Up we go!

Im with CBA and my current loan rate is 6.630%
This seems cooked. How’s everyone doing out there. Currently shopping around and speaking with cba to negotiate the rate. Anyone had any success negotiating with these sharks?

Currently sitting on 6.14% People First Bank with offset. Keen to know what everyone else is getting?

This is with the most recent rate rise too.

Trying to work out the sweet spot for stake smsf taking into account $3 fee

For women 35+ who got pregnant (first child), is private health or public better? By better, I mean level of care considering age.

If you have private health AND Medicare, can you choose public in the end (for whatever reason, say you’re happy and care is satisfactory) or kinda forced to go private because of your coverage?

TIA.

i’m a sole trader (video production) so nobody’s paying super for me. whatever goes in, i put in myself, and some years that’s been not much. a mate on a salary just found out his employer’s put in more than $10k for him this year and i realised i’m basically starting the retirement race from behind

so i’ve been trying to work out a target, and $50k a year keeps coming up as the “comfortable” number. but when i actually break it down for a single person renting it gets scary fast:

rent on a one bedder out of the city: easily $500 a week, so $26k gone
groceries, power, phone, internet: maybe $10–12k
car rego, insurance, petrol, servicing: $5k+
health stuff, dentist, glasses, which only gets worse with age

that’s most of the $50k before you’ve done a single fun thing. no travel, no helping the kids, no new car when the old one dies

so genuinely asking:

• retirees who rent, how are you actually making it work?
• is owning your home the only way $50k is comfortable?
• any other self employed people here? how much are you putting into super, and when did you start taking it seriously?

feels like the system was built for people with a boss and a mortgage, and a lot of us have neither

How safe is it to put over $250k in banks like Ubank/Bankwest/ING and losing the government guarantee for the amount over?

It would only be short term while I take up on their new customer bonus interest offers.

After that I'd either split between banks or doing something else with my savings assuming I've decided what to do with it by then (recently sold my house).

I'm new to holding cash so any help here is welcome.

I came across this about investing in MOPA, a kids playcentre that has a few locations across Victoria. I take my kids there when we have vouchers (it's expensive!). Are 'opportunities' like this ever worth it? Or is it a way of them saying they have cashflow issues? I also saw a similar opportunity at a redeveloped small shopping centre in Blackburn north and was curious about what the return on something like that could ever be. Have you ever done it? What did you get back?

Hi everyone, I’m 23 and new to investing. I’m planning to invest $300–$600 per week for the long term.

I’ve started with an 80/20 split between BGBL and A200, mainly because of their low management fees. I’m comfortable taking on higher risk for long-term growth and would like to maximise my returns.

I’m wondering if this is a good portfolio to stick with or if there are other ETF combinations worth considering for potentially higher growth.

Would appreciate any advice or suggestions. Thanks!

For context, I have a ~400k tax bill due in ~May next year from some stock options that were sold. I'd like to earn points on this, so I'm thinking about getting an Amex Explorer. I'd mainly benefit from velocity/qff points, but I don't think qff points are available unless I got a Qantas Amex specifically.

Situation:
- income ~230k + super, I have somewhere between 500k and 1M in assets, so I'm not worried about passing a credit check
- I'm realistic that I won't get anywhere near a 400k limit on a credit card, and I doubt they'd allow a charge card to spend 400k
- I'm not eligible for any welcome bonus because I held and cancelled an Amex card earlier this year, so this is purely about earn on spend

Workaround idea:

1. Get the Explorer card approved with a normal limit
2. Prepay ~400k onto the card from my bank account, so the card sits in credit
3. Pay the tax bill on the card, drawing down that credit balance

Questions:
- Will Amex allow this? will this work?
- Has anyone done a large prepayment like this with Amex AU specifically? Did the credit balance work as available spend, or only up to the limit?
- Does Amex cap transaction size or daily spend independent of limit? I've heard "no preset spending limit" cards can approve large purchases case by case, but I don't know how that applies here.
- Will a ~400k credit balance trigger any fraud, AML, or manual review that could freeze the card or delay the tax payment?

Any experience with large prepayments, big ATO card payments, or Amex's treatment of credit balances would be really appreciated.

I know doing it this way means I won't get the benefit of any interest free period, but I won't get that by paying with cash anyway, just doing this for the points.

Update

I spoke with Amex, was told that 400k almost definitely not, but I could batch it, and that in theory I could get a card with ~30-40k credit limit if necessary.

I requested DASP through Australian Super two months ago. They have repeatedly changed the required documentation I need to submit, and will take a week at a time requesting new updates to the documentation. For example one week is about my passport being certified, which has come as a request two separate times.

My responses have been within hours of their requests. They will not provide anyone assigned to my case and their chat support will answer no questions. What else can I do? They are currently telling me they can’t give me a status on it. AFCA? Any advice will be help me.

I earned 80k annually and wanted to invest or save my money. I have money in my savings account and that’s it. I’m 30F.

Thank you

Long story short, all of my savings are tied up in joint offset accounts with my partner of 13yrs, she does the majority of our banking, neither of us have credit cards.

Having a ring made professionally and only just realised that she would notice the lump sum missing, and then would also dig deeper into it, essentially finding out.

What’s the best/smartest way to go about this to keep it hidden?

Credit card and then once proposed pay it off completely and then close?

Or

Personal loan and pay off completely once proposed?

Edit: Ring is designed by partner without her knowing, jeweller is workmate/friend of ours and professional jeweller outside of our work. money is not the issue, hiding the payment is.

Note: None of the following is anti-Government nor against the RBA, the payments system or any of the infrastructure as such. I believe there is a proper role for regulation of currency, the maintenance of employment levels, the payments system and other pieces of infrastructure, as well as a social safety net for the elderly and/or vulnerable. Even taxes I'm not against per se, as long as they are spelled out clearly in advance, though I wish they were simpler so one didn't feel compelled to pay for accountants to manage them.

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I haven't been able to shake the memory of the Canadian government freezing accounts of protestors during the Canadian Trucker convoy a few years back. I'm not condoning the protests, I'm just kind of shaken that such a thing was possible.

Do we know if governments have been able to do this subsequently to groups or individuals?

Do we know if governments might be willing to do this kind of thing in future?

How would we know if it was happening? Who would tell us? Would the media stay silent or maybe just ignore it amidst all the other noise? Would it get picked up by some kind of alternative media outlet? Would the informal gossip mill be enough, in a society of millions of people who seem to largely keep to themselves and their own private friend & family groups?

What limits or stops the government from simply targeting anyone who happens to fall "out of favour" based on some person or group's political, financial or other interests?

In short: what protects your wealth from your own government?
(Or, for that matter, any other government, friend or foe?)

Where is this on your scale of worries from 1-10?
Where 1 = not a chance in the world, 10 = keeps you up every night.

Personally it's low on my worries list, maybe like a 5. But it's definitely crept up from what used to be a 2, especially since the aforementioned freezing of accounts in Canada.

Do you have any kind of "Plan B" in case your own accounts got frozen? Would you have people you could turn to for help or maybe a lawyer or two to provide assistance without immediate payment?

If you're desperate and looking for a same day loan (not a good idea anyway mind you)

AVOID MONEYSPOT

These fkers had me accept a "payto agreement" / direct debit agreement through my bank in order to recieve the loan, THEN emailed me that I had been rejected!

They were going to be taking my money despite having never paid me out!

https://au.trustpilot.com/review/www.moneyspot.com.au clearly I'm not the only one with this experience

Adf vs fifo

Adf vs fifo what would you do if you had your time again? I’m looking at careers I’m 23 years old.

I did landscaping for a year and a half but decided it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life.
My personality I like the out doors I go to the gym 5 days a week. I like going on long walks.

I watch a lot of Jordan Peterson I found him talking about getting my life together has really spoken to my soul

I’m getting a bit old and feel pretty far behind so any advice would be good advice cheers

And I’m thinking about doing chaplaincy role in the adf as I have a relationship with God. And I feel like that’s what a lot of people and missing in there life

Need some brutal advice.

My TPD insurance on the date of injury and on the date of my first certificate of capacity shows $0.00 on the statement, maybe because it was right below 6k.

For this year’s statement i do have TPD insurance on the statement but as I’m understanding, nothing can be done now because i stopped working full time (just briefly returned to work in Dec 2025 for a couple hours for like 3 days a week) around 20th June when it was $0.00 and the tpd insurance is only considered for the day i stopped working full time

Should i ask any lawyers or even try at all? Can anything be done or i should let it go now?

I have recently received an inheritance of 1 million. I have the money parked in a few high interest savings accounts while I work out what to do. Hoping that someone can offer me some advice on what to do next.

Im 42, single with my apartment paid off in Melbourne. Apartment value is 700k, 500k in Super and no debt. I earn 110k per year, a good saver and dont really spend more than I need to. I would like to work until I am 55 and then retire. Savings from my job will go into travel and I would like to do one overseas trip per year.

My apartment is in inner Melbourne, an old building, has a flight of stairs getting too small and I would like to get a house with a garden, a dog, garage for my bikes and stuff. I don’t think the apartment is good for me long term either, it will get too hard when I get older.

Firstly I would like to sell my apartment for 700k and upgrade to a nice home for 1 million. Leaving me with 600-700k leftover. I was thinking about looking for a safe way to invest it so it grows and doesn't lose value through inflation sitting in my bank account. I was thinking between an investment property or an investment portfolio (stocks, bonds, index funds). I would feel more comfortable with an expert managing an investment portfolio than myself. I have got half a dozen quotes and all are around 1% or so and some have platform fees. I have only spoken to certified financial planners.

One the financial planners who comes from a very reputable firm advised me to do the below:

- Leave 50-100k for a cash reserve for emergencies and a much needed new car down the track.

- The planner will roll my super it into their own super fund and manage it themselves.

- Put 500k into an investment portfolio and they will manage it themselves too. Expected return is 7-8% which will be reinvested. This will be intended to tie me over until I can access my super.

The financial planner will take 1% of both super and the investment portfolio and there are platform fees of around 4-5k per year. In total it will cost 16k per year for the planner. The fees will come out of the returns.

Does this look like a solid plan?

·       Is it a good idea to roll my super into the financial planners super?

·       Does The financial planner fee of 16k per year look like too much?

·       Should I stay in the apartment and invest the 1 million with the planner?

·       Or upgrade to a house and have less to invest and invest it myself into ETFs.

·       Or keep the apartment and rent it out and buy a new house in cash?

Many thanks everyone's help

People have six, seven figures in bank accounts, shares etc. Often you hear scammer/hacker drain bank accounts, but emptying (selling) shareholdings not as often, why is that, or the scams don't get publicized (understand there may be extra layer between the scammer & $$$) ? So if you have 'a lot' of dough, it's safe to put in shares than bank account ?!

Edit : in letter/update from computershare & linkmarket, often HIN/SRN is shown, together with full name, address, a lot of damage can be done.

Title.

Can anyone confirm if I'm all good and wont get a fine.

Haven't done my tax return for 24-25 cause didnt think i had to but they reminded they i had an abn. Was gonna use it to doordash but never did it. Made no deliveries and made no money from it. Did sign up and like was registered but never made a single dollar. And also didnt have another job or made no income for that entire financial year.fffff

So like im gonna lodge it cause dont want it lingering there but like i think im ok right or maybe will get fine i have no idea.

Hi all,

Need to make a quick decision and just trying to see if there are things missed on my end.

I’m currently working as an accountant at a startup company (non tech related). My company has stopped paying super for a while. I’ve been complaining and asking for the super to be released; yet, every time I was given an empty promise that it’ll happen ‘next week’. At the moment we are 3 months behind in super (used to be 6). At the same time, there are many cash flow and financial difficulties and seems like we’re not paying many vendors, accounting software on time (def not the full amount owed).

I’ve been trying to find another role for a while but seems quite competitive at the moment and difficult. To add more complexity, my wife is pregnant and due to give birth in March and I want to make sure I’m doing the right thing.

I’ve been offered a contract job to cover mat leave for 12 months. An established company medium size (approx 60mil rev and 200+ employees which is large in Australian eyes but not BHP or listed). The salary is $30k above my current earning which is great but again I’m taking a FTE contract for 12 months so no leave/entitlment etc.

Am I making the mistake by taking a contract at this time and not finding a perm/ FTE and waiting a bit longer ? Please note, I’ve been searching around 6 months and it seems to get nowhere.
No reference was checked by the company, is it normal?
Is it going to stall my career/raise eyebrows given I have left a company after 1 year and 4 mont and size wise it’s not too big?
Anything else I’m missing please let me know.

Thanks all,

Looking to refinance my mortgage and came across the Greater Bank. Was wondering if anyone had any experience with them? I have never heard of them before so I am a bit hesitated. Although, their variable interest rate is one of the lowest in the market.

I recently took out a Bankwest 0% balance transfer to get rid of my Qantas Credit Card with a 21.99% interest rate and I feel at ease knowing I am just paying the entire owing balance, not added interest.

Can you do a 0% balance transfer for a personal loan (owing $4,600 left) as well or just for credit cards? My personal loan has an interest rate of 19.99% and I would ideally only like to be paying the owing balance.

I am mindful of my credit score as I will eventually be upgrading my car next year and will be relying on a car loan.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hey gang, my mortgage is now fully offset and I am wondering what to do with any surplus cash that comes my way. My main question here is whether or not to follow a fairly obvious path or if my situation is complex enough to warrant chatting to a financial advisor.

Context: I'm a 40 y/o sole income earner running a small services business. It's essentially myself, an admin support person, and a handful of contractors. Due to an inheritance (~$60k) and an uptick in business my mortgage on my small apartment will be fully offset by the end of the year, and I'll effectively have some cash (~$50k) sitting around. I live with my partner who can only work limited hours due to a disability. No kids, no other debt.

Risk profile/goals: Generally risk averse. I like my work and don't have any intent to retire, so mostly just want to earn enough to support my partner and I. A bigger place would be nice but this isn't urgent. Most of my 'risk appetite' is in my business, and there is a case to be made for spending ~$40-50k/yr on a fractional Chief of Staff position to work with my admin support person and contractors and basically do the boring bits of my facilitation/consulting business.

Income: I do a mix of consulting and facilitation and the business has generally been growing slowly. My taxable income last year was ~$120k under a sole trader structure. This FY I switched to a PTY LTD and have started paying myself a salary and super.

It's a services business so there's no real way to reinvest capital in growth. Pending a major recession, I expect that income will be at least maintained and my planning generally assumes it holds flat (some in my industry do really well, around $500k/yr, but that takes a certain amount of luck and nous, plus time).

Assets: Fully offset mortgage on a small apartment worth maybe ~$550k. I've mostly been a sole trader, recently switched to a PTY LTD, so my super balance is crap - $80k.

Choices: The obvious thing to do is to make use of my massive inused concessional contributions cap ($127k), especially FY21/22 ($25k) and this year. If there's any left over, stick it in a term deposit.

In a way it feels sort of obvious, but I'm wondering if there's anything I'm missing — and if so, if my situation is complex enough to warrant chatting to a financial advisor (and I'll take any advice on who is good/worth talking to).

I do have an accountant, but I find she's good at executing what I ask her to do but not especially helpful with strategy.