Tips and Advice

Almost all banks offer online banking if you are considering using this service. If you do a bit of research you will see that there are quite a few benefits to using online banking. Probably the number one reason is convenience. You can do your banking from home or work at any time of the day or night.

Many people are concerned about online banking and security. You may be wondering if your information would be safe. The banks spend millions of dollars each year on online security and they are constantly monitoring and reviewing the situation. There is really no need to be worried and many people have safely been using online banking for years. All you need to do to ensure your information is safe is to keep your password to yourself. If you never tell anyone your password and never respond to an unsolicited email regarding your login details then you should be fine.

Any small risk is easily outweighed by the benefits. As mentioned before the biggest benefit of online banking is convenience. You can check your balance, transfer money to another account, pay bills and verify your credit card transactions. Whatever you would normally do in a branch or with telephone banking, you can do online.

Some banks charge for the use of internet banking but many do not so be sure to look around before opening an account. HSBC Australia offers fee free internet banking with a good interest rate.

When you have decided to go ahead with this excellent service, review the online information provided by the banks and follow their instructions for opening a new online bank account.

Investing in the share market can be scary if you are new to investing. However, if done correctly, it can be very lucrative. You can always start out with a small amount until you get a bit more experience and feel a bit more comfortable. An investment club is a good way to get that experience and is becoming a more and more popular way to invest money.

An investment club is where a group of people pool their money and knowledge and invest in the share market or the property market. They learn from each other as well as from their joint experiences. The goal is to learn and make money but it is also a friendly social gathering. You can also use the knowledge you gain in the investment club to build your own share portfolio.

Starting an investment club lets you be part of the action from the beginning. This will also allow you to have more control over the direction and goals of the club as well as to who can join. However, it does involve more risk than an established club with a strong existing portfolio. Either are viable options.

An investment clubs involves both money and like minded friends and/or relatives. If you don’t do your research then you risk losing at least part of your initial outlay. When starting an investment club each member must contribute start up cash and then they generally contribute a set sum on a monthly (or regular) basis. This will enable your portfolio to grow and hopefully become more diversified and thus less risky. The difficulty is finding members who agree on how much to invest and how often. Members must also be aware that they can lose money. Share markets go up and down and the short term risk is considerable, especially for those with little experience. Investing in the share market or the property market is a long term investment requiring plenty of patience.

The steps for starting an investment club are:

• Find compatible members
• Make a plan
• Arrange monthly meetings
• Set up a partnership agreement
• Open a bank account
• Research the stock market
• Research different sectors
• Research individual companies
• Decide how you will invest
• Set up an account with a stock broker

Success is most likely to be achieved by a club with committed members who do plenty of research and have a plan for the bad times as well as the good.

When you purchase an item such as a camera, television, or fridge, the salesperson will often ask if you would like an extended warranty. My response to this question was always a flat out no, I thought they were a complete waste of money. That is, until recently when I purchased a new fridge. Even though the extended warranty put an extra 10% on the price, I considered it well worth it. Not that I think fridges have a tendency to break down, quite the opposite in fact. What convinced me to get it was that if the fridge did break down then they would come out and repair it on the spot and only take it away if they really needed to. All I would have to do to get it fixed is make one phone call. The convenience of this far outweighed the cost. So I now have a five year warranty on my fridge and I figure if it breaks down after that time then I’ll be ready to buy a new one anyway.

An extended warranty provides extra coverage on an item, beyond its regular warranty. You should read the fine print carefully before purchasing the warranty but it should cover any faults with the item, damage which was not a result of negligence, and repairs. Check carefully to be sure you understand exactly what it covers to determine if you think it is worth while. I think generally it is worth while, especially for larger items such as fridges, washing machines, and flat screen televisions.

Also look at the typical life of the product and its likelihood of breaking down. A camera, for example, is something we might upgrade every few years, so do you really need a five year warranty? A computer is also something which we generally upgrade often, however, they have a tendency to break down often, or is that just me?

So the things you need to consider are convenience – do you really want to be lugging that big screen tv around to get fixed, the expected life of the product, and its likelihood of breaking down. I would say if it is an expensive item which you intend to keep long term, then get the extended warranty. If the item can easily be repaired or replaced then forget about the warranty.