![Young families may not travel as much, but frequent flyer points can be a big help when they do.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/9/x/i/c/image.related.wideLandscape.940x529.gwkgev.12uqus.png/1496847481545.jpg)
Money features
![Owner-occupiers only realise the value of their home if they sell.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/8/5/v/b/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwng61.png/1497134231012.jpg)
Slower growth is good news for first-home buyers
There's a lot of the talk at the moment about the idea of a housing bubble that's set to burst.
![Melanie Bye with her daughter Bridget has reduced her grocery budget using different strategies.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/o/6/4/z/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwos2m.png/1497105665668.jpg)
How to halve your grocery bill
‘I thought I stuffed up the maths’: How Melanie saved $100 a week on groceries.
![A2 Milk has helped propel Phil Baker into first place in the year-long Shares Race](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/e/2/m/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwnvig.png/1496975296458.jpg)
Big Un and A2 Milk the best performers so far in year-long sharemarket game
Welcome to our regular check-in with the year-long Shares Race. The race started at the end of January with 12 tipsters selecting 10 stocks each.
![Biopharmaceutical company CSL has a world-class reputation.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/h/4/p/l/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwo6k1.png/1496987410209.jpg)
Australia's most respected companies
The US list of most respected companies is out. Who would make the cut here?
![Sallie Krawcheck, formerly chief executive of Citigroup and Bank of America, says for a time she bought into the myth ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/n/d/g/x/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwndj8.png/1496974472454.jpg)
Women make better investors than men
Women are more risk averse and this translates positively in returns.
![The Acorns app rounds up each purchase you make and stores it in an investment portfolio for you.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/m/y/d/m/b/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwnfil.png/1497024289847.jpg)
Noel Whittaker's verdict after a year of using micro-investment app Acorns
For years I have been going on about the power of investing small sums of money.
![Active funds have higher fees, so they need to consistently outperform the market to earn their keep.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/u/a/u/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwncje.png/1496903421396.jpg)
Index funds v actively managed funds
For a combination of reasons, index-following managed and exchange traded funds have become increasingly popular with both individual and institutional investors.
![With tax time approaching, it's important for investors to make their deductions work for them.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/z/r/y/9/t/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwla8s.png/1496809166164.jpg)
It's not too late to boost your tax deductions
This year was going to be different.
![The next investment trend to hit our shores is "smart beta" exchange traded funds (ETFs).](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/4/4/o/x/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwksuy.png/1496931771937.jpg)
Experts warn over the The Next Big Thing in investing
Are providers being too clever with the latest breed of the funds that use "smart beta" strategies that increase the risks for investors and have fees twice that of vanilla exchange traded funds (ETFs).
![Clothing stores have been forced to offer deep discounts to entice wary consumers to spend.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/3/z/i/a/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwgfeu.png/1496797409952.jpg)
Shopping strips feel the pain of weak wage growth
Well-known brands including Top Shop, Marcs, Pumpkin Patch, and David Lawrence are all casualties of a retail slump that has swept through shopping strips around the country.
![Petrol prices in Sydney and Melbourne are trending lower for the Queen's Birthday long weekend.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/o/k/i/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwl7kb.png/1496847386385.jpg)
Sydney and Melbourne petrol prices fall for long weekend
Sydneysiders and Melburnians heading off on road trips this coming Queen's Birthday long weekend are urged to delay filling their car until later in the week or on the holiday weekend as petrol prices in both cities continue to fall.
![Ainsworth Game Technology, the poker machine maker, is the best-performing stock tip of all.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/m/t/x/0/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwit9j.png/1496368110581.jpg)
Shares Race ends with most contestants under water
The Shares Race has ended with a whimper, as six of our eight tipsters finished the four-week race with less than their original $100,000.
![Harvard researchers found the "cognitive deficit" caused by money worries can translate into a drop of as many as 10 IQ ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/h/5/o/s/a/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwi1q5.png/1496368351977.jpg)
Being rich makes you smarter
Here are some ideas to relieve money worries and increase the quality of your financial decisions, and as a result, your general intelligence.
![Investment returns will grow more slowly than during the post-GFC recovery.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/h/y/9/d/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwhy1c.png/1496478530382.jpg)
Lower returns ahead for investors
So far, financial year superannuation fund returns have been good with the prospect of double digit returns if world share markets don't tank in June.
![Our four largest mortgage lenders, including ANZ, were spared from S&Ps downgrade.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/1/0/m/k/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwgwog.png/1496748089276.jpg)
Furious finance lecturer charges $1000 for eaten card
What do you get for the $2 fee for using another bank's ATM? A finance lecturer believes the answer is nothing.
![High fees can hobble the returns of super funds.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/z/5/c/x/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwe21n.png/1496151690867.jpg)
Why it's important to know what fees you are paying on super
Fund managers and super funds with high fees claim that it's not fees that matter, but the returns after fees.
![Adjusting for inflation, wages have shrunk in real terms. Illustration: Michael Mucci](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/g/3/l/a/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwfy7k.png/1496762424810.jpg)
When will you get a pay rise? Solving the riddle of low wages growth in Australia
Something odd is happening to the pay-packets of Australians. Adjusting for inflation, wages have shrunk.
![When directors buy or sell shares in their companies, they must disclose this to the ASX and it's public information.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170611063205im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/f/b/n/w/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwfa84.png/1496733189316.jpg)
The only insider info on ASX companies that's legal
You can't read company directors' minds, but you can track when they buy and sell shares.