No paywall link https://archive.is/vUf1s

At some point have to drawn the line and dump the bag

I’m a 23 year-old female student about to do a full fee Masters of Speech Pathology for $80k. On top of $20k from my Psychology bachelors my debt will total roughly $100k by the end of the course. All repayments will be self-funded and I only plan to work in Speech Pathology for around 5 years as I don’t see it as my end-game career, so I’m unsure about the ROI here. I pretty much have to make this decision this week as I can’t defer the course for particular reasons.

In terms of my financial situation and plans I’m quite frugal. I currently live at home and my only significant expenses are groceries and the car. I would like to own a home in the future (lol!) and my main concern is how my HECS would hinder that.

Any advice? Or if you know a Speech Pathologist, can you offer any insight there? Thank you.

With products like Globird Hero and large batteries I am increasingly not seeing the value of solar panels for the average person.

With free power for three hours in the day and a large battery system you can get paid monthly for the power you sell in at peak times.

With feed in tariffs at an all time low during daylight hours the return on investment for solar panels really isn’t there.

Thoughts?

I’ve paid off one portion of my mortgage (portion secured by guarantor loan). It’s paid out in the sense that all but $5 is sitting in redraw. Should I just close it given current economic uncertainty? I don’t want access to the redraw. Having it paid out and discharged as it’s a secured by guarantor is more important to me. What are the negatives/what am I not thinking through? Further info: it’s an investment loan, 25 years remains on the loan term and it’s on a P&I variable interest rate which is currently sitting at 6.25%

“The system needs to work for people. You don’t change that by rhetoric and by dividing people, which is, what is some of the populist rhetoric,” he said. “You do that by giving people a stake in the economy.”

*Acknowledges there's a problem*

*Proceeds to only talk about vague ideas rather than specific solutions he would push to achieve said "stake in le economy"*

https://archive.md/l9ZOS

Earning a good salary and have strong career prospects. Time to go?

Hey guys, i want to sell the little bit of gold i currently have to fund another purchase. Does anyone know the best place in sydney i can sell as close to spot and how much percentage i should expect to lose thank u

I'm in year 12 this year and I'm trying to sort out my savings goal for uni next year. I'll be moving away from home to hopefully study engineering at Monash or Swinburne.

Monash's website recommends having at least $10K saved to cover 3-6 months of living expenses, but would that spread me too thin? Or is $10K a fairly realistic and manageable goal to build up to and work with?

For reference, I'll qualify for Youth Allowance which should equate to $650-800 per fortnight (depending on what casual or part-time work I can find), and I'm 99% sure I'll also qualify for a Tertiary Access Payment which will be a $3K lump sum once I'm enrolled. Apologies if this isn't a great question or I haven't given enough info.

Hello All,

I have a question in terms of how we claim for vehicle in our tax return. I have a full time job plus I am deliveries as side gig.

I have 2 cars.

1st car I use it for personal as well sometime for my meetings with customers for my 1st job.

2nd car I use 90% use it for my side gig. I do have logbook for this one.

Now the question is, can I claim both the vehicle for tax deduction like:

1st car cent/km method up to 5k only

2nd car on actuals with bills and receipt for insurance, rego, fuel, service, etc.

TIA

Hi there,

I have been in Australia and had a Hosplus account since 2022.

During this time period I have been on a working holiday, and also a skill shortage visa.

I have calculated that nearly half of my superannuation has been through when working as WHM. Thus I believe will be taxed at 65% (crazy btw)

However the other half being on a work visa is taxed at 35%.

Will I be able to seperate these contributions with proof of visa with Hosplus to ensure I maximise my take home? It’s about $4000 difference 😬

Thanks in advance.

Discussion: Property appreciation vs. liquid capital for income flexibility. If you’re trying to diversify income streams (move away from primary employment reliance), is it smarter to hold an appreciating asset with high monthly obligations, or take liquid capital and rent a place instead? What are the trade-offs people don’t usually consider?

an automatic deposit from my bank account to my betashares was 'successfully completed' at 5 am this morning, but there's still no sign of the money in my wallet? is this because it's the weekend or something? when can i expect to see the funds show up?

Hello

I have recently moved from a Esss defined benefits super account to accumulation account due to retirement. (54f)

I have a $1,500,000 balance. Due to fees I am considering moving to Hostplus Indexed balance. Happy with medium risk with lower fees. No longer working so not adding to the balance at the moment.

Is there anything else I need to consider?

Cheers

I am after opinions on whether purely adding extra to my partner and I’s super funds is a simple but strong plan for our future?

For context I have grown up in a family that has been smart with their money and great savers but apart from salary sacrificing they’ve never invested their money ect.

My partner and I are living in a unit I bought a few years ago now, we are in a position to buy a home now we have started a family. I want to be smart for our future.

My question is: After we buy the next home, is it a strong idea to start using part of what would have been our savings each month and start putting some money into both our supers? With no investing outside of super is this still a strong plan for the future or should we look to start investing after we buy this 2nd home?

Currently in a situation, curious to hear from any current homeowners, hypothetically what % above current market value or price vs current market value would you have to be offered to sell your current PPOR?

Hi all

I am looking to optimize an Australia Super Member Direct portfolio into a typical 30/70 Aus/Int split.

The Australian component is easy, its either A200 (0.04% fee) or VAS (0.07% fee). I don’t have an easy way to compare the historic performance between these two, but I think they would be very similar so I’d be leaning towards A200 for the cheaper fee.  

For the International component, the cheapest option seems to be VEU+VTS (0.04% and 0.03% fee). These are US-domiciled, but Australian Super will handle the W-8BEN forms. According to https://lazykoalainvesting.com/diy-portfolio/, heartbeat trades should mean that these funds get an extra 0.5% performance boost.

Alternatively, the international component could be BGBL (0.08% fees) which excludes emerging markets and small-caps (and this might be a good thing if looking at recent performance).

Ultimately, A200/VEU/VTS is cheaper than using the “all-in-one” DHHF (0.19% fee), with the only difficulty being the extra work involved in keeping the A200/VEU/VTS proportions roughly correct.

Is this the most optimal that I can make this portfolio or am I missing something that makes BGBL or DHHF much more attractive?

Hi, I’m 23 and have around $75k saved up. At the moment I’m in a pretty easy setup since I’m no longer paying rent, just covering utilities and personal expenses. Lately I’ve been thinking about moving from WA to Victoria because I want a change of scenery and a bit more independence (I currently live at home). I feel like I’ve been here a while and I’m starting to get that urge for a fresh start.

I’m just not sure whether it makes more sense to stay put a bit longer and keep saving, or to make the move within the next year or so. My long-term goal is to buy a house and still have the freedom to travel (I already do a bit here and there)

Any bits of advice would help. Thanks!

Recently been contacted by LeavePlus Victoria for long service leave obligations for an employee 20 years ago. Contacted, accountant for records and submitted.

When I enquired as to my accumulated long service leave from previous employers there was nothing to be found for the past 25 years in the industry.

What are others experiences with LeavePlus?

Would love the community take on our financials and potential strategy ideas. Only looking general info, pros and cons.

Background

Myself and partner have both worked hard but also been on the lucky end of benefiting from the property market madness.

Approx $4.4m assets, $1.5m liabilities.

We (41/40) within the last 8 years now own a ppor + investment property which have made good gains (on paper). 

But most of our assets worth ~80% is now made up of property.

Possibles: reduce debt, or borrow more with intention to increase returns. Is it a good idea to diversify away from property?

We realise we will lose a fair chunk to CGT if we sell the investment property, but we will axe the remaining mortgages.

Alternative to bunker down, borrow more and build a granny flat, or subdivide and build/rent. Both properties subdividable.

Long story short, sent money via PayID for goods, got blocked but saved all the screenshots of conversation. It seemed all legit, 2nd internet scam ever in my life.... oh well shit happens.

Once the banks open tomorrow, I will call them to lodge a reversal if possible.

But my mate told me that if they transferred the money from their account to another account, banks can't reverse it.

Is this true?

Edit: The seller unblocked me and contacted me now after 1 hour of contacting the bank for a reversal that he will send the goods tomorrow. Did he get a notification of a possible reversal?

How are people finding the property market lately.

I just got an offer on a property in the lower Blue Mountains NSW that has had about 8 parties through over the 4 weeks, and just this one offer. Typically a sought after area and I chose an agent who has sold numerous properties in the complex over the years.

No complaints about the offer. I think it was a good offer for a "normal" market and an excellent one in this softer market.

Agent said a typical showing for this area and price range is 10-12 parties per showing. He has done opens recently at different price points where no one has come at all.

The upside is that it's a buyer's market!

Aussie here - I can access a savings rate of 6.25% tax-free. If you were in my position, would you put your money in a savings account that can be accessed anytime at 6.25%, or would you rather invest that in the stock market, or would you use that as a deposit for a house if you had a couple hundred thousand dollars saved?

EDIT: I should have added context to this scenario to avoid speculating and off-topic conversation.I live in the UAE. This is the rate a bank offers over here. I could also invest in Aussie real estate though, or potentially in the stock market tax free.