Whenever I go anywhere, the first thing I try to get hold of is a map. Not some poor definition tiny-screened digital version but the full fold-out paper version. And it’s getting harder and harder to find one. Agencies are keen that you download the directions and don’t you dare bother them with anything they have to print. Sadly, the excellent Cartoscope series of tourist maps (see pic)... read more>

Aeroplanes have hardly been fuller. Airfares have rarely been higher. It only makes sense because we are swapping the chains of the COVID bug for the delights of the travel bug. The dreaded masks are no longer required, but the relentless queues, delays, lost luggage and sometimes frankly lousy customer service continues. So why do we do it? Of all the economists’ jargon, the term ‘pent-u... read more>

Source: https://majorstreet.com.au/products/live-the-life-you-want-with-the-money-you-have-vince-scully What are the three questions the over-50s tend to ask one of Australia's most experienced financial planners about money?  They’re simple enough, but if only the answers were so easy… I presumed the three areas would be retirement, superannuation and the vexed area of wills and estate p... read more>

Take the quiz here! I am often unimpressed by the multitude of ‘days’ celebrating and commiserating various events, emotions and ‘-isms’. They often seem contrived hooks for activists and agencies to impose memories and actions on an indifferent public.  It’s a crowded calendar. Last Saturday, for example, was World Coffee Day (isn’t every day?) and the United Nations’ day for recognis... read more>

Source: 9News The phrase more fun than a barrel full of monkeys has some irony in the latest “snouts in the trough” saga to paralyse the NSW parliament. The surname Barilaro in Italian refers to the proud tradition and occupational name for a cooper or maker of barrels and, funnily enough, wooden troughs. But the besieged former deputy premier John Barilaro cannot be having much fun be... read more>