![Melissa Taylor, a social worker from Katoomba, had genetic testing on the recommendation of her doctor.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/i/y/2/u/image.related.wideLandscape.940x529.gwi059.12uqus.png/1496500039559.jpg)
Money features
![Electricity costs have risen by 124 per cent over the past 10 years.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/b/q/e/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwiz25.png/1496615495021.jpg)
Price hikes threaten to take shine off golden years
The prices of energy, health care and even taking companion animals to the vet have risen far in excess of price rises generally.
![Clothing stores have been forced to offer deep discounts to entice wary consumers to spend.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/3/z/i/a/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwgfeu.png/1496616325271.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.
![Elana Benjamin went on the holiday in the USA and her NAB Traveller card didn't work.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/k/g/z/e/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwkhxg.png/1496658835929.jpg)
'My NAB Traveller Card let me down in LA'
Difficulties with a travel debit card don't make for a happy customer.
![Petrol prices in Sydney and Melbourne are trending lower for the Queen's Birthday long weekend.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/o/k/i/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwl7kb.png/1496718796176.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.
![<P>](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/l/1/v/0/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwl1tw.png/1496697403591.jpg)
Is it worth borrowing for aged care?
Financial expert Noel Whittaker answers your questions.
![Ainsworth Game Technology, the poker machine maker, is the best-performing stock tip of all.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.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 ...](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.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.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.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.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/1/0/m/k/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwgwog.png/1496732053283.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.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.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](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/g/3/l/a/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwfy7k.png/1496727717987.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.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.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.
![Kate Robertson](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/a/w/8/4/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwez3y.png/1496102679041.jpg)
'Giving up drinking saved me $4000 a year'
When I was forced to quit alcohol because of long-term medication, I was not very impressed.
![Will we have enough to get through to the end?](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/o/k/s/b/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwexb2.png/1496000252728.jpg)
Australians paying $31 billion in super fees every year
Australians are paying $31 billion in superannuation fees every year, with half that money going to funds that manage just 30 per cent of all accounts.
![Illustration: Simon Letch](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/9/b/2/p/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwdav1.png/1496327717302.jpg)
The one thing wealthy super fund members need to do before June 30
June 30 is rapidly approaching and there is still much confusion among the wealthier members of our society regarding the $1.6 million limit for superannuation.
![Small Business Ombudsman Kate Carnell says women business owners are particularly at risk of ending up without adequate ...](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/e/a/9/e/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwd9qa.png/1496151714401.jpg)
The big problem of super for small-business owners
How would you rate the chances of 2 million small-business owners having adequate superannuation?
![The Perth-based real estate and financial services group Ausnet Financial Services is the best-performer of the Shares ...](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/z/2/r/p/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwdmk4.png/1495780937355.jpg)
Tipsters struggle to make headway in lacklustre sharemarket
Another lacklustre week for the sharemarket has left our tipsters largely treading water in week three of the four-week Shares Race.
![Ruchik Modi and his wife, who live in Truganina in Melbourne, moved to a smaller lender for a better rate on their home loan.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/d/a/a/u/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwd116.png/1496151749370.jpg)
Borrowers warned to brace for across-the-board mortgage rate increases
Despite official interest rates being on hold at an historic low of 1.5 per cent since August 2016, mortgage rates have been rising over that time.
![The downsizing provisions will help some retirees, but the impact on the age pension is an issue.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/g/e/8/e/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwdpu2.png/1495765180205.jpg)
Downsizing provisions are a mixed bag
While far from ideal, the budget initiative to allow older Australians to deposit up to $300,000 each in superannuation when they downsize their home is welcome.
![The big banks' funding advantage has halved because of new regulation, according to Macquarie University researchers.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/s/9/8/8/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwdprq.png/1496195884222.jpg)
Why the banks should absorb the cost of the levy
I know of no other industry where the taxpayer underwrites borrowings – it's a unique arrangement and one that the banks can't characterise as "just another cost", writes Mark Bouris.
![Brad Pitt as Billy Beane and Jonah Hill as Peter Brand in 2011 movie <i>Moneyball</i>. Brand is the fictionalised ...](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/d/6/e/t/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwd6cw.png/1495788620701.jpg)
What the Moneyball story teaches us about investment
Does share market investment require a technology-driven approach, or is it not that simple?
![Green alternative: Investors are being matched with borrowers to install solar panels.](/web/20170606091011im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/w/d/n/c/image.related.landscape.120x80.gwcp4x.png/1495788422082.jpg)
RateSetter matches investors with borrowers for clean energy
Investors will be able to lend to borrowers to install clean energy in their homes, such as solar panels, after a tie-up between peer-to-peer lender RateSetter and the government's Clean Energy Finance Corporation.