Archive for November, 2007
November 2nd, 2007 at 07:15am
Under Press Release
Superannuation is a must for Australian Employees. There are a lot of superannuation institutes in Australia, which manages your funds on your behalf, including savings, investments etc.
I have been transferring my funds between different institutes, simply because of change of jobs. I however feel that these institutes did not do much for me and they never did provide me information about my funds.
However, good news -
SPECIALIST financial planning company All My Funds is applying the discount broker model to Australia’s trillion dollar superannuation industry.
The Queensland-based All My Funds will target the 70 per cent of workers in the 30-45 age groups who are now using retail funds instead of industry funds.
AMF managing director Wayne Robinson said the All My Funds system would effectively transform retail funds into industry funds for AMF clients because the company would return all commissions paid to the client in exchange for a flat annual fee.
“The discount broker model has worked very well in both the sharemarket and the funds management sectors and there is no reason why Australians will not embrace it for their superannuation investments,’’ said Mr Robinson.
“As it stands, a working 30 year old with $50,000 in their super now could lose more than $98,000 from their retail superannuation funds through commissions over their working life.
“We want to change that and also to help people gain the greatest benefit from their retirement savings as possible.’’
Mr Robinson said All My Funds had made the decision to solely concentrate on financial planning issues for the superannuation sector.
“There are a lot of good financial planners operating within Australia but we saw there is not really anybody who is solely specialising in superannuation,’’ he said.
“When you consider the size of the industry, both in terms of investment and the number of participants, it is apparent there is certainly plenty of room for specialist firms in this arena.’’
The three main services that All My Funds will provide clients is:
* An annual subscription service where investors pay an annual fee of $385 and all adviser fees, commissions and trails are rebated to the client
* A consolidation service where AMF on behalf of its clients rolls multiple superannuation accounts into one larger account.
* A 25+ page superannuation checkup report (statement of advice limited to superannuation) for only $275. This will give an overview of a client’s existing superannuation, a comparison with other retail funds, an indication of what their income will be on retirement as a percentage of their current salary and much more.
By Leo
November 2nd, 2007 at 07:12am
Under Software
We use Google Talk at work. I have been using it for 9 months now, and I think I should talk about it here.
I found Google Talk very handy. Unlike MSN or ICQ, it is a lot lighter and use less system resources. It is not as fancy. But it serves the sole purpose of IM software - just simply send over a text message!
Yes, you can still customize it. There are however limited ’skins’ for this goodie.
You can link it (and actually, you have to) to your Gmail. If you got a new mail, you will be alerted.
For the last 9 months, Google Talk never clashed. It is a very stable software sitting in my system tray. My MSN clashes several times a week.
I would say this is highly recommended! Well, not for chatting with your girlfriend / boyfriend - there is no virtual gift/hug/kiss whatever here.
By Leo
November 1st, 2007 at 01:16pm
Under Reviews
Have you got Business cards ? I have a few. My work requires talking to clients and I do need them.
If you are a freelancer then you would also need them. Indeed you need a lot. You want it to be distributed to every single person that you can possibly reach.
That becomes costly. What is the solution?
Thanks to VistaPrint - they offer business cards for free! You can order online and only pay postage. They have got business cards templates that you can choose from. All you need to do is to enter your information and that’s done.
I have ordered once just to check it out. The cards were sent to me within a few days. They were nicely, professionally printed. The cards even looks better than the templates on the screen!
It is free (apart from postage). Therefore at the back of the card you will find a line stated that the business cards are provided by VistaPrint for free etc. (I can’t remember the exact wording now.)
In the latest direct marketing campaign they also offer a free stamp. I did not make use of this opportunity as I am moving in a short time.
Why don’t you consider ordering your next batch of business card in VistaPrint?
(
Sponsored by VistaPrint)
By Leo
November 1st, 2007 at 01:08pm
Under Software
First of all, why do you need one? It protects your computer when you surf the internet.
Typically internet security software incorporates firewall, anti-phishing, anti-banner, anti-adware, anti-spyware, anti-spam & antivirus.
For me I am quite careful when visiting websites. However sometimes things might happen. And my major computer is for my work use as well. So I got an internet security software installed.
However for a lot of users, internet security software is not really user friendly. When it is freshly installed, it does have a learning process. When a message pops up ‘do you allow this’ sometimes it is really hard for a general user to answer.
And I have seen a well known branded software that can go out of control easily. Even if there is a sudden disconnection of wireless connection it would block the whole internet traffic. And up until now, I have not seen a reset button. I have to uninstall it completely and reinstall it to make it work again.
There is another one which uses a lot of system resources. Well, this is a well known issue.
Instead of me completing this post, why don’t you contribute and say something about what you are using / what is your recommendation? This is not an ad corner - but feel free to name the brand if you want to.
By Leo
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