Being on the FiftyUp Club Team, I get to see first hand how passionate members are and how the discounts and offers we give you help you in your day-to-day lives. So you’d think I’d know better than to travel without Travel Insurance, right? Well, now I do. This is my story on why I took up Travel Insurance for my NEXT holiday. Recently, I went to New Zealand for a quick holiday. I... Read more

We all love government freebies, but sometimes the hardest part can be where to apply. This week eligible NSW seniors were promised $200 a year from the Berejiklian State government, but this is just the crest that forms an enormous wave of energy cashback opportunities.   It isn’t just good news in NSW, with multiple states increasing the sum of their grants every year. There are ... Read more

As the April 1 health care changes looms, the biggest decision you’ll have to make is what type of cover you want. The four tier product change will affect the 55% of the population covered by private health insurance. So which level of coverage is right for you? It all depends on what you need in your life. The change in health insurance is help consumers compare different hospital trea... Read more

According to a report by the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) and the Brotherhood of St Laurence, a regulated retail power price could save households $261 a year in electricity bills. The con to a regulated power price is that those who are proactive about their energy and seek out discounted offers could find them harder to secure. While the government proposed default ... Read more

When you read about a ‘magic number’ that you’ll need for a comfortable retirement, does it sound right to you? Is your number the same as your friend’s or neighbour’s, or should it be different? In this first edition of the FiftyUp Club’s new podcast series, we ask ‘How much money do you REALLY need to retire?’ Christopher Zinn speaks to Grattan Institute CEO John Daley, a critic of t... Read more

There was a lot of news this week about how financial products and services might change after the findings of the Royal Commission. Here are a few examples of how you might be affected: Investors in big banks? Most of us have some investment in the banks due to superannuation. The value of the big four rose by $20 billion on the share market on Tuesday, recovering about one-quarter o... Read more

Marie Kondo has been all the talk lately from her Netflix Series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo to her statement of getting rid of bibliophiles beloved collection. Her main thing about decluttering your life is always asking, “does it bring you joy”? And whether you love her, hate her or don’t even know who she is, one word she does have right is: declutter. While your finances might... Read more

70.9% of Australians that have private health insurance say “that above all else, private health insurance is about knowing that you will be able to cover the cost of big medical expenses if they arise”. That’s according to Roy Morgan’s Single Survey (Australia). While attitudes regarding private health insurance decline and premiums continue to rise each year, many are often scratching ... Read more

I was once asked to sum up Australia’s aged care system in 500 words and I failed. If you thought electricity, superannuation or NBN plans were complicated wait until you try and navigate this particular market. Aged care, whether we like it or not, at some stage becomes not just a choice but a necessity, and my take is to deal with it as you might any other consumer service and find out... Read more

Recently I had an argument with my wife about staying in a youth hostel which prompted the thought --when’s the right time to admit you might be too old for such an establishment?  After a recent European trip where we stayed in a few Austrian and English hostels, with more lavish pubs in between, she objected to a night in a New Zealand hostel during a hiking holiday. Apart from the ... Read more