Business - Advertising - Google Adwords

http://www.bit.com.au/News/326636,tech-101-google-adwords-explained-in-60-seconds.aspx

This article gives a good introduction and basics of using Google Adwords. This allow the business to do very specific and targeted advertising. Spend as much as you want and pick your own target customers. Advertising can be effective and does not need professional advertisers costing thousands of dollars.

Bank Account - Australian Government Milking the Poor's Bank Accounts

What is this?
If you forgot about your bank account or if there is no transaction in a bank account within THREE years, your money belongs to the government. This is the Law. Previously the time was seven years.

More details and references are given below.

Official Statements and Site
This law is done under the Banking Act of 1959 ammendment in November 2012.
- Search / Google this: november 2012 Banking Act of 1959

- go to a list of laws at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2004A07357, see ComlawId C2012C00911
- go directly to http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2012A00176
"Treasury Legislation Amendment (Unclaimed Money and Other Measures) Act 2012
- C2012A00176"

Here is an excerpt in legal language:
-----------------
Omit “not less than 7 years.”, substitute:
not less than:
                     (a)  3 years; or
                     (b)  if a greater number of years is specified in the regulations—that greater number of years;
beginning:
                     (c)  at the most recent time when the account was operated on either by deposit or withdrawal; or
                     (d)  if another time is ascertained in accordance with the regulations—at that other time.
-----------------



Why is this wrong?
- Because it is not your intention to give money away.
- Because your money can be taken without your permission.
- Because there is no (good or bad) reason to do this at all. There is no cost to the government while the bank is actually holding the money. In fact, this law means the government have to spend more money to hire people to keep track and confiscate other people's money. This is wasted taxpayers money.
- Because it is unjust. This will affect the poor people more. Poor people need money the most, especially forgotten money.

What to do?
You just need to make transactions with that account to prevent the money from being LEGALLY STOLEN from you.
If it is stolen, you need to spend lots of time and effort to get it back.
Here are some leads:
1. ASIC(Australian Securities and Investments Commission) Phone: 1300 300 630
ASIC maintain the unclaimed (legally stolen) monies database. This is like going to the thieves to ask for your money back - but it is worth a try.
2. Search for your money at www.moneysmart.gov.au




Definitions:
Legally Stolen - The act of theft that is sanctioned or carried out by those who make or enforce the law. This usually happens in corrupt nations, dictatorial regimes. This also happens many centuries ago where brute force is the law. However, in modern post GFC(Global Financial Crisis) times, many countries in financial stress have adopted this practice on their citizens. 

Free - Books

This is a site about how to obtain legitimate, legally, free e-books. This include actual, real, famous books such as Alice in Wonderland books which are free, that is No Cost at all. These books are not promotional or advertisement books which try to get the reader to buy some other thing. They are real books and are really free. Read more to see where to find them.

Amazon
From time to time, Amazon release some real e-books for free. Sometimes we find out about this randomly through other people.
Alternatively, go to Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com
and type the following in the search bar:       0.00
This will search for books that cost $0.00


Statistical Books

http://gsociology.icaap.org/methods/stat.htm  - MORE stats books links in this website. Lots of stats books at the basic and elementary levels.


http://www-stat.stanford.edu/~tibs/ElemStatLearn/
The Elements of Statistical Learning (2nd edition)
Hastie, Tibshirani and Friedman (2008). Springer-Verlag. 763 pages.


Free E-Books Websites
Project Gutenberg - http://www.gutenberg.org
Free-ebooks.net http://www.free-ebooks.net
MakeUseOf http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/

Internet Archive
https://archive.org/details/texts
Contains more than free e-books. They also have software, audio,video, etc.

Superannuation - Australian Government Milking the Poor's Superannuation

As part of some new laws concerning superannuation coming into effect, the government will be able to confiscate superannuation money in accounts which it considers to be inactive. No doubt the official motivation is to reduce administration cost. The reality seems like a desperate attempt to pilfer any amount it can from unsuspecting citizens.

The laws to acquire (confiscate) superannuation has already been in existence for under more reasonable conditions such as:
i) The account holder is not contactable by the fund for more than 5 years.
ii) The amount left in the fund is less than $2000.

The law is supposed to be for lost account. But now the conditions above has been changed to:
i) Account is inactive for more than 12 months.
ii) The amount remaining is less than $200.

This would surely result in netting more superannuation money. The people whom this money belong to are most likely the people who have low paying jobs, casual jobs, i.e. people who needs this money the most.

More details can be found in:
http://www.wealthprofessional.com.au/article/lost-super-hockey-is-peddling-falsehoods-144815.aspx
http://www.wealthprofessional.com.au/article/shorten-announces-super-changes-144739.aspx
http://www.wealthprofessional.com.au/article/super-reforms-cormann-blasts-shorten-shorten-blasts-hockey-hockey-blasts-swan-144755.aspx

Saving - Electricity

This is a post with a collection of tips and articles and tools about different ways to save electricity bills.

http://au.pfinance.yahoo.com/compare/energy/article/-/15202740/50-ways-to-reduce-your-power-bill/?cmp=wtt
A useful article with 50 ways to cut your electricity bills.



Electricity Suppliers Comparison Tools 
http://au.pfinance.yahoo.com/compare/energy/
For Australians, this site allows you to compare the prices from various energy / electricity providers.

Some other comparison sites:
Go Switch:  https://switchonline.goswitch.com.au/index.php?page_id=11
Switchwise: http://www.switchwise.com.au/electricity/sydney-nsw/

A list of NSW Electricity Providers
http://www.electricityproviders.com.au/electricity-providers-nsw/

IPART - Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal
http://www.ipart.nsw.gov.au/Home/Industries/Electricity/Electricity_Prices

Mpp.switchon.vic.gov.au

Energymadeeasy.gov.au

Comparator.qca.org.au


Solar Rebate - how it works
The Solar Panel Rebate (That we are not allowed to call a rebate!)



In regard to having a cleaner and greener strategy, here are a few things that can be done.

• Fix any leaky plumbing like taps, showers and toilets.
• Turn lights off when you leave the room.
• Switch off computers or appliances, rather than standy.
• Reset the thermostats on your heating and cooling (18° in winter and 24° in sum-
• Install low-energy light globes
• Fit weather seals to windows and doors
• Install external blinds
• Plant a garden which is draught tolerant
• Put in ceiling fans
• Change to reduced flow shower heads
• Plant a drought-tolerant garden

• Insulate the ceiling
• Buy high-star-rated appliances
• Install solar panels
• Replace toilet cisterns with modern ones
• Upgrade your heating system to a more efficient design
• Put in a water tank
• Upgrade your hot water service
• Fit s grey-water diversion system
• Use double glazed windows or other high-tech glass
• Build a pergola or verandah to provide shade where needed

Property - Positive Real Estate

The following are a summary of tips from a seminar by Real Estate seminar in Sydney

1. Pay off mortgage in a couple of years. How?
- Pay fortnightly or more frequent if lender allows
- Refinance with cheaper lender, use Offset accounts for salaries, do daily spending with credit card
- Buy positive cash flow properties

2. Plan to buy something not that expensive, say $350K. Look for suburb with 10% growth, 7% rental yield.
With multiple properties, portfolio may be up to $5.5m, with $1.1m equity and $75k cash flow.

3. Buy and hold properties, but also add value by the following:
- Buy at discount
- Renovate
- Rezone
- Subdivide
- Develop

4. Finance Structure - important to get this right.
- Avoid Cross Collateralisation
- Use Interest Only loan - NOTE this can allow you to pay principal as well.
- Borrow maximum - Don't avoid Mortgage Insurance 80% threshold. Pay the mortgage insurance and borrow more to buy more expensive property. This allow a higher LVR say 95% or above.
- Never have more than one property with the same lender, otherwise they can do anything they like with any properties.

Online Tools - Superannuation

A list of sites and tools related to superannuation

SMSF
www.thesmsfreview.com.au
- a free online resource centre for SMSF trustees
- has a list of SMSF service providers

Comparison
www.selectingsuper.com.au
www.canstar.com.au
www.chantwest.com.au
www.morningstar.com.au
www.superratings.com.au
www.ratecity.com.au/superannuation 


Asic Moneysmart.gov.au
Asfa superannuation.asn.au
Centrelink humanservices.gov.au
Superratings.com.au
Chantwest.com
Tax office ato.gov.au
Superguide.com.au
HendersonMaxwell.com.au
Mylongevity.com.au

ING Direct 
Shares, ETFs, LICs

https://www.ingdirect.com.au/superannuation/tips-hints-guides/shares-etfs-lics.html

UniSuper

Fees: http://www.unisuper.com.au/members/super-options/defined-benefit-division/fees-and-costs

Defined benefit fees already in formula

Accumulation Annual fees $209/pa

Catholic Super

http://csf.com.au/fees-charges

Fees: $1.50 / week

OSF Super

http://www.osfsuper.com.au/osf/pds.asp

http://www.osfsuper.com.au/osf/pdf/RG_Fees.pdf

Claim Lost Super

www.ato.gov.au/superseeker

www.superguru.com.au go to Basics of Super dropdown and find lost super


From OzBargain on 12 Jan 2013 http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/90631  :
--------------------------------------------------

So how did the 'cheap' three SMSF services compare to each other?

Basic Fees and Features:

Company	Setup	First Year	Ongoing (PA)	ACCOUNTS	ASX	Funds	Cash	Foreign Shares	Property
Online SuperFund	$0	$0	$670	ANY	ANY	ANY	ANY	N	N
eSuperFund	$0	$0	$699	ANZ	CBA	ANY	ANY	Y	Y
Superannuation Warehouse	$0	$0	$708	ANY	ANY	ANY	ANY	Y	Y

eSuperFund prefers clients use ANZ V2 transaction and CommSec (or 'eBrokering') traing accounts. The other two do not have this restriction.
Online SuperFunds only allows the basic type of investing stratergies. International Shares, CFDS, Metals, Property etc are not offered.
Note that they are quite honest and open about it though, see the last paragraph on this page.
… Other than that, there really isn't too much between them, with Online SuperFund being slightly cheaper, but with a few less investment options.

Additional Fees:

Company	Corporate Trustee Incorpration Setup Fee	ATO Supervisory Levy	ASIC fee for Corproate SMSF Trustee (pa)
Online SuperFund	$500	$191	$43
eSuperFund	N/A	$200	N/A
Superannuation Warehouse	$950	$200	$41

Depending one what your needs are, a Corproate Trustee SMSF may be suitable.
Specifically it allows for there to only be one person in the SMSF (Individual Trustee SMSF require atleast two!), as well as providing additional/cheaper investment options if you wanted (There is no reason for this, but apparently banks look favorably on this type of SMSF when it comes to issuing investment loans etc).
From the table above, Online Superfund was clearly cheaper for people setting up a Corporate Trustee SMSF.

--------------------------------------------------

Insurance Comparison in superannuation.
Note: There is no guarantee of these figures. Please ignore and don't use these figures. They are only for personal note.

	AustSuper	post 30 May 2015		OSF	OSF 2014-12		ING
Income Protection
cover/mth	$           8,000.00	$           8,000.00		$        6,370.00	$         6,556.64		$           8,000.00
weekly Premium	$                   3.74	$                   6.46		$                 8.87	$               11.39		$                   9.51
monthly Premium	$                 16.21	$                 27.99		$              38.45	$               49.34		$                 41.21
Benefit Time	2yrs	2yrs		up to 65 years	up to 65 years		up to 67 years
TPD
Cover	$      600,000.00	$      600,000.00		$    415,832.00	$     415,832.00		$   1,000,000.00
weekly Premium	$                   5.40	$                   8.28		$                 6.13	$                  4.52		$                 12.62
monthly Premium	$                 23.40	$                 35.88		$              26.55	$               19.60		$                 54.68
Mth Premium / $1m	$                 39.00	$                 59.80		$              63.85	$               47.13		$                 54.68
Death Cover
Cover	$      600,000.00	$      600,000.00		$    415,832.00	$     415,832.00		$   1,000,000.00
weekly Premium	$                   5.22	$                   6.60		$                 4.47	$                  4.52		$                 17.15
monthly Premium	$                 22.62	$                 28.60		$              19.35	$               19.60		$                 74.32
Mth Premium / $1m	$                 37.70	$                 47.67		$              46.53	$               47.13		$                 74.32

Online Tools - Identity Fraud

Here are a few sites with information and tools regarding encounters with identity fraud

General Information
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/malware

Securing Networks
www.police.qld.gov.au/safewifi

Identity Fraud

www.scamwatch.gov.au
www.afp.gov.au
www.ag.gov.au/identitysecurity
www.cybersmart.gov.au
www.ato.gov.au/onlinesecurity

Online Tools - Health Insurance

A few sites for health insurance information and comparison.

www.canstar.com.au

www.iselect.com.au
  click on the Life tab (http://www.iselect.com.au/life/?onsite=life_fr_health) to compare:
  Life insurance, Income Protection, TPD, Trauma, etc

www.privatehealth.gov.au

www.splitit.com.au

Online Tools - General

Comparison Tools
www.finder.com.au
finder.com.au - Bank Interest Rate & Insurance Comparison Service 
finder.com.au takes the stress out of choosing life changing products. Compare credit cards, savings accounts, home loans, mobile phones and more!

www.canstar.com.au
Canstar - Specialist research service in consumer and business finance in Australia / New Zealand.

www.morningstar.com.au
MorningStar - Leading provider of independent investment research.

www.lonsec.com.au
Lonsec Research is a specialist business focussing on investment insight, advice and solutions to investment professionals.

www.zenithpartners.com.au
Zenith - investment research providers

www.sqmresearch.com.au
SQM Research - properties research companies providing property-related information, ratings and forecasts.

www.superratings.com.au
Superratings - Superannuation research




Traffic Infringement
www.sdro.gov.au
This site contain various forms and information to request a review of traffic infringements.

Money / Finance Education
www.teaching.moneysmart.gov.au

developed by ASIC teach good consumer and financial education.

Shopping
http://saveonbrands.com.au/
http://www.bucksback.com.au - buy things through this site and earn cashback money.

Travel
expedia.com.au 
Build your own holiday


Www.everyrooftop.org.au
lease solar panels




moneytribe.com.au 
List the services you want and providers call you


Petrol / Fuel / Gas
The price of fuel and petrol are increasing world-wide and the deteriorating Australian dollar is making the effects much worse. Here are a couple of websites which can help in identifying where the cheap petrol or fuel prices are:
http://www.mynrma.com.au/motoring/car-care/fuel-prices.htm
http://motormouth.com.au/ - reports prices in Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Perth only. 
http://www.fuelwatch.wa.gov.au/fuelwatch/pages/home.jspx  - may be for WA only.
http://www.raa.com.au/fuelwatch_cheap_petrol.aspx?TerID=1038 - for Adelaide
http://fuelprices.racq.com.au/fairfuelprices/Default.aspx - for Queensland

Banking - Credit History

A credit history affects the chances of approval for the next loan. It may not seem apparent, but our credit history are kept by some body and the information can be obtained by institutions that we apply a loan from.

A few things which may affect our credit history:
- doing lots of balance transfer of credit cards
- applying to a few banks at the same time for the same loan

A credit check may occur for the application of the following products:
- home loan
- credit card
- mobile phone products

To check your own credit standing:
www.mycreditfile.com
www.dnb.com.au
getcreditscore.com.au

Online Tools - Credit

Various tools relating to credit

Credit History
Check your own credit history
www.mycreditfile.com.au
www.dnbcreditreport.com.au

Online Tools - Property

This article lists various websites and tools relating to property investments.


General Resources
Your Investment Property Magazine
      http://www.yourinvestmentpropertymag.com.au/

First Home Owners
Find out what kind of assistance or free money you can get if you are a first home buyer.
www.firsthomesaver.com.au
www.homesaver.treasury.gov.au

Mortgage
statecustodians.com.au
This site provides
i) online instant approval
ii) suburb growth rate information
iii) various calculators
iv) ebooks, videos, etc

Valuation
To find an estimate for the values of property, see:
Onthehouse com au
ozhomevalue com au
homeguru com au
commbank property guide iphone app

Building own home
www.housinglocal.com.au
- information from Housing Industry Association about design and building your own home. Things to consider include: Light, Space, Function, Traffic Patterns, Open Plan spaces, Storage

Sell Your Own Home
Buymyplace.com.au
Hello.com.au
Propertynow.com.Au

Finding agents 
Agentscompare.com.au

DIY Super - SMSF

Do it Yourself Super - a collection of tips on DIY Super. This type of superannuation is often called a Self Managed Super Fund (SMSF)

Buying a Business Property for your Business via a Superannuation Fund
- this needs to be consistent with the goal of the super fund which is to build up savings for retirement.
-  The SMSF receive rent for the business property but taxed at a lower rate of 15% during accumulation phase, and nothing during pension phase.
- When sold, Capit
al Gains Tax is 10% during accumulation phase, and nothing during pension phase. 



Risks for SMSF 
Although SMSF enables the holders to have greater control and choice, there are very strict regulations with quite severe penalties. Here are a few things to note:
- Withdrawal of any part of the fund before the retirement age, currently 55 (please check), will make the fund Non-Compliant. This has sever penalties from the Australian Tax Office. 
- One penalty of non-compliance is the SMSF is taxed at maximum rate, currently 47%
- Any or all of the trustees can be sued for non-compliance.
- Running your own SMSF comes with many risks.
- Ensure all trustees are signatories for withdrawal, to safeguard SMSF being withdrawn by any trustee without knowledge of others. 


SMSF Services
Outsourcing running of SMSF to Bendigo's bank New admin service Super Astute.
It is supposed to comply with ATO's requirements
www.superastute.com.au

http://www.xpresssuper.com.au/
Set up SMSF for  free and for the first year the standard annual fee of 799 waived. Assist comply with smsf rules and lodge docs. Restrict to use cba account and comsec. Life and disability insurance by AIA Australia

-------------------------------------------
This information has been prepared to provide you with general information only. It is not intended to take the place of professional advice and you should not take action on specific issues in reliance on this information. In preparing this information, we did not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Before making an investment decision, you need to consider (with or without the assistance of an adviser) whether this information is appropriate to your needs, objectives and circumstances. 

Investing - Financial Advice

This article lists tips among other things regarding financial advice.

Here is a list of Australian Superannuation funds that offer limited, free financial advice to its members.
- Amist Super
- Asset Super
- Australian Ethical Retail Superannuation Fund
- AvSuper
- Cbus Industry Super
- Combined Fund
- GESB Super
- Health Super
- Hostplus Superannuation Fund
- Instrust Super
- Local Government Super
- LUCRF Super
- MAP Superannuation Plan
- Media Super
- Mercer Super Trust
- NGS Super
- Quadrant Super
- REI Super
- REST Industry
- Russell Super Solutions
- Sunsuper
- Telstra Super
- Vision Super

Online Tools - Green Saver

A collection of tips and online tools that lead to greener lifestyle and saving money at the same time

Living Greener - www.livinggreener.gov.au
Incentives for going green, offering various rebates. Eg feed-in tariffs for electricity generation, rebates for water efficient products such as washing machines, pool covers, dual flush toilets, rainwater systems.