Financial Reviews

Here are five ways that you can begin to save money, beginning today. Americans are not saving enough money in this day and age to help ensure their stability financially. If you have enough money in your savings account, then it is going to be able to protect you from financial hardships like becoming sick, getting divorced or losing a job. If you want to be protected from the impact of these hardships, then you need to make sure that you have enough money saved away. Even if you can only get the ball rolling with a small amount of savings, every dollar will help to grow your savings over time.

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– Australia’s economy is expected to see a below-trend growth rate in the second half of 2011 due to weak growth in consumer spending, a leading survey revealed Wednesday.

The Westpac-Melbourne Institute’s leading index, which indicates the likely pace of economic activity three to nine months into the future, rose at an annualized rate of 1.6 percent in May, well below its long term trend of 3 percent.

This is now the lowest growth rate for the index since September 2009. The growth rate in the index has steadily fallen from its peak in this cycle of 9.5 percent in March 2010, the report said.

Westpac Chief Economist Bill Evans said the firm is expecting annualized growth rate of 2.5 percent in the second half of 2011.

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Axa Australia will continue to provide life insurance to VicSuper members and will offer a number of enhancements as part of the new contract.

It has held the account since 1994, but the new contract will have reduced premiums for the 250,000 fund members, Axa Head of Group Insurance Robert Bergin says.

As part of the new agreement, the members’ level of insurance will increase by 33% and they can further raise their cover when a major change in their life occurs.

“We often see members who want to increase their level of cover after a major life event such as buying a home or having children,” Mr Bergin said.

“This new feature facilitates more cover without additional health evidence.”

The new contract also includes the introduction of default income protection insurance for members.

Axa is now providing group life insurance to more than 600,000 superannuation fund members and in the past two years has paid more than $200 million in claims.

DAVID LEONHARDT

Thoughts on the economic scene.

A few commenters responded to my Sunday column by asking whether consumer spending had really declined all that much. A blog post by Jared Bernstein discusses this issue. The crux of the argument is this chart, showing that consumer spending does not make up a smaller share of gross domestic product than a few years ago:

There are three reasons, though, why its a mistake to read this chart as saying there has not been a consumer bust.

First, consumer spending has retained its G.D.P.

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Even though toenail fungus invokes all kinds of unpleasant images, it is a serious condition that should be treated quickly. Still, this is a condition that affects millions of people in many countries. Since this is a fungus infection that has become more severe, it needs to be taken seriously and treated. If you let the infection continue, then additional problems could come up such as loss of finger and toenails. This variety of fungus is typically seen in toenails, but you may surely get it under your fingernailsas well. The type of fungus involved in this condition has a better habitat in toenails because of the limited light conditions plus the moisture.

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