9 Ways the Latest Rate Cuts Can Save You $10,000 a Year

After years of rising repayments, Australians are finally seeing interest rates ease. February’s 0.25 percentage point cut shaved $76 a month off a $500,000 mortgage repayment, but the total savings could be more than $1,000 a year. With that extra money now flowing through, smart moves can turn small monthly savings into thousands over time.

1. Refinance your loan

Lower rates mean better borrowing power and increased competition by lenders for customers. As such, it’s a great time to consider refinancing.

You could double (or more!) the size of this rate cut – especially if your pay recently increased or your costs decreased, such as no more school fees after a child graduates.

Potential difference: $151.42 monthly savings by doubling the official rate cut to 5.55 per cent on a $500,000 mortgage.

2. Keep repayments the same

Just because rates have come down doesn’t mean you have to pay that new amount.

If you can afford to, keep your repayments the same. The extra amount you’re paying will chip away at the principal loan balance faster, meaning the amount you owe decreases and less interest accrues in future.

Potential difference: $26,588.07 saved over 25 years on a $500,000 mortgage. Over time, the savings would be 2.37 years of interest saved, which is over $60,000.

3. Pay down debts

Falling mortgage repayments mean more money to put towards paying down other debts.

Start with high-interest debts first, such as credit cards or car loans – these balloon quickly if you fall behind and adversely affect your ability to refinance your mortgage or get a new loan.

Potential difference: $151.43 monthly savings by clearing a $1,634 credit card debt with average 20.08 per cent interest rate.

4. Reassess savings accounts

The flip side of falling interest rates is that savings accounts and new term deposits become less attractive.

It may be worthwhile to reinvest your savings somewhere with higher earning potential. This becomes increasingly important the more interest rates fall. You should also consider tax though.

Potential difference: $1.68/month is small, but this also excludes compound earnings investing $76.15 monthly at 7.5 per cent sharemarket returns vs 5.25 per cent in a high-interest savings account.

5. Top up your super

Your superannuation balance will grow faster with more money going in and compound earnings between now and retirement. Plus, there are generous tax breaks for making voluntary super contributions.

Potential difference: $23.00 extra per year (excluding compound earnings and tax savings which is the bigger saving) contributing $76.15 per month at average 8.1 per cent returns.

6. Upskill to boost your income

Extra cash can be used towards study/qualifications to boost future earnings. Or you could start a side hustle that could deliver additional income or even allow you to earn more than your current job pays.

Potential difference: Just a 5% increase on the average $1,396 weekly income delivers an extra $3,629.60 per year. Self-education and self-employment costs are tax deductible too!

7. Invest in yourself

Investing in your health (physical and mental) has longer-term benefits: lower medical bills, fewer sick days, reduced risk of forced early retirement or premature death.

Potential difference: Thousands of dollars and a long, healthy life vs a shorter lifespan and/or poorer quality of life.

8. Boost your emergency fund

It is easier to build an emergency fund – cash set aside for a rainy day – in smaller, regular amounts than big lump sums. Rate cut savings are ideal for this, as you’re already used to living without this money.

Potential difference: Immeasurable if it’s the difference between having money set aside or having nothing, should disaster strike!

9. Donate to charity

If you’re going to spend your rate cut money no matter what, why not donate it to charity.

It will do some good for the world and give you the satisfaction that comes from helping others. Plus, you can claim a tax deduction on donations over $2.

Potential difference: You can receive a refund of up to 45 cents on every dollar donated, depending on your tax bracket.

As the above points show, there are plenty of ways to make rate cuts work even harder for you. The biggest difference will be whether you take action or let the savings flutter away

Helen Baker is a licensed Australian financial adviser and author of the new book, Money For Life: How to build financial security from firm foundations (Major Street Publishing $32.99). Find out more at www.onyourowntwofeet.com.au

It’s go time for the highest-stakes mission at NASA in more than 50 years.

On April 1, the agency is set to launch four astronauts around the moon, the deepest human spaceflight since the final Apollo lunar landing in 1972.

The launch window for Artemis II , as the mission is called, opens at 6:24 p.m. ET.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration teams have been preparing the vehicles to depart from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on the planned roughly 10-day trip. Crew members have trained for years for this moment.

Reid Wiseman, the NASA astronaut serving as mission commander, said he doesn’t fear taking the voyage. A widower, he does worry at times about what he is putting his daughters through.

“I could have a very comfortable life for them,” Wiseman said in an interview last September.

“But I’m also a human, and I see the spirit in their eyes that is burning in my soul too. And so we’ve just got to never stop going.”

Wiseman’s crewmates on Artemis II are NASA’s Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Photo: NASA’s Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft being rolled out at night. Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images

What are the goals for Artemis II?

The biggest one: Safely fly the crew on vehicles that have never carried astronauts before.

The towering Space Launch System rocket has the job of lofting a vehicle called Orion into space and on its way to the moon.

Orion is designed to carry the crew around the moon and back. Myriad systems on the ship—life support, communications, navigation—will be tested with the astronauts on board.

SLS and Orion don’t have much flight experience. The vehicles last flew in 2022, when the agency completed its uncrewed Artemis I mission .

How is the mission expected to unfold?

Artemis II will begin when SLS takes off from a launchpad in Florida with Orion stacked on top of it.

The so-called upper stage of SLS will later separate from the main part of the rocket with Orion attached, and use its engine to set up the latter vehicle for a push to the moon.

After Orion separates from the upper stage, it will conduct what is called a translunar injection—the engine firing that commits Orion to soaring out to the moon. It will fly to the moon over the course of a few days and travel around its far side.

Orion will face a tough return home after speeding through space. As it hits Earth’s atmosphere, Orion will be flying at 25,000 miles an hour and face temperatures of 5,000 degrees as it slows down. The capsule is designed to land under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean, not far from San Diego.

Water photo: NASA’s Orion capsule after its splash-down in the Pacific Ocean in 2022 for the Artemis I mission. Mario Tama/Press Pool

Is it possible Artemis II will be delayed?

Yes.

For safety reasons, the agency won’t launch if certain tough weather conditions roll through the Cape Canaveral, Fla., area. Delays caused by technical problems are possible, too. NASA has other dates identified for the mission if it doesn’t begin April 1.

Who are the astronauts flying on Artemis II?

The crew will be led by Wiseman, a retired Navy pilot who completed military deployments before joining NASA’s astronaut corps. He traveled to the International Space Station in 2014.

Two other astronauts will represent NASA during the mission: Glover, an experienced Navy pilot, and Koch, who began her career as an electrical engineer for the agency and once spent a year at a research station in the South Pole. Both have traveled to the space station before.

Hansen is a military pilot who joined Canada’s astronaut corps in 2009. He will be making his first trip to space.

Koch’s participation in Artemis II will mark the first time a woman has flown beyond orbits near Earth. Glover and Hansen will be the first African-American and non-American astronauts, respectively, to do the same.

What will the astronauts do during the flight?

The astronauts will evaluate how Orion flies, practice emergency procedures and capture images of the far side of the moon for scientific and exploration purposes (they may become the first humans to see parts of the far side of the lunar surface). Health-tracking projects of the astronauts are designed to inform future missions.

Those efforts will play out in Orion’s crew module, which has about two minivans worth of living area.

On board, the astronauts will spend about 30 minutes a day exercising, using a device that allows them to do dead lifts, rowing and more. Sleep will come in eight-hour stretches in hammocks.

There is a custom-made warmer for meals, with beef brisket and veggie quiche on the menu.

Each astronaut is permitted two flavored beverages a day, including coffee. The crew will hold one hourlong shared meal each day.

The Universal Waste Management System—that’s the toilet—uses air flow to pull fluid and solid waste away into containers.

What happens after Artemis II?

Assuming it goes well, NASA will march on to Artemis III, scheduled for next year. During that operation, NASA plans to launch Orion with crew members on board and have the ship practice docking with lunar-lander vehicles that Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have been developing. The rendezvous operations will occur relatively close to Earth.

NASA hopes that its contractors and the agency itself are ready to attempt one or more lunar landing missions in 2028. Many current and former spaceflight officials are skeptical that timeline is feasible.