Finally cracked $100,000 in my superannuation account! - I’m really stoked that I finally cracked $100,000 in my superannuation account. I did take out $15,000 during Covid so I’m sure as will be compound. Interest repercussions down the line but I’m happy anyway. I’m 33 years old and I feel ... See More this is a good milestone

Best Job you had - I was a gatekeeper in a warehouse for nearly a year at Waterloo Sydney. Lowest pay but I was doing literally nothing at all apart from sign in and out for the delivery trucks like twice a week.
I read books most of days and ... See More do my own thing.... it was a good time.

$1150 per week: 'Affordable' housing in affluent suburb slammed

What was an expensive purchase that saved you lots of money in the long run? - As the title says.

For me the two examples that come to mind are my Delonghi espresso machine and sturdy leather satchel.

Master list of "Things That Could be done to Lower Australian Property Prices" - Just a reminder on how many potential actions - that are *not* being taken - that could potentially be taken in order to make Aussie housing more affordable:

* Remove negative gearing on property unless new build
* ... See More Add PPOR to pension asset test
* Tie immigration rates directly to new housing construction rates/building approvals
* Stricter punishments for those lying on loan applications/approving "liar loans"
* Continue to raise home loan interest rates
* Stricter cap on debt-to-income ratios on home loans
* Alter the Skilled Jobs Visa list to prioritise migrants with construction skills, remove more of the 'BS jobs' on the list
* Stricter regulations for better build quality of apartments
* Restrictions on ownership of Australian property by non-residents
* Approve higher density zoning & construction in desirable urban areas/near train stations
* Cap/limit on max number of properties owned per person (e.g: 1 PPOR, 1 IP)
* Remove all other tax breaks / CGT discounts for investment properties unless new build
* Create better/faster public transport links
* Tax breaks/incentives for businesses to establish offices in regional areas
* Relax zoning laws/restrictions in middle ring suburbs
* Ban "contact agent" and other deceptive practices on real estate listing websites to provide more accurate/realtime price discovery
* Further encouragement of Work From Home instead of demonising it, allowing workers to live outside capital cities
* Timing rules & regulations for more frequent land releases by developers; heavier taxation on "land banking"
* Abolish stamp duty in favour of land tax to increase liquidity in market
* Builders incentivised to create more medium density to flesh out the "missing middle" (more decent townhouses/terrance style builds with small yards, etc.)
* Reducing % of CGT paid on shares/stocks to encourage business investment vs. property
* Apartments better designed with pet owners in mind (communal lawns/parks, soundproofed walls, etc)
* Futher investment into/creation of "satellite cities" connected by high speed rail
* Tougher restrictions/taxation on AirBNB & similar 'short term rental' services

What’s the best way to access $140k worth of leave entitlements? - Hi everyone. Just wanted to get some advice on my situation. Mid 40’s and I’m terminally ill. I have sick leave until the end of this year. I also have accrued what equates to about $140k worth of ... See More annual leave and pro rata LSL.

I will receive some TPD shortly and salary continuance when the sick leave runs out but I’m wondering the best way to access this leave? I have an untaxed superfund and I’ve found out that if you are terminally ill (24 months or less) it can be accessed without paying any tax on withdrawal. I’m not sure if I can salary sacrifice the leave into the fund and then withdraw it? Or is that only possible for future earnings?

Any advice is appreciated.

Edit: You’re all such a great bunch of people! Thanks for your kind thoughts and great advice! I’ll try to reply when I can but for now I’m off to have dinner with some friends.

To the people who DM’d me to send them money, just no. And I’m not taking anyone on a holiday, and I certainly don’t want to know about your cancer patient fetish. Stop being a weirdo!

Why do seemingly smart/put together people make such ridiculous financial decisions? - I was listening to a guy tonight at a friend's place speak about how the $95k 2023 SR Hilux in the driveway is his new 'toy' and that he needed an upgrade since his 'old bomb' got into ... See More an accident. The bomb in question was a previous Hilux that he bought for $30k 2 years ago.

Now at first, I thought ok whatever man good for you that's your choice. But the more he spoke the more I found myself wondering how these people's brains function day-to-day.

He said he received 21k from insurance payout and 'put a bit more on' with savings. However, then spoke about how he needed to save about another 70k to be in a realistic position to put a deposit on a property he desperately wants as he spoke very forwardly of hating renting at 34 still.

If he didn't take 70k of his savings and put it towards this new car he would be able to buy a property now and would not be in this position.

Someone thankfully questioned him as to why he didn't just take say 5-10k from his savings instead and buy a new work car for say 30k instead of 95k, but he just had this glazed overlook and said how he really wanted it, so he bought it.

Now I thought ok the bottom line is you wanted it, it's your money, you bought it, good for you. But I couldn't help but stare off into the distance wondering how his inner workings see him through the month with other financial decisions.

I wanted to share this here. I guess it is to do with finances. More of a vent. Idk. It's already got scratches on the side from being taken off roading so that's pretty funny.

Rate my Agent only allows positive reviews - So we had a shocking experience with Barry Plant where they lied to use about our full price written offer not being shopped around and then they called my Dad immediately to try to secure a better offer with 5 minutes (he ... See More had been through seperate to us, same surname….cluey agent!) of that promise.

They listed the sale price after promising they wouldn’t (informed us price would be listed on the day cooling off expired, nice)

So we tried to leave a review detailing the experience and the review itself goes into review and is not listed on the Rate My Agent website. So a few days pass and my review still isn’t on their website.

I email rate my agent and they request a copy of the contract of sale to verify I am real (they don’t do this for 4 or 5 star reviews). Such is my vendetta against the agents conduct I provide this and the review is still not listed, even after I follow them up.

The site is purely to sell agent subscription, an utter biased scam.

TLDR: Rate my agent will only list positive reviews and can’t be relied upon.

Edit: yes I’ve review via google, trust pilot etc but want Rate My Agent also put on blast.

Tax on stocks - Hey everyone last year in march 2022 I bought stocks I then sold them in July 2022 for a loss. This is now obviously coming up for my tax return this year. Do I just take sale price subtract purchase price and record it as a ... See More loss to offset future capital gains?

Ending lease and want to stay ahead of RE agent scams. Tips please - TL;DR: Will give required 28-day notice to vacate, in a month-to-month contract in VIC. Any insights or tips regarding how to best manage the process? Currently no issues with RE but don't want them to try ... See More to rip me off in this last stretch.

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On a month-to-month lease in VIC which I want to end as moving interstate. I know to give 28 days written notice to vacate--no problem.
I've heard best to apply for bond return myself and not let the RE agent do that. There's no damage to the property aside from some wear and tear after three years but don't trust the RE to return my money.

Any other things I should be aware of during the process? No problems with agent but also don't trust them as far as can throw them.

(VIC) List of Housing/living Expenses? Not sure If I have missed any. Budgeting for the first time as my homeloan repayments are going from 30% to 55%. - Hi All

I lived with my parents till I was 28. I bought a house and have a fixed loan at 1.94% Im ... See More coming off a fixed rate in a month and im looking at identifying all my current montly expenses for budgeting purposes trying to work if ill be able to stay here by myself or go back to live with my parents/sharehouse and rent my place out

So far I have the following (

- Electricity
- Gas
- Rates
- Contents Insurance
- Mobile Phone
- Internet
- Groceries
- Home Loan Repayments
- Car Servicing
- Car Insurance
- Car Registration

Am I missing anything here?

Thanks

Building Approvals, Australia, May 2023 (up 20.6% MoM)

Warning regarding the 30% contributions tax on super when exceeding $250k income - Hi folks,

I just wanted to increase awareness of this particular pitfall when selling investments during a financial year. I recently sold an investment I had held for 5 years. My salary was nothing special and my super ... See More contributions last year were less than $10,000. However because I sold an asset (which I already paid a significant chunk in CGT), my effective "income" increased over $250,000.

Now I hear you say, "cry me a river, you've done well, so cough up to the ATO". See recent news we now have a $20billion federal government surplus and tax brackets that haven't moved with inflation.

What I didn't realise is that effectively any super contributions I had paid that year is now subject to 30% tax instead of 15%. So my relatively low super contributions from my salary have now been taxed an extra \~$1500 simply because I exceeded the threshold for income that year.

Anyone selling a moderately successful investment property is going to hit that in any given financial year. Is this a completely flawed tax design that is intended to catch high earners salary sacrificing and topping up their super to reduce their income tax, but instead is catching anyone selling moderately successful investments who haven't even topped up their super in the process.

Potential strategies to consider when selling investments.

1. Don't make extra contributions into super because you may get taxed 30% anyway that year
2. Make a large contribution to super with any unused contribution caps so you reduce your income to below $250,000 that year. EDIT - I have been advised below in comments that super contributions do not reduce income for the purposes of div 293.
3. Pay 30% on your super contributions regardless of how much you contributed that year, and accept this tax was a great idea.....

Gratitude post, should I buy lotto? - Here’s a maybe good news story for you this Monday evening ahead of RBA day tomorrow. I’ve had a string of unbelievable luck I will never stop pinching myself about.

I just bought my first home. It was off market, 500k. Below market ... See More price by almost 40k. 35km out of Melbourne CBD, close to where I live now. Agent showed me because they stuffed up a viewing of a different property (cancelled when I was already there and I was the only one). It was perfect. Almost instant sale as no other interest.

Standard b&p, tried to get both my broker & conveyancer to convince something was wrong but there were really no issues.

It’s a 2br 70s single level unit, one of 10. Very reasonable body corp. Dated? Yes, but I’ve lowkey *dreamed* of the mid-century features that are still intact. In fact it ticks more boxes than I thought possible as I was looking at sad, lifeless apartments before.

I got pre-approval in March and this was only the 4th inspection I went to so honestly I had no skin in the game. Looking at realestate.com I had no chance at others I viewed.

Finance was fully approved the day before the June cash rate rise. If my pre-app ran out, I’d be locked out (based on my needs).

In the time lender’s interest rates caught up, my pay increase came into effect (employer was bargaining all year to maintain 4% if not reduce, but 5% came through to my surprise). Repayments are now exactly 50% of my take home pay (until tomorrow perhaps).

The thing is, I have been saving about 50% of my take home pay since I moved to Aus 4 years ago, sometimes 55% “just in case”. The way younger me had my back blows my mind as I had zero concept of property and finance then. I won’t have to change much of my lifestyle, just enjoy the new place.

As for the other expenses, my partner will be moving in with me. Our birthdays and anniversary are close - we’ll be celebrating turning 29/30 and 5 years together around settlement.

Since I bought under, I’ll have $15k leftover. The same life savings I arrived to Australia with. Crazy full circle moment.

I didn’t have to spend it because I secured a full-time job before landing in July 2019, also offered on my birthday then. Hustled and got 2 promotions since. I thought property was a pipe dream until I had the leftover savings. It’s crazy to reflect on how I’ve grown and materialised it.

Hopefully this doesn’t read as a rude humble brag in this economy. Just wanted to express deep gratitude. Imparting luck onto you if you read this far!

So, should I buy a lotto ticket?

July 3rd saw the largest weekly drop in used car prices since January 2020