The truth about who will inherit your super
One in three Aussies have no say about who will inherit their super, 5% deposit scheme could drive property prices 10% higher, and the easy way to ham up household savings. Here are five things you may have missed this week.
6.5 million Australians risk having no say in who inherits their super
One in three Australians are leaving their super savings to chance by not letting their fund know who should inherit their nest egg when they die.
Super Consumers Australia says over 6.5 million Australians risk leaving their loved ones facing long delays to access their superannuation when they pass away.
Many face the possibility that their money may not be distributed according to their wishes.
When a person dies, their remaining super is paid to the beneficiaries they choose in what is known as a 'super death benefit'.
But you need to tell your fund who the beneficiaries are.
That's as simple as filling out a non-binding or binding nomination. You can usually find the paperwork on your fund's website.
Without a nomination, the fund trustee can decide who gets your death benefit. According to Xavier O'Halloran, CEO of Super Consumers Australia, "That leaves families in limbo, sometimes waiting months or years to access money they are entitled to."
Contact your fund to check if you have a binding nomination in place.
5% deposit scheme expanded early - but not everyone's a fan
The federal government's 5% deposit Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) was due to be expanded in 2026. This has now been brought forward to October 1, 2025.
The scheme sees the government guarantee part of a first home buyer's loan. This can help first-time buyers get into the market with as little as 5% deposit - and save thousands of dollars on lenders mortgage insurance.
From 1 October, all first home buyers will have access to the HGS.
The current limits on how many buyers can access the scheme will be scrapped.
Gone too will be the home buyer income caps, while on the other hand, property price limits will be raised.
PM Anthony Albanese says, "We want to help young people and first home buyers achieve the dream of home ownership sooner."
Not everyone is a fan of the expanded scheme.
A review by Lateral Economics estimates the expansion of the HGS could drive up home prices by 10% as more buyers compete for a limited number of homes.
If that occurs, the savings in lenders mortgage insurance could be swamped by increased property prices.
Hungry for savings? There's a simple $1500 solution
Finder research shows two in five (43%) Australians have less than $1000 in savings.
Yet a few simple steps could double that balance.
According to OzHarvest, Aussie households waste a staggering $1500 worth of perfectly good food annually.
OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn, says, "We're literally throwing money in the bin!"
High-wasting households are less likely to use shopping lists, resulting in more impulse buying - and overbuying.
On the other hand, low-waste households check what they have in their kitchen before shopping (81%), write a shopping list (72%), and only buy the food they need (75%).
ALDI saves shoppers $3000 a year, expands product range
ALDI price data shows households can save around $3000 a year by shopping at ALDI based on the German chain's 16.8% price gap over competitors.
However, the limited product range of ALDI has been something of a weak spot.
Sure, you're unlikely to find a lawn mower or widescreen TV gracing the shelves of Coles or Woolies, but the 25,000-strong product range of the two supermarket giants dwarfs the 1800 products stocked by ALDI.
That's why ALDI is expanding.
The supermarket is upgrading its core range with 250 new products designed to fill gaps in customers' shopping baskets.
Jordan Lack, chief commercial officer at ALDI Australia, says, "Our upgraded range gives shoppers even more reasons to do their full weekly shop with us - without paying more."
Centrelink waives 1.2 million debts
This week saw Labor announce that almost half the nation's outstanding social security debts will be waived as the cost of chasing the money often outweighs the value of the debt recovered.
Around 1.2 million people will have their welfare debts scrapped.
Katy Gallagher, Minister for Government Services, says, "The last thing vulnerable people need is to be hounded over small debts that are not worth the time or money to recover."
People with debts resulting from 'income apportionment' will be eligible to apply for compensation of up to $600.
Income apportionment, which saw Centrelink make assumptions about how much welfare recipients earned, is now acknowledged as "invalid".
Legislation will be introduced into the Parliament in the coming weeks to implement these measures. Until then, it's a case of watch this space to know when compensation payments and debt waivers will start to roll out.
Get stories like this in our newsletters.
