New Year, New You!

Each year we make New Year’s resolutions that focus on our health and wellbeing. But how often do we think about improving our finances? Here are five financial New Year’s resolutions that could help you start 2019 with a bang!

You might have missed it over the silly season, but the good news for mortgage holders is that many economists are tipping that we won’t see the RBA announce a rate rise in 2019.

Indeed, three leading economists now believe we may even see an interest rate cut this year. (Although, as we saw in 2018, that doesn’t necessarily mean the banks will follow suit).

But instead of sitting around waiting for the RBA and the banks to make a move that could save you money, here are five New Year’s resolution ideas to help you out in 2019!

Resolution idea #1: Cut back on the credit card purchases

The average card holder is paying around $700 in interest per year if their interest rate is between 15 and 20%, according to ASIC.

That $700 is nothing to sneeze at. It’s enough to purchase a new suit or outfit to help you land that new job, fund a year’s worth of home and contents insurance, or take the family on next summer’s camping trip.

Additionally, as of January 1, banks and credit providers are now required to check your debt-servicing capacity more thoroughly before issuing a credit card.

That means if you’re planning to load up on one credit card, and then transfer the debt to a card with a lower interest rate, you might find yourself out of luck.

With that in mind, the next question to ask yourself is: do I really still need a credit card if a debit card will suffice?

Resolution idea #2: Get a home loan health check

Whether the rates go up, down, or stay where they are, it never hurts to get a home loan health check to make sure there’s not a more suitable home loan out there for your situation.

Because while the RBA kept their rates on hold throughout 2018, not all banks did too.

In fact, every single one of the Big 4 Banks increased interest rates in 2018. To make sure you’re still happy with the rate you’re paying compared to what’s available in the market, give us a call.

Resolution idea #3: Purchase less take-away coffees, alcohol and other items

Buying a $4 take-away coffee each day costs you a whopping $1460 per year. Making it yourself using a French Press or Moka Pot can cost just $260 – a saving of $1200.

The lure of micro-transactions – purchases that are low in cost and trivial in nature – can be a real obstacle for those trying to achieve their financial goals.

Other micro-transactions that most families can cut back on include alcohol, take-away food, gym memberships, and multiple entertainment subscriptions such as Spotify, Netflix and Foxtel.

Resolution #4: Ask your employer about salary sacrificing

Salary sacrificing – also known as salary packaging – is generally tax-effective for people who earn more than $37,000 a year.

It helps you save on tax by allowing you to forego your salary in return for non-cash benefits, including car leases, childcare, student loans or superannuation contributions.

It all depends on your employer and the industry you work in but there are three broad categories of things that can be packaged: things that attract fringe benefits tax (FBT), those which do not, and superannuation.

If you’re interested in exploring your options, make an appointment with your employer when you get back into the office this month to see if they can make it work for you!

Resolution #5: Review your insurance, superannuation and banking costs

Whether it’s your home and contents insurance, your car insurance, or a life insurance policy, by calling three or four insurance companies, getting quotes, and then comparing, you can save hundreds of dollars each year.

While you’re at it, make sure you don’t have more than one superannuation fund. If you do, consolidate it by following these steps to avoid doubling up on fees.

Finally, look into your banking fees. Just like a home loan there’s often a better deal out there, so make sure your bank isn’t taking you for a ride!

Final word: Set a financial goal

If you’re not back at work yet, then use this precious time to carefully consider what financial goals you want to achieve in 2019.

It could be saving up for a long overdue holiday, putting away more money towards your kids’ education, or buying an investment property.

If you’re stuck for ideas, come in and have a chat to us. We’d be more than happy to help you identify goals, and can also help with some of the suggestions listed above.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and is presented for informative purposes. It is not intended to constitute financial advice, whether general or personal nor is it intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product. It does not take into consideration your personal situation and may not be relevant to circumstances. Before taking any action, consider your own particular circumstances and seek professional advice. This content is protected by copyright laws and various other intellectual property laws. It is not to be modified, reproduced or republished without prior written consent.

APRA to remove restrictions on interest-only home loans

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Here’s some good news to kick off 2019: APRA is removing its restrictions on interest-only residential mortgage lending from January 1.

The restrictions were put in place as a temporary measure by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) back in March 2017 to encourage lenders to adopt sound lending practices.

So why are they being removed now?

APRA’s announcement comes just weeks after CoreLogic figures showed Australia’s housing market recorded its weakest conditions since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).

National dwelling values slipped by 0.7% over the month, led by Sydney where the drop was double the national average.

As such, many pundits believe the restrictions are being lifted to prevent the housing market from sinking further.

APRA, however, is claiming it’s simply a case of ‘mission accomplished’.

It says the restrictions have already led to a marked reduction in interest-only lending, which is now significantly below the target of 30% of all home loans that lenders issue.

Is the restriction removed for all lenders?

Most, but not all.

Earlier this year APRA announced it would remove its 10% restriction on investor loan growth for lenders who could prove they had strong lending standards.

Lenders who have passed this test will also no longer face restrictions on interest-only home loans.

But for lenders that haven’t yet proven the strength of their lending standards, the restrictions will remain in place until they do so.

“APRA’s lending benchmarks on investor and interest-only lending were always intended to be temporary,” says APRA Chairman Wayne Byres.

“Both have now served their purpose of moderating higher risk lending and supporting a gradual strengthening of lending standards across the industry over a number of years.”

What does this mean for you?

With the restrictions lifted, it should now be easier for borrowers to secure an interest-only loan from January 1.

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, give us a call. We’d love to help out.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and is presented for informative purposes. It is not intended to constitute financial advice, whether general or personal nor is it intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product. It does not take into consideration your personal situation and may not be relevant to circumstances. Before taking any action, consider your own particular circumstances and seek professional advice. This content is protected by copyright laws and various other intellectual property laws. It is not to be modified, reproduced or republished without prior written consent.

Season’s Greetings! Wishing you a prosperous 2019!

Didn’t 2018 just fly by? And what a year it was too!

The RBA left the official cash rate on hold at 1.5% throughout the entire year – but that didn’t stop the banks sneaking in the odd rate rise of their own.

APRA cracked down on the banks to tighten their lending standards – which has made it a little harder to obtain finance if you don’t have your ducks in a row.

And the Royal Commission shone its spotlight on serious misconduct and poor lending standards by some of Australia’s biggest banks – which will hopefully only continue to improve competitiveness amongst lenders moving forward.

Recap aside, we are sincerely thankful for your support over the past twelve months.

It’s been an absolute pleasure working with you towards your finance and lifestyle goals.

Whether you’re celebrating the festive season with family and friends, or getting away somewhere nice and relaxing, we hope you have a wonderful break over the summer holidays.

Here’s to a prosperous 2019!

We look forward to working with you again in the year ahead.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and is presented for informative purposes. It is not intended to constitute financial advice, whether general or personal nor is it intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product. It does not take into consideration your personal situation and may not be relevant to circumstances. Before taking any action, consider your own particular circumstances and seek professional advice. This content is protected by copyright laws and various other intellectual property laws. It is not to be modified, reproduced or republished without prior written consent.

Banks’ unclear pricing costing frustrated borrowers thousands

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Borrowers who don’t shop around due to the banks’ unclear pricing tactics are losing out on an average of $850 a year, an ACCC report has found.

Get a load of this: there’s this tactic that the big four banks (ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac) use that makes it “difficult” and “frustrating” for borrowers to discover their best home loan offer.

The tactic is called discretionary pricing, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has just released a scathing report on it.

So what is discretionary pricing?

The banks don’t really advertise their best home loan deals. But there are two kinds of discounts that they do offer.

The first is their “advertised discounts”, which are generally published on their website and relatively easy for borrowers to discover.

The second is “discretionary discounts”, which are much harder to find.

Discretionary discounts are offered on a case-by-case basis to individual borrowers, usually after the lender has assessed their application.

However, the criteria for discretionary discounts is generally not disclosed to borrowers.

So what’s the problem?

Basically, the banks are intentionally making it pretty damn hard and time-consuming for borrowers to obtain accurate lowest interest rate offers from multiple lenders.

In doing so, they’re hoping you’ll just get too frustrated and put the whole ‘searching around for a better deal’ thing in the too-hard-basket.

The ACCC says that’s how it was for 70% of recent borrowers from one bank – they obtained just one quote before taking out their residential mortgage.

“The lack of transparency in discretionary discounts makes it unnecessarily difficult and more costly for borrowers to discover the best price offers,” says the ACCC.

“This adversely impacts borrowers’ willingness to shop around, either for a new residential mortgage or when they are contemplating switching their existing residential mortgage to another lender. The unnecessarily high cost that prospective borrowers incur to discover price information from lenders causes inefficiency.”

How effective is this tactic?

Extremely so.

The rate of borrowers switching lenders remained extremely low last financial year.

In fact, less than 4% of borrowers with variable rate residential mortgages with the top five banks refinanced to another lender, says the ACCC.

That’s just 1 in every 25 mortgages.

(It’s also worth noting that only 11% of people got a better home loan deal from their current bank by either asking for it or being offered it.)

“The big four banks profit from the suppression of borrower incentives to shop around and lack strong incentives to make prices more transparent,” says the ACCC.

How much are these opaque tactics costing some borrowers?

In two words: A lot.

The ACCC believes an existing borrower with an average-sized residential mortgage who negotiates to pay the same interest rate as the average new borrower could initially save up to $850 a year in interest.

“This could add up to tens of thousands of dollars over the full term of their residential mortgage in net present value terms,” the ACCC adds.

So will the banks stop doing it?

Unlikely. Well, anytime soon that is. Here’s what the ACCC say about it:

“At least one Inquiry Bank appears to be aware of borrower frustration with discretionary pricing. There is little evidence of any Inquiry Bank responding to that frustration by moving away from the practice,” the ACCC says.

“More generally, the Inquiry Banks, particularly the big four banks, lack a strong incentive to reduce the cost that prospective borrowers incur to discover price information because they profit from the suppression of borrowers’ incentives to shop around.”

So what can I do about it then?

That’s the easy part. Get in touch with us to discuss your refinancing and/or renegotiating options.

By teaming up with us, not only can you save yourself the headache of having to research what each lender’s best available discount is, we will happily negotiate for it on your behalf.

So if you’re interested in potentially cutting down the amount of interest you pay each year, give us a call today.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and is presented for informative purposes. It is not intended to constitute financial advice, whether general or personal nor is it intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product. It does not take into consideration your personal situation and may not be relevant to circumstances. Before taking any action, consider your own particular circumstances and seek professional advice. This content is protected by copyright laws and various other intellectual property laws. It is not to be modified, reproduced or republished without prior written consent.

Bank wanted mortgage broking fees transferred to customers

A big four bank almost overhauled its broker remuneration model so that the cost of mortgage broking services would be transferred to the customer, the royal commission heard. Here’s how to prevent that from happening.

The Royal Commission recently revealed that back in 2017 the Commonwealth Bank planned to replace commissions paid to mortgage brokers with a flat fee, but baulked at the last minute.

CBA’s CEO Matt Comyn told the royal commission that CBA believed the most attractive model was one where “customers would pay a broker”.

The move would have saved CBA $197 million over five years if everyone in the market moved with them.

However, without regulator intervention to drive an industry wide move to this model, CBA feared they’d be left hung out to dry by the other big three banks.

“We came to a view that nobody will follow and we will suffer material degradation in volume,” Comyn said.

Not only would this model be a major disadvantage to consumers going forward, it would reduce a new broker’s revenue on an average loan to about a third of what it currently is.

Basically, the only real winner would have been the big banks.

Not the customers. Not the mortgage brokers.

The banks.

Some interesting stats

Here are some interesting statistics from Deloitte Access Economics that may explain why CBA was looking to limit the growth in the mortgage broking market:

– Over the past three decades brokers have contributed to the fall in net interest margin for banks of over 3% points. This saves you $300,000 on a $500,000 30-year home loan (based on an interest rate fall from 7% to 4% pa).

– 27.9% of residential loans are arranged through lenders other than the big four banks and their affiliates, providing competition and more choice for consumers.

– On average, mortgage brokers have 34 lenders on their panel and use 10. It’s this additional choice that adds competition in the market. The only winners from less competition are the big banks.

– 56% of residential loans were settled by mortgage brokers in the September quarter in 2017. This is up from 44% since 2012.

– 70% of a broker’s business comes directly or indirectly from existing customers, demonstrating high levels of customer satisfaction.

– 9 out of 10 customers are satisfied with the services provided by mortgage brokers.

It’s still a live issue

Basically, the only reason CBA didn’t pull the trigger on the move was because it was worried that if it did, the other lenders wouldn’t join them. Instead, they’d swoop in and steal their business.

However, if the regulator enforced a flat fee model, then all the lenders would have to get onboard.

That’s exactly what could happen if it becomes a royal commission recommendation, which is a possibility considering the extensive line of questioning from the royal commission’s counsel assisting, Rowena Orr.

How can you help?

The best way is to contact your local MP to let them know you’re happy with the mortgage broking service currently being provided.

By letting your local Federal Member of Parliament know this you can help prevent the cost of our future services being transferred from the bank over to you – and you’ll also be showing your support for us.

Additionally, head over to the The Adviser and Momentum Intelligence survey to share your experience with us. It’s anonymous and only takes two minutes to complete.

If you’d like any more information on this issue don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’d love to speak to you more about it.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and is presented for informative purposes. It is not intended to constitute financial advice, whether general or personal nor is it intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product. It does not take into consideration your personal situation and may not be relevant to circumstances. Before taking any action, consider your own particular circumstances and seek professional advice. This content is protected by copyright laws and various other intellectual property laws. It is not to be modified, reproduced or republished without prior written consent.