Australians will head to the polls on May 3, and with housing affordability shaping up as a key election issue, we unpack how the two major parties are pledging to help first home buyers.

Housing affordability has reached boiling point.

Both Labor and the Coalition agree on this.

But they’re offering different solutions for first home buyers.

Much of the 2025 Federal Budget was already known, after a volley of pre-election spruiking for votes. But Treasurer Jim Chalmers had one surprise up his sleeve - $17 billion in tax cuts. The first round of cuts will kick in on 1 July 2026 and second round on 1 July 2027, saving the average earner $536 each year when fully implemented.

In the shadow of an upcoming election, Jim Chalmers’ fourth Budget delivered small but unexpected tax cuts for all Australian taxpayers.

The modest cuts were delivered against a backdrop of growing economic uncertainty, with the treasurer emphasising the need for national resilience in the face of rapid global change.

We’re all trying to live our best lives, right? Sometimes, we get stuck in one area – whether it’s spending all your spare time hitting the gym or counting every calorie to lose weight. We know the secret to true wellbeing is balance – but what does that actually mean?

The number of Australians aged over 65 is expected to more than double in the next 40 years while the number of people aged over 85 is predicted to triple in that time.ⁱ

Aged care funding and services have seen major changes in the years since the 2021 report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, and this year is no exception.

A well-thought-out investment plan can help you thrive financially as well as protect you from falling into some common behavioural investment traps.

But how do you create an investment plan? And where do you start?

Thanks to the decisive victory of US President-elect Donald Trump, we’re now set to hear a whole lot more of his favourite word.

It’s something of a love affair. On the campaign trail in October, he said:

To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff.

Crypto-assets (crypto) include assets described as coins, tokens or sometimes cryptocurrencies. They digitally represent your ownership of a valuable thing or rights to something. They may or may not be backed by physical assets.

Crypto is a high-risk investment. The value of crypto is very volatile, often fluctuating by huge amounts within a short period.

Be suspicious of anyone offering you easy money. Scammers are skilled at convincing you that the investment is real, the returns are high and the risks are low. There's always a catch.

If you think you've been targeted by scammers, act quickly.

About 36% of homeowners still have a mortgage when they retire, up from 23% a decade ago.

This increase in mortgage debt is due to soaring property prices, changes in retirement ages and easy access to drawdown equity loans (where you use your home as security to get a loan, which can be used to fund travel, medical costs and other expenses)

Take some of the guesswork out of planning for the future. Work out how much super you'll have when you retire, and if it will be enough to fund the lifestyle you want.

It's never too soon to start planning for a better financial future.

What's your super strategy?

Did you know it’s likely you’ll spend up to two or more decades in retirement? It’s a long time, so will you be able to afford all the things you’ve thought of doing in retirement before your savings run out?

We’ve all heard the old saying ‘an elephant never forgets’- but unlike elephants, we humans certainly don’t have flawless recall. Forgetting where you left your keys or the name of the person you met last week, is all too familiar. Memory lapses happen to the best of us, but there are ways to sharpen your memory and boost brainpower.

From the economy bending policies of Trump 2.0 to the growing strength of the far right in Europe, the new alliance between Russia and the United States, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the US President’s vow to upturn world trade rules, the markets are certainly navigating tricky times.

More than half of us set a new financial goal at the beginning of 2025, according to ASIC’s Moneysmart website. While most financial goals include saving money and paying down debts, the months leading up to 30 June provide an opportunity to review your super balance to look at ways to boost your retirement savings.

The end of a relationship is never easy, but there are steps you can take to help things run more smoothly.

A good first step is to try to agree on practical matters, even if it's just for the short term.

Great news for home owners – plenty of economists are tipping an RBA rate cut for February. Assuming it happens, once the celebrations have died down, what next? We explain what to expect when rates head south.

It’s been a long time between drinks for home owners celebrating a rate cut.

As we advance into the 21st century, the concept of aging is undergoing a transformation, largely thanks to a new generation of “oldies” who don’t feel old - and are reframing what it means to be getting on in years.

Traditionally, aging has been associated with decline, frailty, and a sense of irrelevance.

Deciding when to retire is a big decision and even more difficult if you are concerned about your retirement income.

The average age of Australia’s 4.2 million retirees is 56.9 years but many people leave it a little later to finish work with most intending to retire at just over 65 years.ⁱ

As investors grapple with uncertainty, keeping a cool head has never been more important.

“Time in the market, not timing the market" is a popular investment philosophy that emphasises the importance of staying invested over the long term rather than trying to predict short-term market movements.