![Movie popcorn is overpriced.](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/y/r/7/b/image.related.wideLandscape.940x529.gryqm4.12uqus.png/1476355258736.jpg)
Money features
![Keep your ear to the ground for financial advice.](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/a/7/q/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs193t.png/1476428748723.jpg)
Motley Fool: What's a defensive investor to do?
China hasn't had a hard landing, property keeps rising, and cash returns are low ... it's been an expensive time to be a defensive investor.
![Telstra was one of the big public floats of the 1990s and 2000s.](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/1/d/b/6/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs1dc2.png/1476421322311.jpg)
The best way to become a financial winner
The most likely way to become a financial winner is to make good quality growth investments and then get out of the way and let time do the work.
![Inspector-General of Taxation Ali Noroozi promises "the strictest confidence" for anyone raising complaints, issues or ...](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/1/3/q/w/v/2/image.related.landscape.120x80.gs0tx2.png/1476260063995.jpg)
I'm ready for complaints, says tax watchdog
"I've got my ear to the ground now," says Inspector-General of Taxation Ali Noroozi.
![<P>](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/x/k/8/9/image.related.landscape.120x80.grzskf.png/1476222494179.jpg)
Are DIY super trustees up to the job?
Anyone can manage their own super fund and do a dismal job, safe in the knowledge that in a worst-case scenario they have the age pension as a backstop.
![Jockey Michelle Payne after winning the Melbourne Cup.](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/t/b/2/9/image.related.landscape.120x80.gryfu5.png/1476145954060.jpg)
Why Melbourne Cup day interest rate changes are an odds-on favourite
Seasoned Reserve Bank watchers have learned it pays to keep an eye out for an outside-chance interest rate change on Cup Day.
![Inappropriate incentives are at the heart of the banks' cultural problems. Illustration: Kerrie Leishman](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/w/4/2/7/image.related.landscape.120x80.grykqy.png/1476171025826.jpg)
Motley Fool: The elephant in the bank inquiry room
Bank staff's remuneration is not aligned with their customers' success – only the banks'.
![Illustration: Joe Benke](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/y/v/s/e/image.related.landscape.120x80.gryvih.png/1476171143913.jpg)
Ask Noel: what should a 22-year-old do with her money?
Financial expert Noel Whittaker answers readers' questions.
![Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson.](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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.
![Dreaming of boating in the Whitsundays?](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/x/n/s/y/image.related.landscape.120x80.grxnlm.png/1476159159547.jpg)
New ways to save on travel with summer just around the corner
It's the time of year when I start daydreaming about my summer holiday.
![The strong performance of Mesoblast moved Money editor Caitlin Fitzsimmons to third in the Shares Race, from second-last ...](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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.
![Financial literacy is useless unless you can separate fact from fiction.](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/x/x/k/image.related.landscape.120x80.grx2hm.png/1475800882934.jpg)
Financial literacy won't help if you don't get your facts straight
A little knowledge can be more dangerous than blissful ignorance.
![George Ray, 85, has small amounts of money in super and in savings accounts.](/web/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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/20161014130922im_/http://www.theage.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.