Your Hip Pocket
Altered reality when worlds collide
THERE is some almighty and scary “disconnect” going on in this country, it’s almost like people are living in parallel universes, writes Karina Barrymore.
Financial advice is a minefield
WE put a lot of trust in inexperienced and often biased hands through family and friends. But expert advice has its own pitfalls, writes Karina Barrymore.
Financial reputations take a hit
REPUTATION and public perception are very important to everyone but never more so when it involves money. Who do you trust, asks Karina Barrymore.
Feeling ill over health funds
AS everyone focuses on the big bad banks, the health insurance companies are trying to stay under the radar, writes Karina Barrymore.
CBD workers new fringe dwellers
OUR inner cities in danger of becoming workforce deserts and are in danger of becoming socially dysfunctional, writes Karina Barrymore.
War on banks is just a pantomime
WHAT a hue and cry we’ve had from the banking industry about the big bad federal government. But it is really just theatre, writes Karina Barrymore.
Taxing time for black economy
WHERE once dodging tax, paying cash in hand and ripping off the tax system was something of a national sport now it’s all about paying our share, writes Karina Barrymore.
Keep your mitts off our super
PLEASE, please, please Mr Prime Minister, don’t mess with our superannuation — again, writes Karina Barrymore.
House hunt hell is nothing new
SAVING for a home deposit usually requires sacrificing all luxuries, not just a few. That’s a lesson millennials should learn from older generations, writes Karina Barrymore.
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.
