The Australian, Wealth – Gold report THERE are two stories about gold coins, no matter how you look at it. There are the bullion coins linked to the rocketing gold price. Then there is the price of numismatic or collectable coins, which are not directly linked to the gold price but which are outperforming. The [...]

The Australian, Wealth – Gold report THERE are many ways to buy gold and unless you want some complicated financial instrument the Perth Mint pretty much offers all of them, despite the fact that it owns very little gold itself. “We don’t own any gold, or virtually none at all,” says Perth Mint treasurer Nigel [...]

The Australian, Wealth Qualifying is half the battle to be a customer of a private bank, Ed Charles reports | February 28, 2007 THE world of private banking consists of an exclusive club of retail bank clients and an elite club of global private bank clients. The level of personal service you get and what [...]

The Australian, Wealth IT isn’t possible to have too much money. But it is possible to have too little debt. This is one of the main differences between choosing private banking services from the private banks born on the shores of Lake Geneva and local retail banks born on the Yarra or Sydney’s harbour. Both [...]

The Australian, Wealth INTERNATIONAL banks are targeting the Australian market to provide high-end private banking services that don’t necessarily involve mortgages. Both HSBC and Citibank have launched private banking packages: Premier and Citigold, respectively. They have less stringent requirements than the local so-called private retail banks, but are nevertheless aimed at wealthy people. British banking [...]

The Australian, Wealth TRAVEL insurance is one of those products that few travellers pay attention to, whether they are begrudgingly buying a policy or relying on cover provided through top-end credit cards. For that reason, travel insurance remains one of the most complained about financial products in Australia. “It’s about 18 per cent of all [...]

The Australian, Wealth IT’S time for Christmas shopping and many people will be visiting Singapore and Hong Kong or the duty-free halls for their seasonal spending sprees. But retailers could be taking-advantage of the festive spirit by offering payment in Australian dollars and adding a surcharge to foreign currency conversion fees. Called dynamic currency conversion, [...]

From The Australian, Wealth: CONSUMER NEWS: Your credit card might not work overseas, Ed Charles reports | September 19, 2007 AUSTRALIANS may be enjoying the Rugby World Cup in Europe but many may find that they will have trouble spending any money on their credit cards. The problem is that in Britain and Europe, credit [...]

From The Australian, Wealth: Ed Charles | August 29, 2007 Investors with low-doc loans should reassess them, MORTGAGE brokers are warning property investors to be careful which low-doc and non-conforming lenders they choose to ensure they don’t face interest rate increases over the market rate charged by mainstream banks. The combined effect of the Reserve [...]

From The Australian, Wealth: Ed Charles | August 22, 2007 THERE is a trade off on credit cards between ones that charge an annual fee and offer rewards, travel insurance and other benefits, and cards that cost little or nothing and are cheap to use abroad. The equation isn’t an easy one to work out. [...]