On 10 October, Faith Cheok was a guest on Heritage FM to talk over the topics surrounding the up-coming Anti-poverty week (11-17 October 2015). The aim of Anti-poverty week is to highlight and overcome the issues of poverty and hardship both on a national and international field. In this instalment, Faith discussed a primary issue associated with poverty in Australia; cash flow problems; and how to take steps to mitigate arising issues.
Faith discussed how a failure to make further inquiries into alternate lenders, when signing up for a loan, is often the first step that people miss in putting themselves into a better financial situation. Following on, the discussion flowed to the importance of acknowledging contract terms before signing up for a contract. Faith discussed these issues in the context of car loan contracts and credit cards.
A payday loan warning was some of Faith’s final wise words of wisdom, nearing the end of the show. Faith explained how their excessive fees and low doc approach to lending tended to cause debt spirals for vulnerable consumers. Faith then rounded out the show with a discussion on how to respond to a situation of financial hardship, and offered information on organisations such as CCLSWA; ASIC’s Moneysmart website; or financial counsellors, that can assist individuals in these situations.
