One of former PM Tony Abbott’s greatest achievements for consumers was in setting up the website privatehealth.gov.au. Unlike any other comparison website, it contains information about all the products of all the private health funds (and there are over 30). If you are prepared to do your research, you are likely to save a bundle. There is a similar government website for energy plans. And ... read more>

Hands up if you’re life is busy... all the time? Busy is the new normal it seems and at 52 I find life just seems to speed up rather than slow down. This is the excuse I used when one of the Fiftyup team asked me if I’d done some comparison shopping myself on energy or private health insurance around the lunch room table last Friday. Our mantra at the FiftyUp Club is to encourage members ... read more>

It’s a sobering thought but I’ve just found out how long I have to live, and you can too, by using the new life tables from the Australian Bureau Of Statistics. Their computer might have gummed up the census but it looks pretty certain that statistically at least my present age of 58 means I have another 25 years, give or take a few months, left on this Earth. It’s 9125 days and I’ve alre... read more>

We’ve all heard about parents giving their kids a leg up into the ever ballooning property market but there’s a new trend emerging of millennials increasingly turning to their parents for loans to fund their small business. Business consultant Shannon Daniels said that despite the Federal Government pledging to support innovation, wannabe small business owners without cash reserves or credit... read more>

The three day moral panic that passes for serious debate around our private health insurance system has come and gone again. Premium increases can do that to you. And obviously getting hit up for an extra 5, 6, or 7 per cent is ­nobody’s idea of fun. Most of the media advice, by design, has a short shelf life. The issue will be back next year and the same games will play all over again. So, ... read more>