personal finance in australia

I'm a first home buyer in Melbourne with pre-approval for finance for up to 570k. I'm looking at two bedroom flats mostly but they are very mixed and the one-bedders for around 450k look really nice. I guess any advice from people who are experienced in the property market would be really...

Was talking to my boss about this, he earns about $500k and yet has never flown business in his life. If I was in his situation I wouldn’t either, I’d just stay in a nicer hotel. I have also never flown business class in my life although I earn a lot less than him. People who do is it really...

We’ve just made cosmetic renovations new carpet, new flooring, polishing old floors, new storm water plumbing, down lights throughout, 3 x BIRs, painting, replastering, caulking, kitchen respraying and landscaping front and rear - plus a heap of smaller things you’d hardly notice. Spent around...

Contrary to the saying "time in the market beats timing the market", capital gains for property vary massively depending on when you buy and sell, even if you hold for a long time (e.g. 10 years, which is a commonly suggested timeframe for property). The linked charts show the inflation...

For people been thru divorce/separation, how has it impacted u financially? I went thru divorce in 2018 and its kinda screwed both myself and partner financially. It was completely amicable but what it meant was shifting from a comfortable 2x income + existence to 1x single Y struggles...

I have been doing a lot of research on different brokerages however after months of analysing, I still can’t determine what brokerage to go with because reviews vary from source to source and just when I’m prepared to settle with a brokerage, I see someone reviewing the brokerage as being a...

Hi, I'm a 23 y.o. working part-time whilst studying and trying to set up a solid financial foundation for my future would be grateful for any ideas on what I should consider/do differently. Obviously not asking for financial advice but just looking to gain some food for thought and to share what...

Happy Saturday AusFinancers. Bit of a query around my mortgage and the amount of interest charged. I’m with one of the Big 4 and, in late 2023, changed my mortgage offset account from my transaction account/cash hub to my emergency fund as I’ve been disciplined enough to get it to five...

I'm kinda piggybacking off that one post that got big lately, about Australian youth giving up on the rat race. Say this sentiment gets bigger over the years. More and more people choose to work the bare minimum and instead spend their time enjoying life. But they can't fully enjoy it...

We all know what's going on.. no need to rehash. So here is an attempt at a solution. A government owned Not for Profit Bank.(let's call it GovBank). For Australian citizens who have lived in Australia for 10 years minimum. For homes purchase price under $1 million. Provide Zero interest loans...

Hi, I got a new job this year that has allowed me to save heaps of money for the first time. I have an outstanding credit card debt that is significantly less than the money I’ve saved - I’ve been paying it off partially every month alongside putting away savings into my saver account. Is it...

Sorry if this is an obvious question, but on the stock market, I'm watching that companies with low or zero dividend yields are being sold off massively (e.g. down 50-70%), while those with high dividend yields have only had minor corrections (e.g. down 10-20%). I am wondering if the same...

Some of you think the RBA are terrible forecasters. A few of you, with friends working inside the RBA, have pointed out that there is significant disagreement between the economics team and the monetary policy team/decision-makers. Honestly, who tf knows. That said, what I can see is this...

Prediction status check: how are we going toward a 50% drop in the Core Logic Home Value Index (5 capital city aggregate) from its peak 2020 value by end of 2025? Peak 2020 value (Dec 31 2020): 137 All-time high (May 07 2022): 176.66 Current value (Jun 22 2022): 174.84 → Change from 2020 peak...

$99 for month Aug 2022 - $186.96 Aug 23. Family of 3. One wfh. Solar installed Sept 2020. Not solar hot water. Pool. Old appliances - can't replace atm. Just bought air fryer to reduce oven use. Washing machine used 5 x week. No tumble drier. Appliances and pool run during day where possible...

I recently created this offset account savings calculator in Excel, to analyse how I might repay my home loan sooner with different scenarios. It calculates the instalment schedule based on the loan amount, term in years and interest rate. It then allows you to run up to 3 different scenarios...

i made a post here long ago abt moving out out of abusive home but i still haven’t got the courage to do so and the rental crisis is crazy in australia. i still have the offer to move in w my mates family and contribute to the rent, but going thr some personal problems rn. i just wanted to ask...

Hi Everyone, I'm a fairly new investor and wanted a way I could track my portfolio locally but couldn't find a simple and free way of doing that automatically. I know some PowerShell and though I would just see what I could see and before I knew it I had a working module that I could...

Basically a recruiter reached out, hiring for a competitor at a more senior level (one level up from my current one). I have been asking for a title jump given the significant contributions i've made to the small team and firm, but to no avail (they just brushed it away). The competitor gave me...

Hello brainstrust, Need your help on how to diversify my portfolio. I’m 48m with a 5 y.o. Small biz owner for last 12 years. Super 29k hiSa- 250k Term deposit 20k Mortgage on Apartment left $1 Read that I should invest in vgs/vgad (But don’t know how to start, is it CMC?) Read from here...