Australia Travel Blog: Just Landed in Sydney

Sydney Travel Blog: Part 1

At the SYD Airport

Passing airport immigration and customs was a breeze. It was all done electronically, and no one stopped me to ask any questions. Now, it was time to head for public transit. Sydney Airport is far from downtown, and it would cost a lot to take a taxi.

The train station I needed to take was the Sydney International Airport Station. The station was located at the northern end of the terminal; just a few minutes walk. I had only a piece of carry-on luggage, so it didn’t bother me to walk a little.

Sydney Metro Experience

I knew I had to reach Kings Cross Station, but I didn’t know how to reach it. After going underground a few levels on escalators, I saw the ticket counters and machines. It was close to 9:30 and I didn't see any humans, so machines were my only way to buy tickets.

The card I purchased from the machine for a one-way ride to my station was called Opal. Opal is the smartcard ticket you need to ride public transport systems in Sydney and many other cities in Australia. 

My trip cost me $18.70 AUD, which was close to the same amount in Canadian dollars. Once I tapped on the Opal card and got inside the station, I asked someone to tell me which platform to use and how to get to my final destination, Kings Cross. People seemed to be friendly and one young gentleman who looked like a student explained everything to me in detail. I needed to change the train at Central Station, i.e. change to platform 24 to take the Eastern Line train. 

Chinese Market Set To Rebound

China’s Economy Is Rebounding

First Published: September 17, 2009 ADawnJournal.com

While much of the rest of the world has been dealing with a financial crisis that has seen economies contracting, China’s experience of the global downturn has been a different kettle of fish. They have not been immune to the overriding pessimism that has gripped most nations, but their economy has continued to grow – just a lot slower than before. Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jinbao, has stated openly that he wishes to drive a recovery from this slow expansion by continuing a level of government spending which has been described as “unprecedented”. Speaking to the World Economic Forum meeting in the north-eastern Chinese city of Dalian, Wen said that he would not change his government’s financial policy when the conditions did not justify such action.

Though paying heed to the undeniable fact that China’s economy is rebounding, like many of the major global markets, Wen admitted that the rebound was currently “unstable, unbalanced and not yet solid”, and continued a global commitment to maintain government action to ensure a steady and long-term recovery from the deepest global recession since the Second World War. While the level of government loans is expected to taper off in order to ensure that any growth is “genuine” – a good analogy here would be the effort to ensure that a patient with a broken leg can eventually walk without crutches – investment will not fall away completely, rather it will remain at enough of a level to give the patient breathing space to recover properly.

Key economists such as Wang Qing, chief Asia economist for the Morgan Stanley bank in Hong Kong, feel that although the worst of the recession has undoubtedly passed, a hang-up in Chinese exports may muddy the waters when it comes to driving an overall recovery. Over the past nine months the country’s exports have fallen as struggling economies showed a reluctance to look overseas when they had problems of their own to correct. This has had the knock-on effect in China of creating an overcapacity in their marketing sector and resultant unemployment – meaning that the record government stimulus package of 4 trillion yuan (More than US$586 billion) has not had as pronounced an effect as might have been hoped.

One of the key indicators of Chinese market performance, the Shanghai Composite Index, has shown a recent slide of 20%, reflecting wider concerns that continued government lending could in fact have a negative effect on Chinese economic growth. The initial results from the government’s stimulus lending have been positive, arresting that slide and creating growth. Wen has judged from this that the government’s liberal and proactive economic steps are the way forward for the moment, but that the time had come when some stimulus measures had to be left to do their work, some having almost completed that process and others likely to take some time to become fully effective. With the global economic sector awaiting the publication of August’s figures, a look at China’s results in the next few days will make for instructive reading.

What To Do If You Cannot Pay Your Mortgage?

Underpayments, Deliberate and Accidental

Looking at a mortgage agreement – and specifically the payment schedule that is involved in one – is often enough to put even the calmest of individuals into something of a panic. When you stop and think about it, the idea that you are going to pay x amount every month, three hundred times over the course of 25 years seems astonishing. How many of us were doing the same thing twenty-five years ago that we are today? Some of us were not even born. And by the time twenty five years are up, what age will we be? Can we realistically imagine that for the next twenty five years we will be doing the same thing, living in the same place, paying to the same mortgage?

Of course, in many cases we will not be paying the same mortgage. Many individuals and families move house semi-regularly for work reasons, to emigrate or to be closer to extended family. Whatever the reason for moving, this generally results in selling up the current home, paying off the mortgage on it in full, and taking out a new mortgage on a new home elsewhere. For those of us who stick with the same house and the 300-month plan, however, the situation can certainly seem quite daunting. How, one asks oneself, can I possibly keep to an arrangement that goes on for so long? This is why mortgage payments are calculated to generally be set at a level which the customer can comfortably manage. Even if they have a few months of financial stricture, normally savings or help from one’s family can keep things ticking over.

For some people, however, it becomes a case of simply not being able to maintain the payments in the short term. Families will help up to a point, but cash and goodwill are only ever in plentiful supply when they do not have to be frequently relied upon. In such cases, it is often possible to make an underpayment to your mortgage – at least as long as you tell your lender that you are going to do it. Getting in contact with your mortgage lender when it appears more likely than not that you will be unable to meet the agreed monthly payment means that they can put arrangements in place to collect the reduced monthly amount. For a period of a few months, this can make a big difference.

Underpaying a mortgage payment either accidentally or carelessly without regard for the consequences, however, brings different challenges to the table. In the case of an non-agreed underpayment, you will incur a fee on the mortgage which will increase the balance and make for a tougher time paying things off. It will also adversely affect your credit score and lead to the lender treating you less sympathetically. If you cannot make the payment to your mortgage, then let your lender know. If you can, then make the payment – your home is a priority, and keeping up payments on it a necessity.

Where Are We In Terms Of The Global Financial Situation?

Happy Birthday, Global Financial Crisis

First Published: ADawnJournal.com September 24, 2009

There has been so much said over the past couple of years about the dangers of recession, and much still to be said, but one event seen by many as the moment that the global financial crisis became a fact was the collapse of the American investment bank Lehman Brothers. It was one year ago this week that the bank went bust, and the realities of the crisis became clear to everyone at that point. If the Global Financial Crisis has a birthday, that date is the 16th of September. One year on, where are we in terms of the global financial situation?

The collapse of Lehman Brothers marked the point where governments around the world decided that intervention was the way to go. From that point on, many banks have been effectively nationalised – an act which in itself was massively controversial, seeing diverse reactions in different countries. In America, for example, Barack Obama’s determination to bolster the banking sector and revive the world’s largest economy led to accusations of totalitarianism, communism and Nazism. It may sound amusing, but this reaction was, seemingly, entirely serious. In other nations, a sense of skepticism over bank bailouts also persisted, but the bailouts are ratified now and the recovery is in place.

Would the world’s economy have bounced back in such a way and so soon without the government interventions that took place in most of the larger economies? It seems unlikely. Certainly, the banks which have received bailout cash have posted mixed results, with Goldman Sachs posting record numbers very shortly after receiving their lifeline, while others have suffered record losses. But many independent sources feel that the recession is in its last blasts and that this is due in no small part to government intervention. No government has given any indication that further bailout cash will be released, however, so it is now very much a matter of waiting for the situation to stabilise.

While we wait for that, it is believed that the recession has yet to do the last of its work in the sphere of employment. A recent report from the OECD claims that as many as 15million people worldwide have lost their jobs as a result of the financial crisis, and that there could yet be another 10million people made unemployed. Although economic results are improving, the effects of the recession will still be felt for a while to come.

While it would be fair to say that the financial sector has always had its critics, the overwhelming thread running through public reaction to the situation has been one of severe distrust of banks and bankers, and of injustice at the bailouts given to banks while many other industries have been left to fend for themselves. There is still a reluctance on the part of the banks to lend to customers – much to the chagrin of the governments which released the cash to save them – and it might be a while before the stability being claimed for the global economy is seen in the bank accounts and employment prospects of the “man on the street”. This story has some time to run as it blows out the solitary candle on its birthday cake.

Do RRSPs offer Creditor Protection In Case Of Bankruptcy?

RRSP Creditor Protection

First Published: ADawnJournal.com October 4, 2009

In the past, insurance investments such as Segregated funds (whether being held in a registered or non-registered account) and registered pension monies were provided creditor protection in case of bankruptcy.

Starting July 7, 2008, Bill C-12, an amendment to the federal Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, extended the same creditor protection to all registered investments such as RRSPs, RRIFs, DPSPs. RRSPs and other registered investments as mentioned above are now exempt from seizure or claims of creditors in case of bankruptcy. Remember, this exemption may not apply to contributions made within a 12-month period prior to bankruptcy.