Household debt
Analysis
Analysis
Government energy cashbacks – how much can you get and where can you find them?
Governments are offering cashback deals on rising electricity bills. Here a quick guide of what is available and where you can find them.
- by Joel Gibson
Latest
Analysis
Analysis
Financial hardship deals to be flagged on credit reports
Borrowers who enter into financial hardship agreements with lenders will soon have it flagged on their credit reports.
- by John Collett
Analysis
Interest rates
Jim Chalmers, Philip Lowe face interest rate and inflation reckoning
Voters might be prepared to give the new government some time to find its feet. But they won’t if they cannot afford to go out for dinner or buy extra clothes because interest rates are eating into their budgets.
- by Shane Wright
Opinion
Opinion
Doing it tough? Here’s where you can get genuine financial help
We are contending with a rising cost of living, together with an increase in our mortgage payments. However, those claiming to offer financial help if you are doing it tough are not always legitimate, so it is crucial that you can distinguish between the productive and the predatory.
- by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
How many years does it take a WA uni graduate to pay off their HECS debt? The figure is rising
Rocky McGellin estimates it will take him 18 years to pay off his uni loan and that’s not even factoring in a looming change that will affect his whole generation.
- by Sarah Brookes
Perth expert delivers harsh warning to homeowners dreading rate rise
Can’t afford $20 a week extra after one rate rise and subsequent rises up to 3.1 per cent? Then you shouldn’t have a mortgage at all, warns a WA property expert.
- by Sarah Brookes
Sky-high prices push potential home buyers to borrow to the max
Interest rates could be going up two months from now, but some buyers are taking on as much debt as possible to try to get onto the ever-elusive property ladder.
- by Elizabeth Redman
Exclusive
Bills
State rescue push for Victorian families’ $350m power arrears
Power bill arrears are on the rise as families struggle with the spiralling cost of living and social services groups want action from the government.
- by Noel Towell
Exclusive
Spending
Buy-now-pay-later borrowers rake in cash as families feel financial pinch
Families borrowing from “subprime lenders” are loading up on buy-now-pay-later products and credit card debt just to cover their essentials.
- by Noel Towell
Exclusive
Interest rates
RBA to gradually increase rates to avoid mortgage shock, top economists predict
An increase in household debt through the COVID-19 recession will weigh heavily on any decision taken by Reserve Bank.
- by Shane Wright and Jennifer Duke
Analysis
Consumer spending
‘Damn lot of money’: How households plan to spend their pandemic savings
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is hoping the $260 billion in cash saved by households during the pandemic will fuel the economic recovery, but many Australians have other ideas.
- by Caitlin Fitzsimmons