Hi,

I work from home full time as an office worker, my headquarters is another state. I'm looking to create a dedicated work space in the backyard for the sole purpose of working my office job.

Can I claim the construction as a depreciating asset?

I can't find much on the ATO website. Is there more information on this ?

To try and sum up this situation as much as possible. We moved out from the last place we were renting a few days ago. Today we got an invoice and inspection report and they are essentially taking us for everything we’ve got.

As an example there was some patch work done for a hole in a wall. This was here when we first moved in. It wasn’t noted on the original ingoing inspection report and we didn’t note it either since we saw it as a repair job already done. Something that was recognised and resolved in the past. Upon leaving, they noted this as a ‘bad patch job’ and pinning the fault on us.

They have already spent $1400 for cleaning alone with more to come. We are scouring over every email and exchange we have had. But without a copy of the first inspection report when we first moved in this feels like a loosing battle. Any help or advice from someone out there could mean a world of difference to us.

I’ve just been informed by Rest Super that they won’t pay out my income protection whilst I am receiving government benefits. I’m on Disability pension and will remain so for the rest of my life. I still work but at a very reduced capacity (8hrs a fortnight as opposed to 60) and this will lessen as my disability progresses. I’m well aware that income protection is considered income and needs to be declared so may affect my payment.

Just seeking clarification on this before I cancel my premium.

The dark patterns in this communication from Retail Employees Superannuation Trust (REST) are crazy. Scan of the letter below.

They "accidentally" started charging for death/income/disability insurance 7 months ago for people who already opted out. They "recently" worked it out. They are not going to refund the charges and will keep charging for a policy you don't know you have (and therefore won't claim against) unless you contact them within 35 days. They start the letter with a bold heading saying "We made a mistake with your insurance, but it's fixed now" to make people think the letter is just a formality that they can ignore. They also worded the final sentence so that it sounds like you have 35 days to claim on the insurance, not to be refunded. I confirmed my understanding with them on the phone.

Posting here since Reddit has more teeth than ASIC :(

https://preview.redd.it/nks9n00u18he1.png?width=855&format=png&auto=webp&s=6dbe2375aca7593da8aae4b9fd6d1f8f162b3e9a

I’m not sure about other states, but in Melbourne and Sydney, homelessness is becoming more and more prevalent. The causes of this are complex. But the general thing I’ve noticed growing up is the ideal that it is morally good to give to the poor/homeless people on the street. But at the same time, the very same people I have never seen give money to them when we walk past. Reasons are mainly relate to ‘that is what tax is for’, ‘they made poor decisions’, or ‘someone else/government should do more’. Personally, I have never given money to them (but I’ve bought them a burger or something to eat). I’m curious as to should we give money to homeless people? Do you actually give money to the homeless people? Why? Why not?

I'm 26 I have no savings, no assets , 65k salary. Should I declare bankruptcy, have $53000 in debt with loans and credit cards 19% interest. I really can't pay this back and it's a cumulating so much. I've read about the consequences of being bankrupt and I'm happy to accept them. I just want all of this to go away, it makes me crazy thinking about it. I need a new start in my life. I can't do anything I still live with my parents and I can't even move out because all the repayments are going to the debt.

I just got a message on the CommBank app that from March 11 the Portfolio View will no longer be continued. I love this feature, I think many people like it and I have no idea why they are getting rid of it.

Does anybody have any recommendations for a free/similar portfolio or net worth viewer, either an excel spreadsheet template or a free non subscription based app? Something that combines data with a chart/graphic view also would be cool

I’m looking for something that has categories for all the basic asset classes, such super, real estate and equities. Many of the apps I saw are mainly just for share portfolios and many of the excel templates are for USA (Roth ira, 401ks etc)

EDIT: reached out to westpac, explained my concern is mostly related to privacy/handling of my data, and that I trust them to do their due diligence and act fairly. As a commenter put it, if they’ve done nothing wrong, then there’s nothing to worry about.

They appeared to have taken it very seriously and will escalate it.

Thanks everyone for their insights.

EDIT2: just to clarify, I don’t have a relationship with this person, we exchanged a few emails back in early 2024 when my actual lending manager was away. There was no offer in the sense of actual rates on the email either. I really like and get along with my lending manager, who’s from a different branch and I’d have spoken to her first and foremost had this been the case.

—

I have a mortgage with ANZ. A while back, I contacted my lending manager over there, let’s call her K, but K was on holidays and instead M, from a different branch, helped me. This was sometime last early last year. Fast-forward to today, and I received an email from M, who’s now at Westpac, soliciting and offering her services. In theory, Westpac should never have had my contact info as I don’t bank with them. I find this rather unethical, and quite desperate, and I’m wondering, is there anyone I could or should report this to? Isn’t this violating any privacy laws ? Someone took my email from their former employer database and is now using it.

Or should I just let it go and move on?

Cheers

Title. I googled and ChatGPTed but I don't think I understood it fully. It says something like rather than investing in ETFs, I can invest in certain stocks that will outperform index ETFs.

Have I understood it correctly? How do I know which stock to pick?

I'm wanting to acquire some more shares. I currently have ASX200 and IVV. I was looking into FANG ETF, however the expence ratio is 0.35 for a passively managed fund (Compared to 0.03 for the other 2). So I'm wondering; a) why is is so high, and b) is it still worth paying that given the earning potential? Or should I just bump up my other 2 funds instead?

This thought was sparked as I have been doing a lot more reading lately of posts where people ask if its a silly idea to buy a new car they like or not.

Whats interesting to me of course the logical and overwhelming opinion of people is to say “dont buy this asset because its depreciating” or this mindset people have which tends to imply “if you do something in life it better be for financial gain”.

Is there not a weird irony to it all? I mean if someone who thinks they are investment minded advises you not to buy a car because you may enjoy it since its a waste, then that same person better not drink alcohol or go out for dinner, because thats also over time a huge waste of money itself. If they argue back saying “yeah but thats fun or enjoyment”, is this not ironic? People want to live their life before they are buried in the ground with their 3 million net worth they acquired by 70

I am aware its a financial subreddit of course, but still - is it real advice or is it one that really just has people saying “dont do this because I wouldnt”, but they will be a hippocrite when talking about their love of expensive wine. Probably true that people project outwards where they have potential jealousy or wish they could do something negatively to make themselves feel better? I know I have been guilty of that.

Keep it in mind, buy the things you want within reason and live life, there may be no tomorrow :)

Today, I was about to invest $200K into ETFs on Pearler when I received this message:

"Due to potential market fluctuations in price, your order for DHHF will be placed as a limit order. To place this as a market order, please order less than $10,000.00."

I was planning to invest in a couple ETFs today instead of making multiple purchases throughout the year (I know you can't "time" the market, plus brokerage fees). But this message caught me off guard—especially since I didn’t see it yesterday.

I'm also concerned about US tariffs, the state of the AUD, and whether this is something I should be worried about. Possibly I'm just giddy because it's a such a big deal for this investment to leave my savings account.

My dad is paying $250pm for home/content insurance. How much contents should you cover? My dad is covering $185k which seems extreme. Would the insurance company even give you that amount? Like, I assume they have maximum payout for items and how many items of each type etc?

Hey guys,

As the title states, I’m looking for the best high interest savings account? I’m seeing a lot of UBank ads and wondering if that’s the way to go?

I’m currently with CBA as my main account, should I just use my savings account with them?

I’m only getting started now with serious savings for a mortgage down the line so any advice really appreciated.

Cheers!

with the US economy potentially about to tank, should i move my super investments to cash in the short term? whats your opinion? or is it more, the us economy will tank, so will everyone's accordingly, so no real issue?

TIA

I (20M) am having to move away from my place to one about an hour from my work place. I currently don’t have a car and have been bussing it but it doesn’t seem to be viable for the new area and my shift times. I have been looking to get a car but because of this I need one ASAP and have been looking for small $5,000 loans. I’ve been living out of home for the past year, and have never taken out a loan but I do make a fair bit ($850 p/w after tax). Idk, it looks like I’ll be paying roughly 50-100 a week so it seems pretty manageable but everybody says to stay away from places like Driva, money3 etc. Is there some kind of hidden thing I’m missing or if I can genuinely pay the money back should I go for it?

Hi all,

When I logged into Pearler this morning, I saw they are soon opening super accounts. I already use Pearler so having investments and super in one place would be nice. I also like the idea that I am investing in known ETFs. Currently, I am with REST and in the international and Australian Index options but you get very little information about those options. With Pearlers approach, I can just pick the common ETFs like VAS and have a similar portfolio structure to my out-of-super investments.

The fee structure looks good with an example annual fee given "e.g. all-up $224.58 on a $50k avg. annual portfolio with 12 x $500 investments."

Does anyone see any major pitfalls with switching over?

https://pearler.com/super

I'm considering a high dividend ETF as I don't pay income tax (earnings under 18k) so I'd get full franked credits.

How might that compare with 5.5% variable HISA?

I’m looking to get into investment properties, and apartments look like a more affordable option, as buying a house as asn investment property is a bit out of the budget at the moment for me. But since it’s the land that appreciates in value, I’m kinda skeptical as to if buying an apartment would be a smart option

Say you've had a sudden expense come up before the next pay check, do you dip into savings (a nice whole number that you didnt want to break), or investments (looking healthy but volatile). Which one do you dip into?

I have 2 shares that make up my portfolio. They are balanced to 50/50 every year. I have VESG and VETH.

I am not looking on any advice on whether ethical investing is good or not as I know this leads to a heated discussion.

Forgetting all of that. Is there a Vanguard ETF I should add or is this simple some Australian some International stocks I have going sufficient.

Keep in mind I don’t understand hedging etc.

My husband and I have recently come into contact with a large sum of money 70K+

My husband and I combined have an annual net income of 140K

We are very lucky and my parents lease us one of their house so we pay really cheap rent $550 a week.

We were considering buying a house but the minimum calculated repayments for a house where we live (Gold Coast) would be $900 a week. That’s with all the fancy first home owner grants.

Is it worth buying a house or would you invest the money in other ways?

My financial literacy is very low and would love to be guided in the right direction ☺️

Hi, I'm 18 and have recently inherited about $10K. I know little to nothing about investing - just enough to know I would be better off investing the money than letting it sit idle in a savings account. I am currently planning on doing about 6 years straight at university, meaning I won't have full time employment until after then. I want to move out sometime before i'm 25 or 26, so i want get the best possible returns on my money if i take it out in about 7 years. Could anybody recommend me ways/places to invest this money, and/or any resources that would help me in this space? It would be appreciated

I'm on a bridging visa while waiting for my sponsor visa to be granted and on my day off I do some cleaning work for my neighbours and got paid in cash

I have around 4k in cash now and I'm just worried if I deposit the money at once, I will have issues with my visa

I need your advice, thanks!

Has anyone else run into this "Sorry, we need more information. Please try again or use another ID." when trying to give them my drivers licence. Support was useless and hasn't got back to me in in 3 weeks.

My details or all correct and match exactly to my licence. Surely someone else has run into this.

I noticed that Coles (and Kmart) giftcards are no longer available on Macquarie Marketplace. Anywhere else sell them discounted? Current employer doesn’t have an employer rewards portal thingy. Ta!

Would the banks view $1000 salary sacrifice to super a fortnight as living within my means if I'm then putting the rest I make directly to bills?

Like I know I'm technically saving that amount but is it viewed differently by banks?

I immigrated to Australia at 31, and now at 43, I earn $200K, while my wife works from home and makes around $40K. We have a 4-year-old child. We’re not spending excessively, yet we still have to budget everything. Why does it feel like we’re not doing well financially? Isn’t a $240K household income supposed to be good?

Edit: main expenses 1k out of pocket for investment property 3k rent 1k childcare 1.5k car loan