Cant disagree. However every time poor productivity and lower living standards gets discussed, it fails to mention how the entrenched benifet from the rent seeking economy we have. Immigration is the biggest input into growth in this economy, and it benifets banks who write more loans and collect bigger deposits, benifets supermarkets due to more foot traffic, benifets property investors by making property more scare contributing inflated prices and higher rents. Immigration is the low hanging fruit option to grow an economy.

This country isn't prepared to do what it takes to fix productivity. Lowe says we need smaller and medium sized firms to challenge incumbent firms, however who are these firms? The effort/reward ratio to investing in property V starting a new business in this country is out of sync. We are going to learn the hard way that property price inflation is not an economy.

EDIT: Thanks for all the comments so far, it made me realise I'm not losing my mind here. There will be no SMSF, the numbers don't stack up for our circumstances and I'm not onboard. I was DCAing into Vanguard last year so will probably pick that up again and continue the current super contributions. The answer for us is probably to work on closing the cashflow gap to be able to buy another PPOR and convert our current home to an IP. Then we'd have diversified a bit more and both parties get what they're looking for.

My wife and I have been in Aus about 12 years. During this time I've been working full time and she's worked probably 3 1/2 years total while our kids where young. Like many immigrants we started from scratch and have done ok. We own our home with a reasonable mortgage and we have been accumulating super. I've been working for myself for about 3 years and as part of our setup I've been contributing into both our super accounts. They're set up as low cost industry index funds and I pay into them fortnightly. When I look at the balances I see really healthy growth and I'm comfortable that our current trajectory gives us the "bare minimum" of a paid off home and a decent super. Not rich, but not struggling.

The issue is my wife doesn't trust super as she sees it as something the government can change or take away. She grew up through the collapse of the Soviet Union and lived the effects of government control and hyperinflation of the early 90s. So let's say she's low trust. She also doesn't trust equities as it's not tangible and seems like gambling.

She'd rather we moved to an SMSF and bought property because it's a tangible asset and in her opinion will grow more than the "fake money" we have invested in equities in super. I suppose it's partly driven by how much growth we've had in our PPOR, it's more than doubled since we built it in 2019.

I'm against this approach completely, I'd prefer to hold equities through my super at low cost to diversify and maximising the tax advantage. From my research an SMSF is expensive at our amount of super and I don't really get the point of buying at asset that loses me money for the next 10-15 years on the hope that the value continues to rise.

I am working on increasing my income so I can buy an IP and diversify, but it's pretty secondary for me. It's been hard on a single income for most of the time, but I'm doing pretty well and the kids are close to finishing school.

Any advice or resources on how to approach this conversation? The conversation comes up every few months and when we do some numbers on a spreadsheet it doesn't really stack up. Is she right, am I missing something?

There might still be a few rate hikes coming in 2026. Should the RBA just rip the bandage now to try bring down inflation?

Graduating this year and I have been deciding between a commerce degree majoring in finance or some sort of trade. But I'm not sure if the degree is thata good anymore. Could anyone provide some advice on what I should do?

Hypothetically, would $100K a year income before tax be enough for a comfortable life for 2 kids and 2 adults? No debt and PPOR paid in full

Edit - Based in Australia, very healthy super balance and lots of assets

​

I'm 31F and honestly feeling really lost about what to do with my life.

I have around $250k in savings from a unit I previously owned and sold. I moved back in with my mum after leaving an abusive relationship. I saved pretty frugally from my early 20s, so I'm lucky to have some savings, but I don't really know what to do with my life from here.

I've had this constant feeling that I just want to leave and travel for 6 months. I've spent most of my 20s in long term abusive relationships and also had a pretty traumatic childhood. I feel like I've never really had the chance to just be alone, experience life and figure out who I actually am without being in a relationship or dealing with everything else.

My relationship with my mum isn't the best either, so I don't really want to be stuck living here long-term. Constantly being called dumb and stupid by her for considering buying a one bedroom unit, which makes me doubt myself even more.

The biggest thing keeping me awake at night is thinking about what happens when I come back.

I don't have a degree. I left school in Year 8 and made a lot of poor choices when I was younger, but I did turn my life around when I was 18. I have social anxiety and low self-esteem and I'm not great at communicating with people. I've worked in an entry-level receptionist role for the last 4 years. I earn about $55k a year. It's stable and they're really understanding about my mental health, but I don't see myself staying there forever and I don't really see much progression for myself.

I have loan approval for $260k with CommBank and I've been looking at buying a one bedroom unit for around $400k. I will probably have around $60k left in savings after everything.

Part of me thinks I should just buy the unit, then travel and have somewhere to come back to. But another part of me thinks I should stay at my mum's, travel now while I can, and worry about buying a place later.

I'd really appreciate advice from anyone who has started over in their 30s.

Hi everyone, writing this post to get a bit of perspective from others who have been in similar situation.

A bit of background: Me and my husband are in our early 30’s and migrated to Australia about 4 years ago. Both of us work full time and have 1 child. Until this year we managed our finances separately and only put whatever we have budgeted for in the joint account based on our income ratio.

3 months back we bought our first house and for the deposit and stamp duty we decided it would be better to break my HISA as that amount covered the entire funds needed upfront.

He has put in all of his savings in the offset. We both are now focusing on our mortgage and putting any money we bring in into the offset account. However this situation has put me on the edge regarding my own finances. I have absolutely no “personal” emergency funds. All of our expenditure is now channeled through the offset account which is accessible to both of us.

Even after being married for 5 years, i feel guilty for feeling this way. My husband is a good man. But I don’t like knowing that the lines are now blurred. I don’t know if it’s a woman thing or a frugal thing, but how have others who felt similarly navigated this? Should i start saving away a little bit in my own savings account? I recently started investing a fixed amount in ETFs every month.

Got a chance to buy the place I live in for a fixed price of 660K. Have 80K cash (could probably get 20 more instantly). Earn 120K. No debts at all except ~40K HECS.

Bank won't lend enough to buy. They say they want another 30K deposit. Yes I qualify for first home buyers and all that. Single person.

I just had this thought.....while I was doing tax and learning some tax rule....

when an Australian company replaces a local worker with someone permanently working overseas, it is not only the employee who loses....
BUT also, government will lose so much money (they already are highly likely)

Australia gov may also lose:
● personal income tax
● Medicare levy
● state payroll tax
● GST from the worker’s local spending or some supply for employee made by emplyer
● super contributions invested in Australia
● secondary economic activity supported by that salary

The amount of job which already moved offshores are massive numbers......

https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/nab-plans-to-hire-up-to-1000-more-staff-in-india-and-vietnam-20260519-p5zylm

EX: an Australian worker earning around $100,000 might pay roughly $22,000 a year in income tax and Medicare levy. (sorry, probably my math arent correct..)

If 50,000 similar jobs are permanently moved offshore, that could represent more than $1 billion a year in direct personal tax revenue alone. (sorry, again, probably my math arent correct..)

I would love to hear any thoughts on this or someone can do better math to calculate how bad it could be hahahahah

Personal finance question. Can’t stay working where I am for my sanity and health, either going to get fired or move on. Trying to move on myself first. Only a year into a lease.
Do I have to return it? Sell it?

I‘m looking for some opinions on my situation.

I currently have a PPOR I bought with 5% deposit - $570k mortgage and about $3500 repayments. I work in mining but I’m pretty burned out not sure I can hold on.

I was thinking to have a year break at least to see what’s next, but the rent won’t cover repayments unfortunately.

It’s a newly developed suburb close to Wanneroo in Perth is it’s related. The market is going down which means if I don’t sell I might have to be stuck in the current job? If I sell I probably won’t be able to get back into market.

Should I sell now or wait?

Construction worker in NSW, I asked a thread in here a few weeks ago because I discovered I have income protection insurance through my Super (CBUS) and union (CFMEU). The general consensus was that it's a waste, so I am planning to cancel the Super one (because I have no control over the union one), and most people believe the union one will be a superior policy anyway.

But today I just realised I actually have a third - on the bottom of my payslip, the employer also pays about $20/wk for income protection insurance.

So I don't think I can personally cancel either this or the union one so I'll have to keep both. Is this a problem?

Hey Guys,

Age 22M about to graduate next year in law, haven’t maxed out super but have that in Rest at 70/30 international and domestic.

I have VGS/VAS with 100k in it and 400k in an inherited individual stocks.

Should I move it all into Vanguard or setting up a portfolio of:

- GGBL (65%)
- G200 (15%)
- QSML (10%)
- VGE (10%)

Or should I maintain Vanguard, I have a high risk tolerance and want to set up once and do it right.

Aiming for a long term hold of 25-30 years with DCA strategy. High risk tolerance due to long window.

Cheers.

After starting full-time work and having to figure out my own taxes, I realised how little I actually knew about things like reading a payslip, the tax-free threshold, or even why some people end up with a tax bill.

It made me think that schools do a great job teaching a lot of subjects, but practical topics like tax, budgeting and superannuation don't seem to get much attention.

Do you think learning these basics in school would have made life easier, or are they just things people naturally pick up as adults?

Fyi...

You can now donate less than $2 and deduct it.

ATO removed $2 minimum on 1 July 2026 for ALL Charities.

Some Charities are slow to change theit web pages and printed brochures.

MAKE SURE YOU ALWAYS GET A RECIEPT, EVEN FOR 1 CENT:

https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/income-deductions-offsets-and-records/deductions-you-can-claim/gifts-and-donations

Looking at International Shares (Unhedged) super options, has been a while since I looked last and just going off performance (not fussed by active or ETF wrapper). Is it a toss up between the following?

ART International Shares Unhedged Index - 0.10% fee + admin

HostPlus International Shares – Indexed - 0.03% fee

Hi all,

Recently got out of LTR 24m and had to move back home after renting with my partner. I don’t want to be home for long Im not rushing it, but would like to start looking at moving out again by next year, so will give it 6 months back home. I’m thinking I would like to buy somewhere the areas I would like to look at is the Shire or around the Hurstville area.

Looking at a 2 bedroom apartment
Approx:
Shire - 700k
Huntsville - 600-650k

I am willing to extend myself for a apartment in the shire.

Financial position:
- 45k term deposit
- 15k ETF
- 12.5k FHSSS
Overall: 72.5k

Salary: 105k before overtime
Fortnightly: 3k after tax
Ultimately I’ll earn an extra 10k after overtime roughly and am in the fortunate position that I will have the ability to get secondary employment and could earn an extra 10-15k before tax

Operating on a 630k mortgage estimate:
Repayments: 3780k pm

Deductions:
Roommate: approx $300pw

Repayments will then be: $2580pm

I’m wondering if this makes much sense or will be to much money to pay off with all expenses?

If I’m operating on just my base salary 6.5k after tax calculating all expenses
Repayments: 2580k PM
All approximates
Strata: 400pm
Council rates: $120pm
Water: $40pm
Electricity: $60pm split with roommate
Internet: $50pm

Total fixed housing costs will be $3250 which will be exactly half of my base monthly salary. This is before any other housing costs Then all other expenses such as my car, health insurance etc will need to be added. Is 50% housing costs to much of a stress?

I don’t have any major pay rises coming up, my base salary will increase to 115k in 2 years when further qualified. Will receive about a 2-5% pay rise depending on how the union goes. But the flexibility that I can pick up extra employment will remain due to shift work flexibility. Just concerned these costs may be too high. Thoughts would be appreciated on if you feel this may be to much of a stretch :)

I obviously would still like to maintain some semblance of a life. Just worried that I may be to far stretched and if anyone has some advice or experience in a similar position

We are struggling severely. Mortgage currently on freeze to help us catch up. Credit score in the gutter. However, due to the market we have approximately 2x estimated sale value vs mortgage size. If we sell the house, we will be able to move back in with my parents but that means moving my partner and 2 kids in with them as well (partner is on board). We want a bigger house ideally at least 4 beds. Mortgage 330k, estimated sale 650k. I am sole provider, making 115k per year. If we sold, waited 6-12 months living with parents to rebuild credit history, is it likely with a 250k deposit and 115k per year salary I’d be considered for another mortgage in this time period?

Edit to add the reason we’re struggling so much is because we made stupid debt related decisions a few years ago and they’re keeping us down and we can’t get back on top of them. So selling the house would give us enough to smash that debt so all we’re paying is what we’re need to pay not other stupid debtts we entered

My employer has switched from calculating super on full salary before salary sacrificed novated lease payments, to calculating super on post salary sacrifice earnings, leading to a large hit to super contributions for employees with novated leases.

Has anyone elses employer done this as a result of the payday super changes? As best I can tell, the changes don't require employers to calculate on post sacrifice earnings, but fringe benefits are no longer considered Qualified Earnings so they are within their rights to.

My issue is that they've communicated that they are legally required to calculate on QE now, I don't think that's true. I contend that the decision to calculate on that now, when they weren't before, is discretionary and should be communicated as such. If they accept this, it may offer some opportunity for employees to recover the lost remuneration either by the employer reverting back to the pre-sacrifice calculation, or some other medod.

This is a big embarrassing to confess but im 22 and have about 16k in debt…

My life is history is complicated and i currently live by myself and work full time and study. I have multiple debts. My credit score is terrible ( like 218)… I’ve been thinking about consolidating the debts and was wondering if anyone has done it or can list out the pros and cons

As well as if my credit score truly is fucked forever and ways to improve once the debt is gone.

Hello. I currently own 383 VDAL units I got paid my cash distribution of $57.37 for July 2026.

I know I have not given them my TFN so I know 47% is taken due to that but even with that I think I should of been paid more.

Should be $222.36 - 47% = $117.85 but I only got $57.37.

I am not sure why I am new to this ETF investing so any information would help me.

Thank you.

****update**\*

Someone told me this is why it happened not sure if its right or not

This means Vanguard did not charge you 47% tax on your gross income. Instead, they held exactly $165.00 out of your $222.37 total, which equals a massive 74% withholding rate.

This happens due to a specific quirk with how AMIT (Attributed Managed Investment Trust) rules interact with missing TFNs on final end-of-financial-year (June/July) distributions:

1. Non-Cash Capital Gains: ETFs often distribute capital gains and franking credits at the end of the financial year that are "attributed" to you on paper, but not paid out as physical cash.
2. Taxing the "Paper" Income: The ATO requires Vanguard to withhold 47% on your total taxable attributed income (which includes those non-cash components), not just your cash.
3. The Cash Drain: Because Vanguard cannot withhold tax out of "paper" capital gains, they have to take the 47% tax for the entire taxable amount out of your physical cash pool. This causes the cash deduction to skyrocket to $165, leaving you with just $57.37 in the hand.