Your Hip Pocket

Acting for the benefit of society

IT was heartening to see some of our most influential citizens take a stand this week, buck the law and make decisions for the “greater good”, writes Karina Barrymore.

Banks find fault with small players

THOSE big four banks have been at it again. Trying to screw the rest of the economy for their own selfish sakes, writes Karina Barrymore.

Kool-Aid cost of fund managers

THE poor performance of Australian fund managers has left a lot of people wondering why are they so bad, writes Karina Barrymore.

Banking on a royal commission

STREWTH! The more I listen to the banks, the more divorced they appear from reality, writes Karina Barrymore.

Time to put a hold on calls

EACH year companies condition us a little more to have low expectations, make us spend longer pressing more buttons to wait endless more minutes for a call centre operator, writes Karina Barrymore.

Having a lend of property owners

SPARE a thought for the more than 300,000 households that are shackled to mortgages where they owe more than their homes are worth, writes Karina Barrymore.

Go ahead, make a judgement call

NEVER judge a book by its cover — forget that old saying! This year, investment success is all about finding fault and reducing risk so, go ahead, judge your heart out.

A year of living dangerously

MANY of our hip pockets are a lot lighter with our under regulated, profit-at-all cost, short term Australian corporate culture, writes Karina Barrymore.

Be a Grinch on Christmas credit

I HATE to be the Christmas Grinch, um, well, I don’t mind being a bit of a Grinch, but I don’t want to steal Christmas completely. I just want to tone it down a bit, writes Karina Barrymore.

Mortgage pain hits state’s regions

REGIONAL Victorians are having a harder time meeting home loan repayments than their inner-city cousins, with job losses behind a steep lift in mortgage arrears.

Smashed avocado or Weet Bix? It’s your choice

HAS everyone got over their faux outrage about smashed avocado breakfasts yet? Karina Barrymore hopes so.

Begging the question on the needy

ONE of those things that really divides people, upsets most and angers many is the issue of beggars, writes Karina Barrymore.

Own goal a blow to bank inquiry

THE push for a royal commission into banking and finance has taken a serious blow and wouldn’t you know it, the big institutions are rubbing their hands in glee, writes Karina Barrymore.

Shock, horror in super statements

EACH year, as super fund statements hit our mailboxes, suddenly we all become very interested in our super accounts, writes Karina Barrymore.

Massage in the profit message

WHEN is a profit not a profit? When it’s tricked up to look like something it isn’t, writes Karina Barrymore.

Questions the answer on ethics

I GUESS it’s official: Australians think our big business bosses and politicians are unethical, writes Karina Barrymore.

Doing your dash with dashboards

LET’S talk about dashboards. Not just the ones inside our cars but also the ones we find on the top of superannuation statements and websites, writes Karina Barrymore.

Strike a balance on investments

MOST ads for financial advice or investments worry me — they are always so “blue sky”, playing on people’s need and, um, greed to make money, writes Karina Barrymore.

Try before you buy a smaller place

DOWNSIZING and selling a large family home is no longer the only option for Australia’s empty nest homeowners, writes Karina Barrymore.

How debt dictates these days

THE big question about debt is no longer about “should I borrow”, but about “how much?”, writes Karina Barrymore.

Population growth aids prosperity

INSTEAD of thinking of immigrants as aliens we should be thinking of them as people who actively choose to live in Australia, writes Karina Barrymore.

When new cars drive you mad

THERE’S nothing quite like driving a new car. God forbid something goes wrong. And something does go wrong, most of the time, writes Karina Barrymore.

Commonwealth Bank’s new fee grab

HUNDREDS of thousands of Commonwealth Bank customers will be slugged with higher fees for withdrawing money and cashing cheques over the counter.

Quality of life is economic key

OF all the key financial factors that affect our hip pockets, government policies play the biggest role, writes Karina Barrymore.

Staring hard facts in the face

FOR the next three or four months we’ll be skulking around feeling guilty, maybe a bit anxious, because now we have to lodge our tax returns, writes Karina Barrymore.

The not-so independent advice

THE word “independent” is deceiving investors and consumers into believing something that is usually not true, writes Karina Barrymore.

Applying the broker-hold

Just when you thought it was safe to dip your toe into the property market, along comes another big fat piranha ready to bite your foot off

DO the billions of dollars of profit from bad financial advice and dodgy product sales make up for the destroyed lives and industry-wide reputational damage caused by and to the banks, asks Karina Barrymore.