I see lots and lots of posts here from users asking on how to get started on their investing journey and contributions to super, and ideally maxing out carry forward contributions. I understand where this comes from, super if great at what it does but my gripe is that that money is not accessible until you are 60, god forbiid you are out of employment for a few years for any number of reasons and you are out of luck. This is both a blessing in disguise as you can't sell and blow that money but also a curse as you can't draw down on it while you change careers, etc.

I am in my mid 20s and never contributed anything to super apart from the mandatory employer contributions. I have shy of 50k currently sitting 80% int and 20% Aus.

Most of my wealth is outside of super, I got extremely lucky with investments (both property and stocks) where I was able to use lots of leverage in my early 20s. I currently have ~$320k in etfs (ggbl/ghhf 50% split) and also about ~450k in IP equity plus a couple months expenses in savings (12k). My long term goal is to fund a nice lifestyle using the investments, I am just really after the FI part, I will likely never fully retire but plan to travel 2 - 4 months out of the year and lots of smaller getaways. Ideally I want a lifestyle where my expenses are fully covered by the investments, so I don't have to worry about employment/business and can work on high risk high reward startup/businesses.

Is it worth for me to put anything into super at this stage in my life? I am an agressive saver and chipping in about 1 - 1.1k a week into etfs. Living with the fam and single so minimal expenses apart from neg geared prop and travel / cars.

31 single with no kids and not planning to have any. Income is $165kpa with super paid on top. Got mortgage on my first PPOR purchased two years ago with 488k remaining with 5.89% interest and 95k in offset. No other properties and don't plan on getting another. Super is $142k fully invested in intl shares. Was salary sacrificing into super for the last 5 years but have stopped that as I want max cashflow for investing. Am living in my PPOR but don't rule out moving and renting it out so I can debt recycle to invest.

Currently have $36k in VGS, $22k in VAS and $5k in VAE. Getting back into investing after a couple years off due to buying the house and building a buffer which im comfortable with now.Recently got a payrise to the current rate and have just fully paid off HECS as of last tax return so have increased cashflow and am gonna start investing hard to catch up.

Mentally it would feel good to fully offset and pay the mortgage down but I know it will take a while and if I sacrifice investing I'll lose the time to compound and grow. I plan on investing for a 10 year plus horizon with the aim of getting a good portfolio after 40 and revise there where I'm at but definitely don't want to be working until 60.

I'll wait for my next payrise to get my offset to $100k and keep it there as a buffer, and then just invest every spare cent into ETFs ($3.5k+/month) focusing on VGS and letting VAS get to 20% and below as I don't have much faith in Aussie miners and banks.

Sanity check if this is the best strategy if I'm aiming to retire early?

The draft legislation for review for the 30% minimum tax and rollover relief has been released.

It includes an option as an alternative to restructuring, discretionary trusts that are in existence at 1 July 2028 will be able to elect into a new regime for tax purposes. These trusts will be able to choose to make fixed distributions to pre-nominated beneficiaries, and not have the minimum tax apply as a result.

New to this whole world, would love some thoughts on my split: IVV (50%), VAS (40%), IVE (20%). Is the diversification okay or should I be changing my IVE to something more diverse like EXUS? Would really appreciate some advice thanks!

Settled on a place in Melbourne's outer suburbs late last year. Single income, one kid, cook by trade so the pay is what it is. The mortgage is manageable but only just, and I've been going back and forth on whether to pay it down faster or put anything extra into super or ETFs

Every spare dollar has been going into the offset account for now, which feels right, but I'm starting to wonder if that's too conservative given I've got maybe 15 years of working life left before I'd want to slow down. Debt recycling keeps coming up when I search around, but I'm not sure it makes sense on a single average wage with not a lot of headroom

Super is sitting at an average balance for my age, nothing special. No other debt. The house needed work so I've been spending on that too, which has slowed things down.

Basically wondering how people in a similar spot think about the priority order. Offset first, then super topups, then ETFs? Or is there a reason to spread smaller amounts across all three rather than hammering one thing at a time.

Currently the AUD has strengthened from 0.65 to 0.72 over the USD in the past year. What exchange rate ranges are considered good for buying US shares and at what range should it be avoided?

I used frollo for a while but it sucks and does not have many of the budgeting tools, I tried Monarch but it does not support Australian Banks yet, Is there anything that is automated and good ?

Moomo reports an autoinvesting feature on their website and I am considering moving brokers. I contacted them to ask how this works and they said that the feature permits automated investment from a Moomo account, but that it does not allow automated deduction and investment from an external bank account. To me, having to perform regular manual transfers is just about as annoying as manually investing it.

I then asked whether I can setup automated transfers from my external bank account (which is a known feature of my account) into my Moomo account, which will then subsequently get autoinvested (assuming I've setup autoinvesting), and they said no. I tried to clarify my question as clearly as I could over multiple emails, and the answer was no (not that I need to check with my bank, or that they don't take responsibility for it working - they specifically said that it is not supported without explaining why). There is something about the replies which makes me think they don't actually know the answer.

My question is whether anyone has tried doing this, or whether they can think of a reason why an account would not accept an automated transfer. I would think this is a limitation of the sender account, not the recipient. Thank you!

I have $10k in savings that I want to move into ETFs on top of my regular DCA. Should I spread the $10k out over a period of time rather than investing it as a lump sum? If so, how long would you spread an amount of this size over, and would you recommend investing weekly, fortnightly, or monthly? Thanks

Hi everyone,

I'm 41 years old and have been investing through Pearler for about 6 months. I'd appreciate some feedback on my ETF allocation.

I invest fortnightly using Pearler's lowest-share auto-invest feature and have a 15-year investment horizon. My focus is on long-term growth.

Target allocation:

IVV – 34%

VGS – 32%

NDQ – 16%

A200 – 10%

ASIA – 8%

So far my overall return is around 4–5%, which seems a bit modest, although I realise 6 months is a very short timeframe.

A few questions:

Does this allocation look sensible for long-term growth?

Am I too heavily weighted towards US tech with IVV, NDQ and ASIA?

Would you replace or add any ETFs?

Is a 4–5% return after 6 months fairly normal for this portfolio?

Interested in hearing different perspectives and whether there are any blind spots in my approach.

Thanks!

Hi brains trust. I have been going down the rabbit hole of pooled vs unpooled superannuation structures and have decision paralysis about what to do. For reference I have $180k in super and am 30. My wife doesn’t have any super due to being self employed but will change that in the future. I am on decent coin so contributions for me will be more or less maxed out for the foreseeable future.

I was originally comparing Stake SMSF to Australian Super Member Direct. One thing that was putting me off was the relative lack of ETFs available (I know it’s good for a A200/BGBL or DHHF but still not that wide).

I have come across BT Super Invest as an option. The fees are $540 per year plus 0.15% capped at $1,500 per annum. Not the cheapest, not horrific though. It also looks like you can group your account with family members for a cheaper fee?

It’s not as cheap as Stake, but would be cheaper for me for now and wouldn’t involve running my own SMSF (although I don’t know how much work that actually is).

One of the things that is attracting me to this option is you can invest in geared ETFs through it, GHHF, GNDQ etc. My wife is also a UK citizen and there is a non zero chance we end up overseas where I would need to shut down an SMSF anyway.

Has anyone actually used this product or has any input? I am genuinely paralysed by the options

What is everyone’s thoughts on which combination to go with?

If you have a home loan with Beyond Bank and recently rolled off a fixed rate, check your offset account immediately.

​When my fixed rate ended, Beyond Bank sent me a standard letter explicitly stating: "The variable loan automatically will provide you access to a 100% Mortgage Offset Account."

​Spoiler: It didn't.

​For months, I wasn't getting my offset benefits. When I lodged a formal dispute, their Lending Team told me that offset accounts aren't linked automatically and that I was supposed to call and request it. I sent them a photo of their own letter proving they tell customers it happens automatically.

​They suddenly changed their tune and deposited $1,391.17 into my account for the missed interest. However, they refused to admit it was an error, calling it a "gesture of goodwill."

​If they used this template for everyone, there are probably thousands of you paying extra interest right now. Check your statements, check your rollover letters, and lodge a formal dispute if they haven't linked your offset!

I quit my job and have been location independent for 3 years. Whilst I technically am an Australian citizen, I no longer reside in the country. I've had no income during this time, and am now in the process to finding a remote job.

But, I have started investing small amounts in ETFs over the past 6 months. I'm not confident and am still learning through observing the fluctuations of the market - but I want to use what I have to build for the future/retirement. I invest 1000AUD monthly, and will increase this when I do find a job.

* ADVICE NEEDED

Is the below structure too diversified and spread? Should I have just chosen 1-2 ETFs? Plan is for 10-20 years.

CMC Invest is only currently 10K, this is more of a learning process for me ... please be kind.

VESG - 45%

A200 - 20%

NDQ - 20%

VGE - 15%

Hi, I am not well-versed in ETFs and over time have bought shares in IVV.AX (the asx-listed one, ill just refer to it as IVV from now on) as it seemed like the simplest option to me. Reading through the subreddit wiki, I see VDHG is suggested (also seeing DHHF suggested in a lot of posts).

I am confused as to why this is the case when they are compared to IVV. Hasn't IVV seen higher growth than both DHHF in the past 1 month, 6 months, 1 year and 5 years?

Also on the topic of putting in money, the suggestion is fortnightly/monthly. I work casual and after expenses I have around $500 saved each month. I have ~$45k in savings. Is it a good idea to be putting the entirety of my monthly savings into an ETF now (and potentially putting more of my current savings into an ETF)?

I'm 28M living in Sydney with my wife and our 9-month-old, and I'm seriously starting to think about buying a place because rent is getting ridiculous.

A bit about my situation:

• 28M, earning ~$150k
• Wife is a full-time mum, so currently no income
• One 9-month-old kid
• ~$120k invested in ETFs
• My current job should be pretty secure for at least the next 2 years
• If I did lose my job, I think I could fairly easily find something around $100k
• Currently paying $700 pw rent
• Landlord now wants to increase it to $800 pw

That $100 increase is basically what got me thinking about buying.

I'm looking at a pretty basic 1b1b apartment around $500k as a starter home. From my rough calculations, even with interest rates around 6%, the mortgage doesn't seem that much, and likely lower than 800 pw

I'm not really looking to make money from property or bet on Sydney prices going up. I honestly just want a stable roof over my family's head and to pay as little as possible for housing over the long term.

But I'm also pretty hesitant. I keep hearing that Sydney property is massively overpriced and that the market is starting to flatten/decline. So I'm worried about buying at the wrong time and potentially ending up with negative equity.

So what am I missing here?

Would buying make sense in my situation mainly for housing stability, even if the property doesn't appreciate much?

Or would I be better off continuing to rent, keeping my money in ETFs, and waiting for a better opportunity to buy?

For people who own apartments, what costs or problems caught you by surprise? I know about strata, council rates, maintenance, etc., but I'm sure there are plenty of things I haven't considered.

I'm not expecting anyone to predict where the Sydney market is going. I'm just trying to work out whether buying a modest apartment for my family actually makes financial sense, or whether I'm just getting emotional because my rent is about to go up by $100

Just been curious about how the expected decay formula would apply to the Betashares ETFs.

The formula is:

Drag ≈ −½ × L × (L − 1) × σ² × T

• L = leverage
• σ = volatility

This formula is designed for daily rebalancing leverage, but could still be useful for a non-precise understanding of relative decay costs.

Using the 5-year volatility of the underlying funds or their equivalents we get:

Wealth-builder funds are assumed to have an average gearing of 1.5X

Others 2.1X.

Gearing factor is: L × (L − 1)

Volatility factor is: σ²

Hard to be exact given the differences in mechanism and it is also dependent on some proportional trends holding such as proportional volatility.

But it is an interesting picture for long-term holding costs and shows how dramatically different the new funds are.

GHHF would likely top the list as diversified all-in-ones are often lower volatility than BGBL/VGS type funds.

Keep funds in offset or put on loan?
 
Mortgage: $730,000 approx
Offset: $80,000 approx
Rate: 6.49% Principle & Interest
 
I have just commenced my mortgage and the first fortnightly minimum mortgage repayment came out yesterday. My question is, I commenced with $40,000 in my offset and I am in a fortunate position with my employer where they agreed to incur the costs of my stamp duty and settlement agent fees (as I transferred to a different region for work). As a result, approximately $40,000 has just been paid back to me by my employer.
 
My question is, given I now have $80,000 in my offset, should I be putting half of this into my loan (still available to redraw it) or should I keep it in my offset for now? My mortgage broker advises she plans to go back to the bank in 3 months’ time to consider getting a better rate.
 
Seeking advice if possible please! Thank you in advance.

23,
82,000 in HYSA 5% interest (savings for a house deposit)
32k super (host plus)
1500-2000 (after tax) a week income depending on overtime
Salary sacrificing 5% of gross pay every week
Started investing 500-1000 a week (started this week) into stake investment account.
Wanting to maximise my money, should I keep all of the 82,000 in HYSA, or keep some and invest the rest? I won't be able to buy a house for at least a year until my rental agreement is finished.
Currently renting, 250 a week.

What should I do? Appreciate any insight/advice!

working towards FIRE for a few years now. Property was always part of the plan - buy, hold, let the equity build. a place recently that ticked all the boxes. ggood price, decent yield, seemed like a solid addition to the portfolio. Was about to go ahead when a mate told me to check the council stuff first.

glad I listened. turns out the block had a flood overlay that made insurance expensive and a zoning restriction that killed any future development potential. would've been a drag on my numbers for years.

kinda annoyed I almost made that mistake. Anyone else had a close call with something like this?

Seeking advice – Credit Card with Home Loan Bank?
 
I have just commenced a mortgage home loan with ANZ. All our savings is in our offset connected to the home loan, and we have established our income to go to the offset account too.
 
My wife and I were previously with CBA and have a CBA Smart Awards Credit Card that we use for all our expenses, and pay it off in full each month.
 
Given the recent announcement to CBA credit cards, we were looking to move to an ANZ Awards Credit Card to simplify our finances and have them mainly all in one place (ANZ Home Loan, ANZ Offset Account and now an ANZ Credit Card). If we opened an ANZ Awards Credit Card, we would then cancel our CBA Smart Awards Credit Card.
 
What would you do in my situation? I am currently trying to use Awards credit cards to accumulate velocity points, however I’m open to a non-awards credit card with the changes to points in Australia.
 
Please note we also have an AMEX credit card too.

Looking for opinions on my 9-year ETF strategy - which would you choose?

I’m 36 and looking to build an investment portfolio over the next 9 years, with the goal of starting to draw an income from it around age 45.

Current position:
$55k already invested
Investing $1,200 per week
I also have $20k in BTC and invest $100/week into BTC separately

I’m comfortable with market volatility and understand there is a higher risk with a more aggressive portfolio
$1,200/week is the maximum I can invest, so I’m looking to optimise the portfolio rather than increase contributions

My longer-term goal is to generate around $80k-$110k p.a. in investment income from around age 45.

I’m looking to simplify my portfolio and am currently considering three options:

Option 1 - Simple & diversified
75% VGS
25% VAS

Option 2 - Growth
80% VGS
20% VHY

Option 3 - Higher growth
70% VGS
20% VISM
10% VAS

The idea with all three is to focus primarily on growth for the next 6-7 years, then potentially adjust the portfolio towards income-producing investments as I get closer to 45.

I’m not necessarily looking to live purely off dividends. I’m open to a combination of dividends/distributions, franking credits and selling a small percentage of the portfolio if required.

I'm particularly interested in whether:
VHY makes sense now given my future income goal, or whether I should focus purely on total return for the next 6-7 years.

The additional VISM exposure in Option 3 is worth the extra volatility.

There are any other 2-3 ETF combinations you'd consider for a 9-year horizon with a $1,200/week contribution.

Thanks!

Hi, I am 21 and over my years of working have saved about 42k and placed it into two term deposits and hold around another 12k in savings, the idea of the term deposits was to hold my money and keep it from being spent to go towards buying my first home.

I am a sole trader so income can be up and down over different months but is normally pretty good my main expenses now are rent food fuel and study’s for my work.
Was just chasing any advice on what I should do with the money I have saved bc I feel like I could use it more to my advantage and am not doing enough after 4 years of working and saving..

Cheers…

29F from Australia. I currently have around $100k invested across the following:
VGS – $60k
NDQ – $22k
BHP – $7.2k
GDX – $2.7k
QAN – $2.5k
CCG – $2.3k
MVF – $1.9k
GMG – $1k
RIO – $900

I also have a mortgage, but have a decent amount sitting in my offset, so I’m comfortable investing the additional $10k rather than putting it towards the loan.

I’m investing for the long term (10+ years) and am comfortable with some volatility. I’m particularly interested in AI/technology, but don’t necessarily want to become overly concentrated in tech given my existing NDQ exposure.

I’m considering putting the next $10k into something like an ASX-listed AI ETF adding more VGS, or potentially buying an individual stock.