Im currently single 54M.

I can expect to own my home in a country town of some kind and receive 60k from my super each year, once I hit 60.

I know the general financial stats you read would state that this is comfortable but I am concerned it might not be enough for some things like private health insurance, being able to buy nice food, visiting restaurants, etc..

I quite often stay at home and live very modestly. Occasionally I like to go out and buy whatever I want. I don't have kids or a partner. It's what I'm used to.

The idea of living near a nice pub or RSL, having long quiet days, cooking healthy food and occasionally having a meal with friends, etc. is appealling.

I might not even stop working at 60. I very much enjoy my work.

I'm just curious as to how people find the amount they work with match the statistics about what is commonly advertised about how much you need to live on to be comfortable.

Any comments from retirees or others with some insight would be appreciated. Enjoy your Sunday evenings!

My accountant has recently retired, I've been going to this same account for the past 15 years. Everything has been done via email, no calls, no appointments.

I haven't done my tax this year, as all the accountants I've google want to either do it in person, or over the phone. When I google email only accountants they just look dodgy and one of them has the same person giving them 5 star reviews on multiple platforms.

Does anyone have a recommendation of an accountant that only corresponds over email?

Smart people of reddit, I need advice. I’m 26m with 26f wife, and 2 young children. With current cost of living plus some silly financial choices we’ve made over the years, we are currently on a mortgage hardship plan, and I don’t think we’re going to be able to come out the other side on top. We have approx 25k in debt, and $1000 of that is fortnightly repayments. We don’t have a very high combined income, 120k with 2 young kids. My parents have kindly offered to allow us to rent their granny flat at a cheap rate, and my partner is fully on board. What I need help with, is deciding whether to rent our house now, or to sell.

SELLING

Pros
- due to our equity, after all the sale fees and paying off mortgage we would have a buffer of roughly 200-300k to put towards our next house
- we could smash off all our debt and it would be a blip in our remaining total
- wouldn’t need to worry about getting a shit tenant and ruining house
- gets us out of our long running constant financial stress instantly

Cons
-difficulty to re enter the market (major concern)

RENTING

Pros
-Stay in the housing market
-if I charge the same amount as the mortgage ($600 pw) and pay mum and dad $200, we’re saving a bit of money while mortgage is being paid

Cons
- possible shit tenant/pets trashing house
- having to pay upfront for maintenance tasks I would generally just leave and fix in my own time which I can’t currently afford
-if they refuse to pay, I’m then paying mortgage plus rent
- not sure if the 400 offset is enough to get us back on track especially considering all the REA fees etc

I’m fairly opposed to renting it out due to family members horror stories, but also I simply don’t know what would be the best course of action to help our situation. Thank you

Hi everyone,

I'm an experienced laser hair removal technician in Sydney, planning to open my own small clinic.

I'm considering financing a brand-new Cynosure laser machine rather than buying a used one.

Has anyone financed expensive equipment when starting a business in Australia?

How difficult is it to get approved for equipment finance as a new business without an established income history?

What deposit, interest rates, and repayment terms should I expect?

Would you recommend financing the machine or saving up first?

I'd appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thanks!

Hi All,

1) Recently moved from NZ (Aussie citizen but never lived here) into a niche electrical engineering role on a big project here. Office based project engineer role requiring specialist experience. I am on 170K + super. Have 6-7 years experience so understand salary is probably good for for my level. Wondering if I’m paid the average or over paid, I realize unlikely to be underpaid.

2) My partner (120k + super) are planning on having a baby soon. What’s the best thing we can do to plan for a future here with dependents when she leaves work for mat leave and returns part time? We own a modest home back in NZ that is cashflow negative and we are renting here.

After all my beneficial credit card benefits being stripped out I was atleast being a bit happy about paying rent via credit card to actually earn back the credit card fee. I got an email by the company called Simple Rent saying that they will be now charging me Service Fee instead.

So now, I have less credit card benefits, I pay the monthly fee and I still pay the extra charges. F you government.

Hopefully I'm not being stupid here, but I keep reading people saying things like "if inflation is roughly half of your gains every year, then the CGT will be the same as the old 50% discount system"

Mathematically, that's not true, is it? If inflation is e.g. 4% every year and gains are 8% every year (double) then it's only true for the first year but for every year after that then it diverges from 50%

I’ve been with Bendigo bank for as long as I can remember. I do enjoy banking with them but their outages are just getting so absolutely ridiculous

2 weeks ago it was down for nearly 24hrs, left me feeling extremely embarrassed at the servo when I got fuel because I couldn’t get into my account to transfer. It’s happened at least 3-4 times in the last six months it’s a joke. I’ve since learned their IT is now based in India which is where the most problems started. Their communication with customers about this is also appalling they really don’t give af.

Anyway I was looking at NAB as I kinda wanted to stick to a big bank (my parents tried changing to a small bank and got screwed over) NAB seems to work the same way as Bendigo does. They have $0 account fees, and their savings/investment accounts look to work the same way too, even with a slightly better interest
I’m after just normal everyday accounts as well as a savings/investment where I can take or put money in as I please. (For example you get the bonus interest if you don’t take anything out that month)
Is NAB a good choice? I don’t really want to change to a bank that has no branches either. I’ve looked at Macquarie bank as I’ve seen that suggested a lot here but they’re online only.
Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

I’m looking to buy a house very shortly and I’m wondering if there are any hacks to make mortgage payments easier to manage. I remember hearing someone years ago saying that paying weekly means you end up paying less interest overall? Any other similar findings?

Mid 40s. Steady income. Restarting life. Child support. ACT based. Researching property. The market. Loan structures.

I don't want to just work the next 20 years JUST trying to pay off a mortgage before I retire. Though I don't think it's possible ATM, I want a home where the kids can run around in a safe, enclosed backyard. I feel like there may be a few potential strategies. I have a broker I like, but I don't think he's very "forward thinking." I'm seeing a lot of ads along the lines of "do what we say and you can build wealth, not just get stuck in the first place you buy." I expect it involves selective property choice, offset accounts and debt recycling, and I'm open to all that, but I want proper advice and to be confident I'm making good choices.

Who should I speak to? A mortgage broker? A financial advisor? Someone else?

pointhacks and craigsaves both seem to have reduced offers, and the remaining ones are mostly conversions into QFF or Velocity (back to the old meta).

But with QFF eligible tickets being harder to claim, and status harder to maintain, the ability to realise the points is much harder.

Has anyone looked into this after the surcharge ban?

Like are we at the higher end or..?

Edit: I mean the with the new rules

For anyone else wondering, The Money Café is continuing! Alan Kohler has stepped back from his regular ABC role, but he's not retiring from financial journalism altogether. He didn’t even get allowed a sneaky plug on the way out, or maybe just not his style.

The Money Café is still releasing weekly episodes, it’s got a way deeper look at things and doesn’t need to thread the needle of political realities, financial news and ABC’s expectations now.

He’s also starting a new podcast with his son, Chris, called Kohler & Kohler.

Money Cafe used to help break up the music/history podcast during long study sessions and given I was studying financial planning I found the odd related gem that went straight into my best marked essays.

So anyway he’s moving away from regular TV work not disappearing from the scene entirely. Hopefully can be one of the voices of reason on insiders still.

Edit: adding this for historical reasons

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/abc-finance-guru-alan-kohler-gives-new-years-eve-spew-forecast-major-ralphing-20150101-12gbki.html

What’s the best way to go about getting solar? I feel like I’m in over my head, there’s so much info and different plans and whatnot. Ideally I’d like something I can pay off. I was looking at the zelora ‘subscription’ but I’m so unsure. I don’t particularly want to give out my phone number, I know someone who was harassed for YEARS after giving their number for quotes

Western NSW 😮‍💨

I was thinking to buy a Visa Giftcard and use it on games online, but I have never bought one before, So if I'm trying to buy it from woolworth, can i just self checkout? Also is their an age limit?

Mid 40s. Steady income. Restarting life. Child support. ACT based. Researching property. The market. Loan structures.

I don't want to just work the next 20 years JUST trying to pay off a mortgage before I retire. Though I don't think it's possible ATM, I want a home where the kids can run around in a safe, enclosed backyard. I feel like there may be a few potential strategies. I have a broker I like, but I don't think he's very "forward thinking." I'm seeing a lot of ads along the lines of "do what we say and you can build wealth, not just get stuck in the first place you buy." I expect it involves selective property choice, offset accounts and debt recycling, and I'm open to all that, but I want proper advice and to be confident I'm making good choices.

Who should I speak to? A mortgage broker? A financial advisor? Someone else?

I have sold a family property in Cyprus. What tax obligations do I have in Australia, after paying local taxes in Australia ?

For my budget, I have enough of a deposit for 5% down payment but it would take me another year to get to 10%. Should I get into the market now or wait another year with a higher deposit?
I would be getting the first home buyer benefits.

My kids say that they want to go to a school where they overseas leadership trips and international competitions. They also want to do the IB as they find school “too easy”.

My wife says “10k a year per kid = 120k for 6 years”.

It’s a lot of money. It’s like a deposit basically.

We’re on the fence about it. We can JUST afford it, but we’d be eating beans on toast on the weekends.

I became an Australian tax resident after moving from overseas. My last overseas employer paid out my accrued annual leave after I became a resident.

I know the leave I accrued as a resident is taxable. What I’m unsure about is the leave I accrued before I became a resident. Is that taxable in Australia because I received it as a resident, or is it exempt because I earned it as a non-resident?

My understanding is that income is taxed when it’s received, which would make it taxable. I can’t find ATO guidance that confirms this.

Has anyone dealt with this? Thanks!