Financial advisers want more help with social media
Financial advisers are keen to further embrace social media but many would like more training in how best to use it, according to a recent Zurich Australia survey. There may not be a full appreciation of the kind of apps that are already out there, which includes information or note gathering apps, sales tools, calculators, and life insurance quoting apps.

Ask Noel
If a husband and wife die together and leave the contents of a large superannuation to be divided among various relatives, what sort of tax would the government impose on super funds left to the beneficiaries? What is the best way to minimise this tax?

A financial future to safeguard everyone
When the Future of Financial Advice legislation comes into effect there will be two classes of investors in Australia, those with old money and those with new. People with old money will have to make it work harder as their returns will continue to be eroded by commissions. Those with new money will have their investment returns protected by FOFA.

Where there’s smoke, there’s good reason for higher health premiums
Health insurance is unique in the industry because it is ”community rated” – that is, we all pay the same premium, regardless of our underlying risk factors. Community rating helps make insurance affordable to everyone, including those in poor health. But is this fair when poor health is because of risky behaviours such as smoking? Most other kinds of insurance are ”risk rated” – where actuaries estimate the underlying risk associated with each person, and charge a fair premium. For example, smokers pay more for term life insurance, reflecting the higher chance they will die during the policy term.

Rescue medics sick of working without cover
THEY put their lives on the line to rescue the most at-risk patients, but helicopter paramedics say they will strike if the state government refuses to pay for their life insurance.