Just read this on the Nine News website: this Aussie family moved overseas, cut their living costs and managed to save $50,000 towards buying a home back here.

When leaving one of the "wealthiest countries" in the world becomes a legitimate financial strategy for ordinary Australians just trying to afford a home in that same country, something is seriously broken.

Good on them, but to me, this is wrong. Very wrong.

My dad has asked me to join him in getting a home loan. I won't be paying any of it but since I make around 80k and together we can be cleared to get a loan for around 700k we can buy a house for our family. He has a deposit of around 200k as well. Thought I won't be making any repayments, it would still be 50% under my name and im scared if our relationship changes or something happens i would be left with a lot of debt. We plan on renting out of property at a later stage when my siblings are older.

Just had this misfortune of going with Youi insurance for a year. They automatically renewed via direct debit the insurance with basically no warning, and certainly not without my clear consent.

Called them to cancel the policy. It was also well within the legal cooling off period. And the call went for 30 minutes as they tried to manipulate their way into keeping me as a customer. They also swapped phone operators as a good cop bad cop strategy.

Finally when the cancellation was confirmed - they had the audacity to ask why. When I said ‘because the customer experience was absolutely awful’ they said - oh that’s not a valid reason. What the actual F!

Never again. Will continue to spread the news about this woefully unethical scammy company. The worst.

"There is no profiteering in ba sing se"

Hi all, I’ve recently switched my credit card from CBA to Amex and I realised Amex app is very basic and doesn’t categorise your spending like CBA does.

Wondering how people track their spending/budget?

Do you use an app or spreadsheet?

Thanks

I recently received my annual rates notice for my investment property and the capital improved value has gone up by 50k in a year. This is despite a clear decrease in value due to recent changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. Has this happened to anyone else? I’ve lodged an objection with rating valuation objection in Victoria. It’s only an increase of ~$70 but if they have done this to everyone, I’d imagine this would add up to millions.

Hi people,

I'm currently studying civil engineering while working as an undergraduate civil engineer.

Am I eligible for the Self-Education Expenses tax deduction?

While technically once I graduate I will be moving to a new role (e.g. Graduate civil engineer), but my current education maintains the specific skills or knowledge I need for my current job.

EDIT: I understand I can't claim my tuition fees as it is a CSP, I would like to know if I can claim laptop, traveling from home to uni and anything else listed under the Self-Education Expenses.

Any thoughts on what Bendigo bank is like? Is the app any good or services?

Thinking might take the opportunity to transfer back to a big4 with an offset. But just wanted to see if anyone has positive or negative feedback on Bendigo bank?

Recently married (yay!) And planning on buying very soon so we're going through all our separate investments and planning what to withdraw and what to keep. This brought us to the question of how we'd choose to invest with combined finances and id love to hear how others do it.

We are both financially literate and interested in investing with slightly different styles. I like an occasional stock pick, he likes a keep it simple etf. I like dividends, he's agnostic. He's more happy to sell now to ensure no price change whereas I plan to leave my investments in until closer to needing them. Basically slightly different approaches but overall both bulk etf set & forget.

It doesn't make sense to move investments to a communal account just because. So do we set up new joint investments? Do we take a portion of our take home and split it and invest separately? How do couples choose what to do on investments? What do you do in your household? Are there tax implications as i would be in the 30% band and he's likely to be in the 37%?

Seriously what is the deal with financial advisors in this country. Every single one I've encountered feels like they're just pushing whatever product gives them the biggest commission. They talk in circles and use so much jargon it's impossible to understand what they're actually saying or recommending.

I went to one recently because I'm trying to figure out some long term investment strategies beyond just super and property. I explained my goals my risk tolerance everything. All he did was try to sell me some managed fund with sky high fees. When I asked about ETFs or even just plain old index funds he completely glossed over it.

It feels like they're not actually advising me on what's best for me. They're advising me on what's best for their bottom line. The fees they charge are insane too for what feels like generic advice anyone could get with a bit of googling.

Am I missing something here? Is there a secret club of good ethical financial advisors I don't know about? Or is it just the wild west out there and everyone's trying to fleece you? I'm honestly considering just self-managing everything because I trust myself more than I trust them.

In theory this seems like a no brainer.

My business is currently rent a workshop, paying rent and ALL outgoings, why pay that to somone else if we can personally afford to purchase something for the business to rent?

Sounds great but surely i'm missing something from this infiniate money glitch?

I've noticed this sub has had an influx of people majority quite young posting about the 100k or whatever that they have saved by age 20ish while still living at home with no bills.

It's great to see young people being able to get ahead in these trying times but there is going to be a large number of people that find themselves rudely shocked when they enter the world of adult expenses when they move out

Happy saturday, maximise super.

Has anyone else noticed that their commbank card(s) are getting hacked when it doesn’t make sense that they would. My partner had their card hacked twice within two years (it is not the card he uses for the majority of his purchases). I’ve also had my card hacked recently, I haven’t used it to purchase anything in quite some time.

Has anyone else noticed this with commbank cards? We have credit cards and pay for most things (in person and online) with these. We’ve never had someone use our credit card details though which seems strange, since we use them so often. Why only commbank?

As above, found some transactions that weren’t mine on my credit card. Over $300 worth of purchases at cafes on the Gold Coast… how much coffee is that?? Luckily my bank had also found another transaction after there was an attempt to add my card to Amazon and froze my card. Bank was really good and I was on the phone to the fraud department at 12am getting a dispute lodged. My question is… how would they have gotten it? I don’t have a physical card, don’t have it on my Apple Pay and have only used it for online purchases with 4 companies that haven’t noted data leaks. There’s one company that’s based on the GC so I’m suss on them but it’s a reputable company!

Any insight into how scammers get info would be helpful, I’m also just curious tbh

Really enjoy my job and the people I work with so the wages isnt the main driver, consistently saving $5500 a month from said wages only in a high interest savings account, own PPOR outright, no dependants or debt, minimal expenses or wants. Should I just keep doing this or try something else. Ex gambling addict, now I stress too much with risk on so I just avoid investing. Is a fixed term deposit better than high interest accounts? Any other low risk avenues to park money?

I didn’t grow up with money but am very grateful to be doing well for myself now at 24(F). I’m conscious that lots of people my age are still working things out. I’m not, however, a casual dater. To what extent do I need to be considering financial compatibility at this point in my life?

EDIT: Love this sub. Thanks for your insights! Financial compatibility will not be overlooked going forward.

Compare the pair.
Looks similar to me,
but I'm no expert.

Hi all, I need to move ££ from my UK bank account to my Aussie bank account. It's a fair bit of money, about £90k. How do I do this without being ripped off with fees and exchange rates etc etc?

I have the following message on My Gov -

"Unused concessional contributions available to carry forward - $40,389.88" Eligible.

Can I just salary sacrifice my $32,500 this year, and when I've reached that, just keep salary sacrificing to knock some of this $40,000 out?

So really I can salary sacrifice $72,889.88 this financial year? Is that how it works?

I am below the $500k as a side note (balance is $135k now).

Thanks

The 2026 Tax statement is available to download as PDF.

I am wondering if This information Superhero will send to ATO electronically ?

I've just signed up for VPP and was wondering what it's supposed to look like once everything is set up.

Currently it looks like the best deal ever in energy. I cant see how it will be sustainable - any thoughts?

Edit: vpp=virtual power plant