With less than a week to go, chances are you’re being besieged in shopping centres and online by so-called End Of Financial Year sales. The deadline of midnight June 30 is powerful enough to push many purchasers to grab a good price or make the most of tax breaks, but how do you know what’s really worthwhile? Read on to find out more about the opportunities and false hopes of ... read more>

An almost-tragic story today about a family who nearly died demonstrates what the Club has been saying very publicly about power prices: they're now so high, they're becoming a health issue.   Overnight, a western Sydney family suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from bringing an outdoor charcoal burner into their living room to keep warm. Read the article here  ... read more>

  Political manoeuvring this week saw the Greens back the government’s changes to the pension assets test, saving the budget a handy $2.4 billion but injecting even more uncertainty into superannuation. Ballooning costs are good reasons to amend retirement incomes policy, as our members acknowledge, but not everyone should be happy with them being subject to 11th hour back-room... read more>

Hardship has trumped energy efficiency as the most common way to keep power bills affordable this winter, according to the current FiftyUp Club energy poll available here Asked to choose up to three strategies you’re using to keep bills down, 80% said turning off powerpoints and lights, and 58% are foregoing the heater, even though you’re cold. “I'm going around ... read more>

Who do you believe – the energy regulator charged with putting the long-term interests of consumers first? Or the NSW ‘poles and wires’ companies which actually deliver the stuff?  That’s essentially the argument behind a high stakes legal stoush which will determine the size of planned 5-12% reductions to your next electricity bills. And it’s especially... read more>