Money Australia - August 2019

NEWS BITES

How to spot a great super fund

Investment types: Most funds
invest in a mix of cash, fixed inter-
est, property and shares. When you
diversify you reduce the overall risk,
minimising potential losses. Also
consider include how much money you need for
retirement and how many years you have to invest.
Performance: Small differences in the rate of
return earned by your super can have a significant
impact on retirement savings. It’s impossible to pre-
dict performance, there’s no guarantee a fund that
performed well in the past will continue to do so.
Insurance: Most funds include life insurance and
many add total and permanent disability (TPD) or

income protection. When considering a

fund, check whether the cover is enough

or if there’s an option to increase.

Portability: Most funds give you the option

to switch to another fund, to consolidate

your super and reduce fees. Check the

costs involved, rules around switching,

and whether you lose benefits.

Visibility: Whichever fund you choose, keep

an eye on how your super is going, in particu-

lar, your balance, any contributions, any inter-

est earned, insurances and fees.

Mike Sikar, founder and principal adviser

at Delta Financial Group

A new entrant to Australia’s non-

bank lending market, Ebury is

offering trade finance for unse-

cured payables and receivables

with line sizes of up to $5 million

per client. It has traditionally

focused on SMEs that trade inter-

nationally. Ebury offered foreign

exchange services in Australia

before its latest expansion.

Kogan.com will now offer power and

gas services to Australian households

under its new brand, Kogan Energy.

The brand expects to launch before

December 31, 2019, and plans to make

“these essential services more afforda-

ble through digital efficiency”, reducing

the cost. The offering involves Kogan

entering a multi-year agreement with

Powershop Australia, a part of Meridian

Energy – a renewable energy generator.

A moratorium allowing Austral-

ians to get up to $500,000 of life

insurance without disclosing an

adverse genetic test result came

into effect on July 1.

The Financial Services Coun-

cil-approved standard means that if

consumers want to get a genetic test

or take part in genomic research

and not share the results with their

life insurer – they now can.

Industry super fund Rest surveyed the spending

habits of more than 1000 Aussies to find 62%

are paying for services or subscriptions they

don’t use or have forgotten about; and 44%

said they’ve never cancelled subscriptions

they weren’t using. Rest describes

Australia as a nation of

“subscribaholics”.

62%