The accountant
The accountant is someone I see only once a year.
It’s reassuring to see the accountant, because I would otherwise doubt if he actually exists.
In fact I have two accountants. One in Myrtleford handles my company affairs and I have one in Mount Gambier for my personal tax returns.
I shifted my personal business to a local accountant because I wanted to see him, to be sure he was real. (more…)
Citibank and ATM charges
My everyday banking has been with Citibank for several years now. I like their Ready Credit card, which is like a debit card, cheque account, personal loan and Visa card rolled into one.
I have a linked transaction account, into which my wages are paid and from which several direct debits are made.
I also have a linked high-interest savings account. Both Ready Credit and the transaction account have a cheque book facility.
I have appreciated the fact I don’t pay any monthly fees and ATM withdrawals are free from any bank’s automatic teller machine. That’s about to change. (more…)
Back to a recession
Apparently there was a recession in 1991. I can only vaguely remember it.
Financial commentators refer to the last recession as being beyond the memory of Generation Y (the “me” generation who have everything they want) and question their ability to cope.
They might be right about that. I’m not sure my generation have much to learn from the early 90s though either.
I was 24 in 1991. I had a secure job and no debts. I deposited money in the bank and remember getting 19 percent interest on three-month term deposits. (more…)
Well done Westpac
Kudos to Westpac. I had a message on my mobile phone this afternoon asking me to call Westpac Card Services.
A bit of a hassle, but I followed the prompts, identified myself and got through to someone after about five minutes.
They wanted to check that a Mastercard transaction was legitimate.
It was A$38 to Yahoo! Because it had been entered manually and seemed suspicious, they were checking if I had authorised it.
I renewed my Flickr Pro account this afternoon, so the transaction was correct. (more…)
What credit crunch?
Is there an international financial crisis related to dodgy lending that has caused a global credit squeeze … or am I dreaming?
I received a letter from Citibank this week offering to increase my credit limit incrementally from $20,000 to $50,000.
“In recognition of your excellent repayment record we are delighted to offer you further periodical increases up to a pre-approved credit limit,” the bank writes.
“We would like to make it quick and easy for you to accept credit limit increases by introducing a new account feature. (more…)
Superannuation going backwards
My superannuation was parked in cash for a few months earlier this year while I switched it to a new account.
That meant I fortunately missed the first half of the stock market downturn and probably saved a few thousand dollars.
I opened the new account with about $78,000. It’s worth the same today, even though employer contributions have been going in now for a few months.
It will probably be worth less next week when the recent share market turmoil washes through. (more…)
Share market volatility
I’m glad I don’t currently own shares. We sold them all to buy our house in Mount Gambier. The sale price was between 10 and 20 percent off the peak but still yielded a profit.
I checked the prices today after hearing the Dow dropped 358 points overnight.
Westpac is down to $20.69, WA Newspapers to $8.48 and Cortona Resources to 18 cents. Most people won’t have heard of Cortona.
They have some prospective gold tenements near Kalgoorlie and in New South Wales. The price climbed above 50 cents at one stage. I sold them in the low 40s and mid 30s.
If I hadn’t sold them we wouldn’t have been able to afford the house deposit.
As far as I know there is no reason for the price decline other than sentiment and people wanting cash.
