web/20161011133357im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/t/l/1/h/image.related.landscape.120x80.grtl0u.png/1475457778492.jpg)
Sandwiches for the long run
Contracts for differences let you short companies, but it adds short-term stress to investment decisions.