In this week’s hip pocket money news.
When was the last time you checked your superannuation?
It could be a good time to do it given that Australia’s biggest bank, Commonwealth Bank, stands accused of not paying 7000 part-time staff the right amount of super.
Fairfax Media is reporting that the Finance Sector Union of Australia claims the staff, including the lowest paid, have not received their full superannuation entitlements since at least 2009.
The union says it will take the dispute to the Fair Work Commission if it cannot be resolved with the bank.
Financy more on CBA and super?
The best performing super funds
Research house Morningstar has released its latest ratings and has found that Australian superannuation growth funds recorded mostly positive results over the year to the end of January.
Despite growth funds suffering a dip in performance in the first month of this year, the median fund returned 9.2 per cent for the year, individual results ranging from -12.8 per cent to 6.3 per cent.
Growth funds consist of investments in higher risk and return assets such as shares.
Maple-Brown Abbott was the best-performing growth fund for the year, returning 12.8 per cent, followed by Aon Balanced Growth 10.8 per cent, REST Super Core and VicSuper FutureSaver Growth both 10.3 per cent, and Energy Super Balanced 10.2 per cent.
Median results over the longer term were 7.2 per cent over the three years, 9.8 per cent over the five years and 4.5 per cent over the 10 years to 31 January 2017.
Financy more on super fund performance?
Time to check your emergency funds
It seems many Australians just don’t have the spare cash to set aside money for that unexpected emergency.
New data released by financial product comparison website finder.com.au, which surveyed 2,031 Aussies, discovered 58 per cent of people fear they couldn’t afford a surprise expense such as a medical emergency.
That’s equivalent to 10.5 million adults who believe they may not cope financially with an unforeseen event, like illness or a sudden loss of employment.
Losing their job, having a bad credit score or report, falling behind on credit card repayments, and leaving debt over to family also made the list of top financial fears.
Many financial advisers recommend trying to save at least three months in wages to cover yourself for unforeseen emergencies in life.
Do you really need a high credit card limit?
If you’re among the many Australians who take up the offer of higher credit card limits, it might be time to think again.
Fairfax Media says the majority of Australia’s banks are increasing customers’ credit card limits without checking whether their financial circumstances have changed.
It’s also claimed that the banks aren’t even asking their customers basic financial questions about their situation and whether it’s changed.
A report by the industry’s own self-governing body, the Code Compliance Monitoring Committee, reveals that while the banks generally have “robust, and often complex” processes in place, they may be failing to meet a number of credit card lending requirements.
