The U.S. avoided a recession in 2023. What’s the outlook for 2024?

Grocery items are offered for sale at a supermarket on August 09, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois.  Scott Olson | Getty Images Heading into 2023, the predictions were nearly unanimous: a recession was coming. As the year comes to a close, the forecasted economic downturn did not arrive. So what’s in store for 2024? An economic … Read more

Here are options for student loan borrowers struggling to make payments

Blackcat | E+ | Getty Images Many student loan borrowers are struggling to resume their payments. When the bills restarted after a more than three-year-long reprieve, just 60% of people with federal education loans had made a payment by mid-November, U.S. Department of Education data shows. “The fact that so few borrowers have been able … Read more

Warning to Aussies building recession ‘war chests’ as banks offer tempting savings rates

Interest rates on some Australian savings accounts could soon surpass six per cent, but one financial expert has issued a warning to savers weighing up a tempting switch. A dozen banks are currently offering customers savings rates above 5 per cent and there are forecasts savings rates could hit 6 per cent in the coming … Read more

RBA rates decision Tuesday: Reserve Bank of Australia hands down decision on interest rates amid threat of recession, easing inflation

Australian mortgage holders can breathe a sigh of relief following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to pause cash rate hikes. The RBA met on Tuesday and decided not to hike the cash rate for only the second time since last May. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Economists make their rates predictions as threat of recession … Read more

rebalancing a portfolio: What is rebalancing a portfolio? How to go about it? Rachna Dattani answers

Rachna Dattani, Associate Director, IIFL Securities, says if somebody is thinking about diversifying the portfolio, I would definitely recommend a portion of it going to sovereign gold bonds which are closing but tranches will keep coming by every quarter. If somebody is looking at allocating an x amount in debt for three to five years, … Read more

myGov ATO queue sparks frustration as Aussies attempt to lodge 2023 tax returns

Australians attempting to lodge their tax return are reporting being stuck in a queue landing page — some for more than an hour — as the tax office deals with a huge volume of people accessing the site. Logging in to myGov and visiting the Australian Tax Office website directs some people to a waiting … Read more

ESSSuper, UniSuper among best-performing Australian super funds as top 10 for 2022-23 revealed

Australia’s top-performing balanced superannuation funds for the last financial year have been revealed, according to new research. Members in six of the best-performing funds achieved double-digit returns in the year to June 30, research house SuperRatings says. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Nine commonly overlooked tax deductions. The consultancy firm named ESSSuper, Vision Super and Brighter … Read more

Not cancelling a free trial, phone data blowouts among money mistakes costing Aussies hundreds every year

Millions of Australians are making easy financial slip-ups costing them hundreds of dollars each year, according to new research revealing the most common money mistakes. About two in five people, equivalent to 8.3 million Australians, are guilty of making a financial error in the last 12 months, comparison site Finder has revealed. WATCH THE VIDEO … Read more

NAB cracks down on cryptocurrency transactions

National Australia Bank says it will be blocking transactions to some cryptocurrency exchanges as part of its strategy to reduce financial crime. A NAB spokesperson said it would not comment on how it deemed what exchanges were “high-risk”. But they said the blocks were introduced “where we identify a high proportion of payments going towards … Read more

Cash no longer available over the counter at some Commonwealth Bank branches in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane

Cash is no longer available over the counter at a number of Commonwealth Bank locations across the country, where new Specialist Centres are now focussed on “more complex banking needs”. Customers can withdraw or deposit cash at on-site ATMs instead. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Commonwealth Bank makes major change to over-the-counter cash withdrawals. The Specialist … Read more