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You've probably seen the adverts on television for car insurance especially for women, where three glamorous blonde women are sitting pretty in a bubblegum-pink car.These good-time girls are contrasted to a miserable group of Australian sheep station guys left out of this cheap women-only car insurance deal.

Sisters are insuring it for them, the message is clear - they can get better deals.But is this female-friendly advertising just another marketing ploy or is their a real benefit for female motorists?

Most insurance companies recognise that women are cheaper to insure and their policy costs reflect this.Certainly this is the case until women reach middle age, according to research by the AA (based on quotes for men and women, driving a Ford Focus and living in Cambridgeshire).For young drivers, age 17, the insurance cost for a woman is 1,938.13 pounds per annum, for men this figure rises by almost 1,000 to 2,906.25 pounds.At age 30, the cost for women is still over 40 pounds cheaper at 367 pounds.By the age of 40 the saving falls to just over 7 pounds.For men and women of 50 years old, the cost for women is just 45 pence cheaper.And by the age of 60, men (for the first time) can enjoy a 7 pounds 30 pence advantage over their female counterparts when their insurance premium reaches 245.40 pounds.

The promise of cheaper deals is based on the fact that, on average, women don't have as many serious accidents and therefore should be less risky and less expensive drivers to insure.There is also clear evidence that when it comes to bad driving, men are way out in front.Annual statistics from the Home Office reveal that almost three quarters of speeding offences, 96% of dangerous driving offences and 85% of careless driving were committed by men.

Some insurers also market the idea that car insurance can be tailored to women's individual needs.One women's insurer provides 300 pounds for handbag insurance as well as counselling phone line after accidents and a promise of repair practices that are women-friendly.(I wonder how a women-friendly car repair service works.The mind boggles!).I suppose that they could ensure that cars can be available to be collected from garages in daylight or in time for a daily school run.

Another insurance company, a pioneer of car insurance for women, believes that dedicated services for women form part of a wider social change.The majority of women now have a driving licence (61 per cent of women compared to just over four fifths of men) and insurance that is female friendly and /or exclusively for females simply reflects the rise in the number of single female households and women who own their own car.

Certainly, women friendly insurance companies offer some of the cheapest deals in the marketplace but other, non-specialist companies disagree that gender- specific insurance gives the consumer much extra.General insurers warn that these women only brands are just part of a clever advertising campaign.

It is true that it can be misleading to draw general conclusions about the price of car insurance.Altering a few variables like occupation and age can reveal different results.Comparisons show that your postcode, for example, is far more significant than gender.Living in Liverpool can more than double the cost of your insurance whereas living in a rural, low-crime area such as Norfolk will bring the cost of your premiums right down.

The best advice is to check out exactly what is on offer from the insurers and see how it best meets your own individual requirements.

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National Australia Bank (or NAB) is the second largest financial institution by market capitalisation in Australia after Commonwealth Bank.It is one of the world's top 30 financial services companies with total assets of A dollar 474 billion as at 30 September 2006.It operates across 10 countries serving 6 million banking customers and over 2.3 million wealth management customers.

The National Australia Bank Group is organised around four key businesses: Australia - NAB and MLC brands; United Kingdom- Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank brands; New Zealand - Bank of New Zealand brand; and nabCapital, formerly Institutional Markets & Services, which operates internationally.In 1893, National Bank Limited was formed.Up until 1 October 1981 it continued to trade as The National Bank of Australasia Limited, only after the merger with the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney Limited did it become known as National Australia Bank.

In 1858 Alexander Gibb, a Melbourne gentleman, enlisted Andrew Cruickshank, a local merchant and pastoralist, to raise the capital to establish National Bank of Australasia with headquarters in Melbourne.Cruickshank became its first chairman while Gibbs left after being passed over for the position of General Manager.The bank opened its first branch in South Australia the same year.Expansion to other Australian states followed, with branches opening in Tasmania (1859), Western Australia (1866), New South Wales (1885) and finally Queensland.

The flexible mortgage was first successfully introduced in Australia in the early 1990 leading to the phrase Australian mortgage being used to describe this type of arrangement.The term flexible mortgage refers to a UK residential mortgage that offers flexibility in the requirements to make monthly repayments.Typical features include the facility, to make overpayments (more than the normal amount), to redraw (borrow back) any previous overpayments, to underpay- less than the normal amount, to take a payment holiday - stop repayments for a period, typically 3 to 12 months.

These features allow a flexible mortgage to be adaptable to individual circumstances.This is especially useful for self employed borrowers and those with a variable income.By way of example, borrowers whose income includes a significant but irregular commission component might make use of commission payments to make overpayments, thereby reducing the term or enabling them to underpay at other times.With traditional mortgages, borrowers often face large penalties for additional capital repayments or if payments were not made on time.

The bank opened a representative office in Tokyo in 1946, later upgraded to a branch in 1985.The banks overseas interest expanded more rapidly in the 1970.It opened a branch in Singapore in 1971, and representative offices in Jakarta (1973) and Hong Kong (1974).It took minority interests in merchant banks in these locations at the same time, and in Hong Kong established a 50-50 joint venture merchant bank with Mitsubishi Bank and Trust, but withdrew from these arrangements in 1984.Its first US presence was established in 1977 with a branch and an agency in Los Angeles that closed in 1993.

NAB booked two write-downs associated with HomeSide.First, in July 2001, NAB had a dollar 450 million write down of the value of its capitalised mortgage servicing rights (CMSRs) during the quarter ending June 30, 2001, and was the result of exceptionally high mortgage refinance volumes which lowered the value of the CMSRs, combined with a more challenging capital markets environment in which to hedge interest rate risk.

This was followed shortly by a second write-down reported in September totalling dollar 1.75 billion; this second write-down consisted of US dolar 400 million from an incorrect interest rate assumption embedded in the mortgage servicing rights valuation model, US dollar 760 million from changed assumptions in the model flowing from the continued unprecedented uncertainty and turbulence in the mortgage servicing market, and US$590 million from writing off of the goodwill.In total, NAB booked dollar 2.2 billion in losses due to HomeSide.

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Are you a high school senior who can't wait to get to college? College is fun, but it's also a whole different world from high school. You'll have more autonomy than ever before, but with autonomy comes responsibility. Here are some tips from the folks at Quantum U, the college prep camp for incoming college freshmen, that will help you get off to the right start when you go to college.

Get the most from your time in class

It's as simple as S.L.A.N.T. Sit near the front and in the middle section of the classroom or auditorium. Lean slightly forward in your chair, as if you are hanging on the professor's every word. Ask questions to clarify anything you don't understand. Nod your head to show you are listening and interested. Talk to your professor after class to build rapport and establish a relationship.

Make the most of your study time

Try to design as optimum a study area as you can in your dorm. Ideally, it should include good lighting, a desk or table to work at, a comfortable chair, inspirational posters, and plants. It helps if you can play relaxing music softly in the background. Tackle the most difficult assignments first. Every thirty minutes take a short five-minute break. Take mini-breaks more often by standing up and stretching whenever you notice your mind wandering. Studies show that you remember best what you learned just before and just after a break so the more breaks, the more you learn!

Take the tension out of taking tests

Sometimes test-time jitters can ruin the time you spend studying and preparing. So, allow yourself enough time to get to class a few minutes early hurrying causes tension and mental crunches, and you can use the few extra minutes to review your notes one last time. Before and during the test, give yourself positive messages: I know this information and I'm going to get an A. If you feel yourself getting tense, close your eyes for a moment and take a few deep breaths. Imagine a relaxing scene, then refocus.

Discover the Power of This is it!

This is it! means making the most of every moment. It also means doing whatever it takes to make a subject interesting. Be creative! Some ideas include studying with a friend or relating the topic to something you already know or like. When you know something well, you almost always find it interesting.

Cultivate a Winning Attitude
Maintaining a positive attitude is your most important learning asset. You need to mentally prepare before any learning experience. Henry Ford said, If you think you can, you can. If you think you can't, you can't. Either way, you are right.

Remember the "F" Stands for Feedback

From infancy through adulthood, we learn through our mistakes. Remember to learn from the feedback you get from others, whether it is a failed test or a poor relationship. In your path to become an excellent college student, feedback is simply the information you need to succeed. Don't forget that the "F" also stands for Failure leads to success!

Plan Ahead

Time management is one of the biggest challenges new college students face. Your life at college can be fragmented, intense and sometimes overwhelming: large classes, unstructured time, professors who all think their course is your one and only priority. A typical day, if there is such a thing, can include classes, library time, friends, work, maybe a workout in there somewhere. It's definitely not high school. Use a calendar to mark days for tests or due dates of important papers. Studying ahead reduces stress and increases your ability to remember at test time.


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The most common phrase uttered by campers as they leave is, "It was the best 10 days of my life!" Maybe that single statement is the best indication that academic summer camps, and SuperCamp in particular, are in no way like summer school. Learn more about these summer camp programs at the www.SuperCamp.com website or by calling 800-285-3276

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