Clancy Yeates

INSIGHT

Budget Special: Forecasts fall short

Clancy Yeates Making iron-clad promises about future events can be a dangerous thing - just ask Wayne Swan.

Insight

More dividends not something to bank on

Clancy Yeates A big reason bank stocks have been such a smash hit with investors this year is their great dividends.

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Rising debt weighs heavily on any future boom

Clancy Yeates When confidence is building in the property market, as it has been lately, it can be easy to get swept up in the hype.

INSIGHT

Look who's holding back the most as donations dip

Clancy Yeates As the economy cools down, so does our tendency to donate to good causes. That's hardly a shock, though it does make life tougher for charities.

INSIGHT

Beware the sting in smartphone banking

Clancy Yeates If you've recently discovered the convenience of paying bills on a smartphone, you're not alone. Australians are embracing mobile banking at a cracking pace.

Insight

Retail therapy to the rescue but don't bank on it

Clancy Yeates Households have started to do something unfamiliar in the past few months - they've opened up their wallets.

Insight

Duopoly drives rising insurance costs

Clancy Yeates 'Bill shock'' normally refers to the unpleasant experience of receiving an enormous phone or electricity bill. But it could just as easily apply to insurance.

Lending

Margin loans rise but risk still off table

Clancy Yeates Margin lending is growing for the first time since the stimulus-induced sharemarket surge of 2009, as investors seek to capitalise on record low interest rates and rising stock prices.

Insight

Publicised savings rates can be deceptive

Clancy Yeates Which type of savings accounts pay the best returns? Until recently, term deposits tended to offer the best deal for savers.

Insight

The cards that are running out of pals

Clancy Yeates Until recently, Australians seemed determined to spend more on credit cards, despite the well-known disadvantages of doing so.

Insight

When locking it in is a loaded question

Clancy Yeates It's easy to see why many people might be wondering if now is a good time to fix their mortgage. Average fixed rates are at the lowest level on record.

INSIGHT

Uni debt? HELP yourself

Clancy Yeates Households may be racing to pay down their mortgages and using credit cards more sparingly, but there's one type of debt that's still growing quickly: student loans.

INSIGHT

Tread carefully, it's all a little fragile

Clancy Yeates Is the sharemarket's strong start to the year justified by a brighter outlook for companies? Or are stock prices simply rising because the world is awash with cash, in search of a return?

Insight: Savings interest rates

Clancy Yeates Hundreds of billions of dollars have poured into high-interest deposit accounts since the global financial crisis, as savers exploited the relatively strong interest rates.

Insight: retail

Clancy Yeates If our economy is in pretty good nick, why are retailers always complaining about how tough things are?

Insight: super contributions

Clancy Yeates Putting extra money into superannuation may finally be coming back into favour, as confidence in the sharemarket makes a long-awaited recovery.

Insight

Top sectors of 2012

Clancy Yeates On the whole, 2012 was a good year for shareholders. But just how good might depend on which parts of the market you put the most money into.