In addition to being Australian’s single biggest asset, the family home - the cornerstone to establishing financial independence – also offers retirees equity they can potentially tap into without having to sell. But with the interest rates now getting close to double, reverse mortgages facilities – which lets homeowners borrow against the equity in their house – have largely fallen out of favour. However, the Federal Government’s often overlooked Home Equity Access Scheme (HEAS) currently presents some mouthwatering opportunities for retirees and prominent West Australian financial adviser Wayne Leggett, principal of Paramount Financial Solutions explained to Azzet what they are. Asset: How can Australians quality for the Home Equity Access Scheme? Wayne Leggett (WL): To quality, you must be of age pension age and hold equity in Australian equity in your own name. Importantly, you don’t need to be an age pension recipient, don’t need to own a property outright and can even use property that is not your primary place of residence. Azzet: How are applications made and what sort of payments does the scheme offer? WL: Applications are made via Services Australia and are calculated on the equity offered as security,

The Australian sharemarket finished slightly lower on Friday as major banking stocks retraced yesterday's gains. The S&P/ASX 200 Index closed down 16.6 points or 0.2% to 8,310.4, finishing the week with marginal gains of 0.2%. Eight of 11 sectors finished higher, despite losses in the financials and communication services sectors, following the market’s 1.4% gain on Thursday. ANZ Group dipped 1.8%, National Australia Bank lost 1.7%, and Commonwealth Bank declined 1.2%. Meanwhile, the materials sector added 0.4% overall, with BHP up 0.2%, Fortescue Metals adding 1.8% and Champion Iron up 2.2%. Mining giant Rio Tinto bucked the trend, finishing 0.7% lower after Bloomberg reported that it is in merger discussions with Glencore. If completed, the deal would surpass BHP as the largest mining group globally. Among data releases, annual economic growth in China reached 5.4% in Q4 2024, beating market expectations of 5% growth. Among individual companies, Insignia Financial rose 6.5% after CC Capital increased its takeover bid to $4.60 per share, valuing the offer at A$3.1 billion. The revised bid follows Bain Capital’s move earlier in the week to match CC Capital’s prior $2.9 billion offer. Lynas Rare Earths d

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has urged the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to ban surcharges on credit and debit cards as the central bank considers the future of Australia’s A$1 trillion-plus payments system. CBA said it had noted in recent years a shift to contactless payments and e-commerce and an increase in payments solutions that sit outside the RBA’s bank’s mandate and regulation, including buy now, pay later, digital wallets and three party schemes. In a response to an RBA issues paper, Australia’s largest bank said it supported the spirit of the review because payments affected all consumers and businesses and the safety, reliability, efficiency and convenience of the system was paramount. CBA asked the central bank not to formulate policy responses to some of the matters raised in its issues paper, which would be possible only when the Payment System Regulation Act (PSRA) was amended. The remaining issues for consultation could be addressed without changes to the PSRA, including surcharging, which is the imposition of an additional fee by a merchant or institutions for card payments. “We believe the most impactful initiative would be to address surcharging on debit and credit,” the CBA said in its

Investment firm CC Capital Partners LLC has thrown down the gauntlet to its larger rival bidder Bain Capital by raising its takeover offer for Insignia Financial. Insignia said it had received a revised non-binding and indicative offer from CC Capital of A$4.60 cash per share, which values the company at $3.1 billion, up from the $4.30 cash per share offered by both bidders previously. The company said in an ASX announcement the offer was subject to the same terms and conditions as the initial proposal, advising shareholders to take no action as the Board and its advisers decided whether to engage with CC Capital. The company repeated its previous statement that there was no certainty the proposal would result in a binding offer or a transaction. In the space of about one month, the 178-year-old financial services group has received two non-binding and conditional bids each from Bain and CC Capital amid speculation that asset management giant Brookfield might enter the fray as a third bidder. Bain included in its proposal the potential for shareholders who accepted the offer to receive shares in the ultimate holding company if the buyout proceeds. The top seven shareholders owned more than 58% of the target in Au