Cashless society? No thanks

Interesting ideas in Darren Snyder’s Buzz column in June (page 12) suggesting that we are all moving towards a cashless society and that this movement has been hastened by the banks and by restrictions implemented to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

I am one of the older members of society and

I am firmly entrenched in my longestablished routine whereby I take my passbook to the bank fortnightly and withdraw money for my bills and my living expenses for the next two weeks.

I do not consider this to be a problem and will resist any attempts to make me change my routine. To date, my bank (CBA) has not contacted me about getting one of those 500,000 free debit cards. I am obviously not one in a half million.

I don’t mind staying at home and the single most satisfying aspect of my daily practices is accessing the internet. I have three online share accounts including one for my SMSF, which I watch and attend to as necessary. The administrators of my SMSF are also dependent on two-way email communication to keep things up to date.

My Australian Shareholders’ Association membership has provided many online opportunities to increase my knowledge in so many fields of finance and share trading and access to Money magazine newsletters enrich my email intake considerably.

The trader who tells me that I cannot use cash to pay for my shopping will be told that someone else will find that my money is worth having. I have been dumbfounded at the checkout when a cashless shopper waits until everything is finalised then begins a search for the magic piece of plastic that will pay for the purchase. If this is typical of the cashless ones then count me out! Denis

CORRECTION

Our article, “Make the most of it”, in the June issue (page 62) may have given the impression that pre-tax contributions of $25,000 can be made to your super in addition to the super guarantee. The total cap for all pre-tax contributions is $25,000 a year .