Hi guys,

This is my first Reddit post, so I'll try my best to structure this as easy as possible for you to navigate.

BACKSTORY:

I, 22M, with $27,800 in debt from a personal loan at 14.5% interest. This loan resulted from consolidating multiple loans, and my current monthly repayment is $583.

To provide some context, four years ago I had to move out on my own (due to personal reasons) with only a few thousand dollars. I worked in part-time customer service roles, often in call centers, but struggled with short-term contracts and unstable employment. This made it difficult to save, and I ended up taking out personal loans just to cover living expenses.

While I was able to make consistent repayments until last year, things became difficult as I struggled to maintain stable employment. I fell behind with Commonwealth Bank, and they informed me that I’m now just two days away from reaching a 180-day limit on my overdue payments.

Currently, I don’t have savings or a job, though I start a new role tomorrow (October 11th). However, my first paycheck won’t arrive in time to make the next payment. I contacted the National Debt Helpline and was advised I could set up an interest-free payment plan (called a "Life Arrangement") with CBA, but even if I provide the necessary documentation (job contract, letter of offer, broker statements for shares I've invested in the past year) approval is not guaranteed. If I’m not approved, CBA may sell my loan to a third-party collection agency.

MY QUESTIONS:

What will happen to my loan if they sell it to a 3rd-party collection agency? Will payments be interest-free with the 3rd-party agency? Given that Commonwealth Bank appears to view share-investment transactions as risky, I’m wondering if it’s necessary to provide broker statements, or if it would be better to only submit my job contract and letter of offer? Would focusing on these documents be sufficient for my Life Arrangement application, or should I include the broker statements as well? I'm happy to clarify any questions, thanks for answering!

I currently have insurance with one provider, including income and critical illness protection. I signed up a few years ago.

Since that time I have found a potential medical issue that I think might limit my ability to get insurance. I found to have sleep apnea. Although I've been told it's just sleep apnea "events". I don't think that means I have actually been diagnosed.

I feel my current provider is charging too much. It includes fees for a financial advisor that is unnecessary.

I tried an online form to get a life insurance estimate with a new provider. In that form I said I had been diagnosed with sleep apnea and I was told I could not apply.

So my question is, is this information shared with other providers? Should I apply for another one and say I haven't been diagnosed (which is true)? Or will this information be shared? Will it prevent me applying or perhaps even prevent my wife claiming if I die?

i’m a student btw. any advice is welcome

I’m a 36 year old newly single mum of 4 and need help with my finances. My ex-husband runs a successful business and I worked along side him helping just not on the books so barley made and super contributions over years as I was also the stay at home mum, I also withdrew on my super during covid so only have 12,500 in there. We have split things and I’m walking away with 130K and my car which is valued at 45k (thereabouts). I have since secured a job which pays around $1350 per week. What do I do? Do I put more money into super and let it build from where it should have been? I’m not sure I’d ever be able to own a home again due to 4 kids, single and not a big income.

Hoping someone here can answer this. I sent an enquiry to SRO Vic but haven't heard back in 2+ weeks.

I have a PPOR that I've claimed first homeowner duty exemption on.

Can I rent out a room in this property. The residence requirement is that it should be a PPOR. From everything I've been able to gather about PPR this would not be breached as it would be my main (and only) residence

I have a question about superannuation, and I can’t find a decent answer to my question.

Currently, I make $190k per year, and I salary sacrifice roughly $8000 towards my super.

My wife earns around $62k. Her employer allows her to salary sacrifice $12k of her salary per year, so her taxable income is only $50k.

Currently , she does NOT salary sacrifice into super. because she only pays 30% tax for $5k of her salary (i.e. the portion above $45k), whereas I pay 37% on a lot more.

I have seen and read numerous articles pop up about contributing to a partner’s super so that they have more money in super, disparities between men and women’s superannuation by the time they both reach retirement age, etc. The reason for why to do this always seems to be to reduce this disparity.

However, does this disparity matter? Financially, it seems to make WAY more sense for me to salary sacrifice MY salary because I pay more tax.

Is there a financial benefit for us to stop salary sacrificing into MY super, and diverting some (say $5000h towards my wife’s super???

I mean, when we’re 65 y.o., both retired, and we take money out of super, is it beneficial for our super amounts to be slightly more similar (i.e. for hers to be higher)????

First up, my post request is seeking a variety of ways to go about this so I can explore these options with my husband and choose a way forward as I currently earn significantly more, carry more financial risk (explained below) and statistically, as a woman, have more to be concerned about re homelessness etc in case of marriage breakdown.

His assets: 700k ish (equivalent) in superannuation defined benefit fund.
Accessible in about 12 years or so. 20k in cash.

Car: Novated lease car worth around 45k, estimated cost on lease about 40k (I don’t know much about leases but that includes the running costs too). Pay out figure 20k in 2 years’ time.

His income: $110k, unlikely to significantly increase.

My assets:

PPOR:
Worth $630k, owe $545k. This is the asset I have the most questions about as we'd like to have him on the title.

Bought for $540k in 2023, prior to our engagement and marriage. Deposit was/is an interest only equity loan from property 2.

Property 2: Worth $340k, purchased for $130k. Owe 80 k. Equity loan for PPOR of $120 k.

Property 3: Worth 400k, purchased for $285k, owe $230k

Shares 70k

Cash (in offset) $145k

Super: 300k accessible in 23 years

My income: $200k, potential to increase if I want to work hard for promotion or decrease to $150ish if I’d prefer to do less.

What we want to do is add him to the title for the PPOR. He will then get some subsidies from his work worth about 10k per annum that can go straight on the loan. We would intend to refinance and get an account with an offset, where my cash would go and pay off the loan together. We have no considered or worked out any proportions etc yet and are open to ideas.

The PPOR forms a large part of my net worth as an individual and has grown significantly in value since I purchased it. He has not contributed to this property at all as we kept finances and homes separate until marriage.

I don't know if I should do joint tenants or tenants in common and given the increase in value between buying the property and now, how do we, as a couple account for this. Open to ideas.

The PPOR loan would be refinanced and increased in order to remove as much of the equity loan as possible on property 2 and we would jointly pay that loan down as well.

Some ideas I had were:

A)      Use the value of the property as of his moving in date as our joint mortgage cost (630k) and proportionally contribute (TBA on split). Consider the subsidy he receives as a portion of his payment. Pay down any remaining equity loan first then focus on PPOR loan with the extra payments (gap between actual loan amount and the agreed value of $630k) going into offset. Consider that neither of us have any ‘equity’.

B)      Take the value of the property as of when I purchased it (540k). How would we then account for the increase in value, difference in equity and my contributions to date? He would not be able to match these and does not have a deposit to use for this.

C)      Keep as is, in my name. This seems like the worst idea as it feels business like, non collaborative and we also wouldn't get the subsidies.

D)????

 We have both experienced financial pain and betrayal in the past. His way of dealing with that was to spend it and not save as it’d be taken away from him. My response was to save in order to have options.

We’ve worked through that and he’s been saving well, so I'm not concerned about him 'wasting' money. We’d like to look towards working less and holidaying more while securing our future together. Once we move in together, we're intending to go the ' pool all earnings together + save together + give ourselves a fun allowance' route.

However, because all the accessible assets are in my name, this gives me some anxiety as it’s essentially banking on his super being shared with me in 12 + years’ time while I essentially bear the risk of my current savings and investments being ‘used’ (for both of our benefit) for either investing or providing lifestyle benefits like holidays. between now and then. I’m pragmatic and understand that the relationship may break down between now and 12 years’ time when we’d like to retire once he has access to super. He’s open to signing a BFA if needed, however I’m not sure that would be best suited to this situation.

All of this feeds into discussions we’re having about estate planning as well and how to balance what we bring into our marriage and how we use these assets to our joint advantage while addressing the low, but possible risk of divorce.

 So, what would you do if this was your circumstance and why?

What happens to Life insurance after 70yrs old? Lets say if i start at 40 and keep Paying until 70 and I stop paying. When i die, do the insurer still pay to my nominee?

Hi all, I'm sitting here pondering. Got a call from my accountant and he asked if I was sitting down. Yeah? He said you owe alot of tax.

Bit of background. 31 Construction worker and work for companies salary around 150 ish. Home-owner. And also dabble in shares and options trading.

22/23 made 97k on the stockmarket. + 140k after deductions so around 240k. Accountant stuffed up paperwork (which I knew) (rolled with it) got 35k back on tax. Fast Forwad to Friday accountant called me and said I've stuffed up now you owe about 70k. Yep no worries.

23/24 157k wage + 135k in the stock market . Now this year I'm going to have a bill of around 55k? (Pending deductions)

I drive a Holden cruze and don't live ahead of myself.

What the hell are ways to minimise these bloody bills. New car? IV property ? I've spend >10k on education this FY. My deductions are the usual phone internet clothes and car. What else can I do?

This post is not a flex I'm genuinely a little bit stressed with lots of money tied.

I’m finishing up my Cert 4 Fin Serv Mortgage broking but I’m finding a lot of places looking for new Mortgage Brokers are kind of messing me around.

I’m looking at doing my RG 146 Tier 1, but is Insurance broking a good line of work to get into?

For a frame of reference, currently work for the state government in a position where I feel the work I do might be useful one day out of every couple of weeks (i.e. most the of the work I do feels extremely grindy/shit-kickery) and only really exists due to state legislation. I only took on this job as I was self employed for over a decade and being out of the workforce for so long, I was a bit apprehensive around my prospects, so I jumped into the one of the first offers I was presented with.

I’ve had a number of finance jobs in the past (Superannuation, retail banking, B2B SaaS fin services) and have always gravitated towards finance and finance jobs (I genuinely find the work super interesting).

Is insurance broking a good job to make relatively decent money and do work that seems somewhat fulfilling and productive? Also, is there room to move and progress in the industry if you’re sufficiently motivated?

I thank everyone for their time in reading this and thank anyone for their legit answers in advance (shitposters, you’re in the wrong sub!)

So I sold a gift card on marketplace and the guy seemed legit, he paid me $75 for the card and showed me the receipt but it still isn't in my card yet. I checked and it was the correct BSB and number for everything, how long does it usually take?

Hi everyone,

I believe I have a relatively high financial literacy; however, to ensure I am on the right path, I was considering consulting with an advisor from my super fund, see below.

https://preview.redd.it/gt3ay05rryzd1.png?width=1486&format=png&auto=webp&s=05765ed59f9d318d9ba4e916af3481035ca5643d

Has anyone had any experience with large super fund advisors?

Thanks in advance

Reconsidering going back to uni to become a clinical psych. Is it worth the years? Is the pay good in aus? How competitive is it?

So my boyfriend had around 300k in a fix term deposit and recently received an inheritance of 550k. We have a fixed mortgage at 5% with around 350k left to pay which we're paying comfortably. This mortgage is a special one where its capped at 5% for the life of the loan but we can't redraw, create an offset account etc so essentially just have the option to pay off, go somewhere else or continue to pay.

He doesn't want to invest in stock etc so essentially has 2 options he's leaning towards-

-buying an investment property outright locally (mid nth coast nsw) and either renting or airbnb (id prefer to rent out over airbnb due to housing crisis)

Or

• paying off mortgage saving us $750/wk and either buying an apartment locally or puting in another fix term deposit.

My thoughts would also to be to sell our house worth 800k and use the 450k on top of his 850k to buy a property on average on water locally.

We don't really know what to do as neither of us are from money and I'm definitely financially illiterate lol.

How hard/expensive is it to maintain an investment property? I know how much he hates spending money on and maintaining our current house and he needs to know what he's in for lol.

In late 2018, partly attributed to the trade war and tariff implementation with China, the market pulled back.

I know Trump says a lot of things, and doesn't always follow through, and also there's the old adage, time in the market vs timing the market.

But seeing people like Buffet pull completely out to cash has me wondering if there's a hedged play here.

I'm pretty deep into VDHG and thinking half of that might be safe in an AMP 5% 6 month TD while we see what his plans are.

Just wanting to gauge sentiment of others in the market, if you are planning to hold the line in EFTs or diversify more due to the uncertainty.

I can't really see him hurting his rich mates in many sectors, but increased consumer prices will impact some companies at the bottom line and are already affecting stock prices of some car manufacturers.

Curious on the sentiment in here.

Just curious if say, the US has a new round of tariffs put in place and what the knock on effects may be here.

Anyone here subscribed to the AFR? Is it worth it?

Can you claim the land tax threshold multiple times by purchasing under multiple companies or would they be considered related companies?

ColesWorth are digging themselves into peoples lives more and more by creating an ecosystem of convenience akin to what Apple has done. They're now offering insurance, mobile phones, an Amazon-style marketplace, credit cards... the whole works!

The increased cost of living is causing Australians to become increasing entrenched into the ColesWorth ecosystem out of the confluence of fiscal desperation and deliberately attractive prices offered by the ColesWorth honeytrap.

I think that exorbitant grocery prices simultaneously force people into their web of products while keeping the conversation on that immediate hardship.

It plays into ColesWorth's strategy to stoke the national conversation around grocery prices while they silently spread their tentacles into every other area of Australian's lives.

Can people smarter than me please chime in and let me know if my understanding of this is correct.

To note: I also earned $2000 interest from my savings account as well in the below period.

My notice of assessment for year ending 30 June 2024 states the following,

Taxable income is $75,543

Tax on taxable income is $15,018

Plus other liabilities (medicare levy) $1,510

Less Pay as you go (PAYG) $14,828

Result of this notice $1,701 owing.

• I paid the owing amount a few days ago as I assumed it was the Medicare levy that my employer didn't withhold, paired with the tax on the interest I earnt as well. Is this correct?

I won the lottery totalling $550,000 tax-free and anonymous and don't know what is the best course of action to take in order not to lose it all like most other lottery winners. It isn't a "sit-back and relax forever" amount of money, but it is life changing if you manage it well. I'd like to do lots of awesome things with the money, pay off all my debts and upgrade all my work tools. My wife is completely different, she's much more safe-guarding and frugal and wants to put almost all of it into a safe investment while still working and living like before. Perhaps neither of us are correct and a professional finance advisor would be better suited to managing our money. The money isn't here yet, it'll arrive in 1 to 2 months.

Assets: $600,000 in houses, $10,000 work car, $30,000 regular car

Income: $100,000/year revenue before taxes/expenses, $2,800/month rentals.

Debt: $300,000 mortgage, $5,000 credit card, $25,000 regular car loan, $15,000 'Stamp Duty' owing from buying my first home without actually living in it.

Ongoing expenses: $2400/month rent, $400/month regular car payment, $1900/month mortgage

Other expenses: $2000/month gas/electricity/water/etc., $4,000/month work materials/tools/fuel/etc., $2000/month food/groceries/etc.

Tax: I've lied on my taxes my whole life, always putting $0 as income. I didnt realise the seriousness of it and kept delaying it because of stupidity and laziness. I know, i was an idiot. I'm in the process of calculating everything for the past 3 years into Excel then contacting an accountant to then contact the tax office and apologies and pay what i owe including any penalties. I estimate it to be around $30,000 before penalties, so maybe $50,000.

What i want to do is pay off all those debts outright, pay off taxes/penalties, sell my shitty properties, pay a deposit for a house with a nice garage (around $600,000 house), sell my shitty van (mechanic says it cant be fixed because engine needs replacement, nor can i ever sell it with a roadworthy) and get a better one ($25,000) outright, upgrade all my shitty tools to the best ones ($5,000, Fieldpiece vacuum pump, recovery unit, scale, etc.), help my wife's dad's business ($20,000, his work car still has 'roll-up' windows, ill make his life easier), help anyone else in my family who may need it (i dont know yet who or how much), then put the rest into the S&P500 and still continue working my day job.

My wife wants to put $500,000 into the S&P500 and use the $50,000 to pay off my credit card, sell my shitty house, let me upgrade a few tools (shes ok with $5,000), buy a better van, pay the other debts on payment plans rather than outright.

I was excited about the money and really happy, but she wasn't as excited and wanted me to calm down and said that nothing will change because "this economy is so bad that $550k wont last long if we are stupid with our money"

No one knows about the money. I plan on telling my family that we won only $55,000 or $100,000, i havent decided yet.

We are planning on contacting a financial advisor to tell us what to do but i thought I'd ask you guys first.

Has anyone here worked harder and made more money from spending money?

I doubled my salary in 2 years in my late 20s because I was spending more, and wanted to make more so I worked harder and smart to make more.

Last 3 years in my 30s, from this subreddit and others, I’ve just been saving.. and it feels limiting because it makes I feel too comfortable. I never see any posts like this, is there anyone out there that has been as successful as they are now because they love spending money, travelling etc and it gave them the drive to make more money?

Currently driving a 12 year old Ford Fiesta (95kms) and whilst it runs great still, It's getting a little too small for our family of 3, trade in value around $6-7k. Trying to work out what we should do:

Mortgage - $1.15m Offset balance- $130k Household income - $350k ($120k and $220k) Mortgage Rate -5.88% variable

A) Keep the existing car for a little longer as we don't do huge amounts of driving (less than 10ks per year) B) Buy a 3-4 year old used car with low KMs around the $35k mark C) Novated lease on an EV using some of the incentives on offer

If we were to do option B), I assume that it's probably best to just pay cash from the offset but if can get a car loan for a lower APR than the mortgage, would that make sense?

I know there might be a variety of answers but thought I'd ask to see if there is anything I've not considered

My daughter just turned 18. She has saved around 12K working since she could legally work. I want her to be safe, but I am reluctant to top up her contributions for a new car too much. I reckon we should match her contributions. So something around 24 K Hubby wants to do way more, which depending on the car can be a new car.

So how much do people spend on first cars these days? And any recommendations for mark and model. It's been while since I have gone car shopping

Also we can't agree if the car rego and insurance should be in our name and she would be secondary driver. Or she gets signed up as main driver and owner

Not sure if correct subreddit but will ask.

Australian citizen but moving family / sold rental property / principal residence rented out long term - will notify ATO of intent once we actually move so will no longer be Aussie Tax Resident

My question is

Working as an EXPAT FIFO worker in say Tanzania but then living Thailand as 6 week on 3 week off roster. My family (wife and children) would be living in Thailand permanently which country am I a tax resident off.

Tanzania / Thailand?

We are still trying to decide which country to move to and tax is one consideration. If Tanzania is here tax residency is won't make any difference where we live but if Thailand (Where i will spend my breaks and my family will be) is then will need to take into consideration.

I am aware of the australian law about needing to have tax residence overseas otherwise they deem you an aussie tax resident (or something along those lines)

Thanks for any insight or suggestions for better place to ask

Gracias!

I currently live in a 2 bed/2 bath apartment in the city by myself. My girlfriend has been staying over 2/3 nights a week and we've had the discussion about her just moving in.

There's no mortgage on this property now. I was thinking of just having her over but I was telling a friend of mine who's a lawyer and he said that if she lives with me for just 2 years, we are 'de facto' which is pretty much common law marriage and she'll be able to make a claim on my own property, even if she does not contribute a dollar to it. I honestly thought he was completely full of shit until I read up on it a bit and realised it's pretty much fact, amongst other variables.

He advised me to lease out my apartment and rent out a property together with my partner and go 50/50 on it. That way you keep your property entirely separate and you get to see how living together will actually be like.

I thought that was pretty good advice and I'm just wondering what people in similar situations did. Cheers!

I'm in the market for a new PPOR and it looks like I am going to need to cash out my UK ISA and bring the money into Australia to fund the deposit.

The UK ISA is money that was already taxed - contributions were from after tax salary, but capital gains on the fund are not taxed in the UK.

Am I likely to a) be liable for capital gains tax in Australia on the increase in the value of the fund or b) have the ATO beathing down my neck asking AML questions when I transfer the funds to my Aus account?

We aren't talking a huge amount but it would be in the region of $150k - about 50k of which is capital gains over 5 years

Is there any remote jobs that allow you to be outside of Aus for atleast a few months of the year? All the jobs I looked at said I need to stay in the country at all times.

Hey, financial-savvy people! Can you please help me understand the role of VAP or any other REIT fund in someone’s portfolio for a long run.

I just can’t wrap my head around a few points:

1. One of the main reasons for investing in property is the ability to leverage, but we can’t do that with these funds.

2. These funds tend to have much slower growth, which would be fine if they offered better distributions, but the distributions don’t come with any incentives, like franking credits.

3. It seems someone would be much better off directly investing in property directly rather than through fund, since they can access much better taxation benefits and returns.

The only pro of the fund is that you don’t have to deal with the hassle of managing a property. Any insights or am i just mad 🙆‍♂️.

I have recently started a pty ltd company which I am the sole shareholder and director of. My company is selling goods that I purchased the parts for and assembled before starting the company. Are there any issues with selling these to the company at $0.01 each when I plan to sell them for $100 each in terms of either my personal or company taxes?

I plan for the money from these sales to stay within the company and to be used for continued operations.