Package up some items to save

Each year CANSTAR study and rate a wide selection of package property loans accessible for home purchasers in Australia. This year we have rated 31 Package Property Loans from 28 lenders, analysing both cost and characteristics of these packages to figure out which ones offer you outstanding worth for income.

For property investors, Suncorp Bank’s Property Package Plus gives a 5-star answer. We caught up with Craig Fenwick, Suncorp Bank Executive Manager Customer Lending Merchandise, for some insights into how buyers are making use of their package loans.  

“There are a quantity of rewards for customers picking a package item,” says Mr Fenwick. “Over the past handful of months, Suncorp Bank’s House Package Plus solution has received a quantity of industry awards in recognition of the outstanding worth it represents for consumers. In addition to client convenience, a competitive offering and credit card reward points, the item offers fee discounts on residence loans and other banking, insurance and wealth merchandise when bundled in their package. This could contain no upfront or month-to-month account maintaining costs on personal loans, discounted property and contents insurance and unlimited mortgage offset and renegotiation charges.”

In dollar terms, the possible savings for package loan clients are true. The CANSTAR Package Residence Loan Star Ratings Report outlines typical annual savings for package clients who take advantage of the range of products obtainable. The potential annual savings range from around $ 640 per year for those with a $ 150,000 residence loan to about $ 3,370 per year for these with a loan quantity of $ 500,000.

The crucial to the savings, of course, is in taking advantage of the discounts accessible. According to Mr Fenwick, many customers are undoubtedly switched on in this regard.

“We have a number of clients who bring across their day-to-day banking accounts, credit cards and other insurance coverage merchandise and bundle them with their property loan package,” he says. “Additionally, many of our property package plus clients take advantage of the property and motor insurance discounts connected with the item.”

Suncorp Bank’s Residence Package Plus solution awards customers the flexibility to choose a fixed or variable house loan rate, based on the customer’s person wants and circumstances. According to Mr Fenwick, the previous 12 months has seen a proportional shift amongst the demand for fixed and variable residence loans. “The demand for variable house loans has increased substantially, which has been consistent with market place trends,” he says. “In saying that, fixed residence loans continue to be crucial to numerous consumers.”

At the finish of the day, it is about having the flexibility and option – a definite package advantage that cannot be reduced to a dollar quantity.

Package up some items to save

Critical items to know about your super

The Superannuation industry presently manages about $ 1.8 trillion of Australian’s retirement savings and a current report released by the Financial Solutions Council and ING Direct found that over 80% of workers acknowledge superannuation as important in offering a comfy retirement. Regardless of this, the report identified that practically 3 quarters of Australians are in their employer’s default fund with only 27% likely to alter their fund provider in the future. These findings are constant with many other indicators in the market that illustrate the disparity among value and action when it comes to superannuation. It’s my belief that the driver of this disparity is mainly influenced by the perceived complexity of Superannuation but like all complicated problems, breaking them into element components is typically a great very first step.

Super is a platform

It is essential to recognize that superannuation is a ‘platform’ it’s not a single ‘product’ that is bought. This platform bundles your retirement savings, life insurances and other solutions all together to allow a comfy retirement. Pondering of it in this way enables us to choose apart the component parts and establish what alternative greatest suits your requirements.

2 critical questions

When taking into consideration your retirement nest egg the main questions are:

1) What growth/return am I getting on my funds?  and

2) How safe are my funds?

The value of these 2 elements was acutely evident in the expertise of many investors prior to and for the duration of the GFC. In the couple of years prior to the GFC there have been stated to be just 2 varieties of people: those that were generating cash and those that weren’t investing. As soon as the sub-prime market started to collapse returns and liquidity fairly swiftly dried up, the impact on numerous people’s retirement savings was sobering – to say the least. This marketplace story is repeated throughout history but it does not imply that investors need to have to be crystal ball-readers of the market place to finish up in a great position.

Investment choices

When assessing a superannuation fund, have a close appear at the investment choices obtainable. These will be in 3 primary forms:

• Number and types of investment funds obtainable


• Access to direct shares, and


• Access to fixed interest and term deposit merchandise.

You require to make certain that the sort of investment funds that are accessible to you make sense to you and match with your investment objectives, be that growth or defensive. Also look for a great breadth of providing including international funds, ethical funds and other investment classes that you may want to contain in your portfolio at some stage in the future.

Another way to get access to a lot more investment options is to guarantee the fund offers members access to direct shares. This enables you to take a lot more manage more than how your money is invested by providing you the alternative to invest in shares directly or take advantage of ETFs and a wider choice of investment funds. Lastly, relating to your investment possibilities, it is worth finding out whether there is the option of investing directly in cash goods. At occasions it can be prudent to have the selection to invest a portion of your retirement nest egg in cash and at that time, it will be less complicated if those options are currently at your fingertips rather than attempting to move your funds elsewhere.

Life Insurance

Life insurance coverage is one more important element in your option of super fund. Most funds are able to provide possibilities for cover in the case of death, disability or illness, which can support you and your family get by way of any unexpected events prior to retirement. In fact, some of the revenue protection policies within super even continue to make the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) payments although you are off perform, so that your retirement savings can continue throughout this time.

Check on the varieties of insurance offered within your fund of decision. The main choices are:

• Life,


• Total and Permanent Disability, and


• Earnings Protection.

Also investigate the level of cover supplied. There is a more than $ 4 million distinction amongst the leading and bottom levels of life insurance coverage cover in the business.

Other solutions

Lastly, check what other services are available to you for the value that you pay. Over and above the number of investment possibilities, access to direct shares and term deposits it is crucial to locate out what sort of financial guidance possibilities are accessible to you and how straightforward they are to access. Some funds have their own economic planners, some rely on third-celebration ne2rks and others have restricted or no access to financial suggestions at all. Access to this tips becomes particularly critical the closer you get to retirement but is also relevant although in the accumulation phase in order to make sure your contribution level, risk profile and investment method will deliver your expected retirement ambitions.

Be aware of fixed fees (which can range from $ to $ 175 annually) and variable charges (on leading of fixed fees, primarily based on your super balance) and make sure you are comfortable with the amount being charged for the access and services you are receiving. Recent compliance alter requirements have meant that the Item Disclosure Statement will clearly state what you can count on to spend.

So don’t delay in reviewing your super, it is not as scary as you may think. Thinking of superannuation as a platform with 3 main parts – your retirement savings, insurance coverage and solutions – it can be easier to either conclude whether or not the fund you have selected matches your wants or regardless of whether you ought to think about moving your funds.

Just before making a choice it is worth speaking to an Independent Economic Planner, as some skilled guidance now can make a substantial distinction in retirement.

Critical items to know about your super