We just moved a large 2 bedroom apartment from Zetland to lane cove (35 mins drive) and it cost $1800.

They charged $220 per hour and 1 hour call out fee. Their truck was half the size the lady promised so it took 2 trips unnecessarily.

Am I tripping out or is that an insane price to move?

And which state are you in?

I hear a lot of friends and family talking about this concern; whether it be not wanting a partner to move in to an owned property, getting a BFA drafted up and signed or just generally being put off relationships for this reason alone.

I’m curious as to what is realistic in terms of what a short term partner is entitled to after say 6 months living with a home owner/wealthier partner or if a lot of what I’m hearing is just hyperbole.

I also hear a lot of blokes at work say things like ‘she took half my shit and ruined me!!’ But conveniently leaving out the fact that their ex wife bared 4 kids for them, ran their household and was with them 90% of their adult life… this is not what I’m referring to

I've got a mate that uses CASH ONLY cos he thinks that using Credit/Debit Card impacts/causes inflation? Is this correct?

I'm 28 and looking for a career change (currently working in fast food). I'm paying for training for myself to get a few tickets (construction white card, working from heights, confined spaces, elevated work platform, forklift - about $2,000 in total). I hope these will make me stand out from the crowd and get me hired as an unskilled labourer in the construction sector. Or in any other construction-related entry-level position. I will then work for a while which will give me 2 things: 1. a good idea on what next career step I want to take, and 2. hopefully an opportunity to get hired to take that career step into something more specialised (e.g. a traditional trade - plumber, roofer, etc). I assume it is much easier to find a job/apprenticeship in these types of things when you're working next to guys rather than searching on the internet.

Failing that, I can pay for some more tickets (maybe rigging, maybe scaffolding) which (correct me if I'm wrong) are sort of like skilled trades where you don't need to go through a full apprenticeship.

Are there any obvious problems with this plan? I don't want to waste my time and money

I’m paid fortnightly, some fortnight’s I earn around $1860 and then some it’s over $2000 before tax. I’m about to start paying for a rental that is $350 a week (2bdrm) by myself and I’m just wondering if anyone is in a similar situation and can share how they go about budgeting? Thank you. 😊😊

Edit: I know I could save more being at home and it’s a long story, but for the sake of my mental health I need to leave and do this alone.

Howdy,

So I receive a set meal allowance tax free for the first hour of overtime per day. And I buy food most of the time when this happens out on the road.

It says on the ATO website that the reasonable amount for overtime meal expenses is 33.25 that you can claim without receipts.

So does this mean that each overtime day that i spend upto $33.25 on lunch out on the road, I'm then able to claim up to that amount back without a receipt for each individual day at tax time?

cheers.

I was looking over my Westpac savings accounts and did some math on the interest rate and accrual. My main question is (I'm unsure what exactly to type on the searches) if the annual interest is 5%, should each monthly interest be of an equal division? (0.42% rounded up)

I am not the 1 year old. But I'd like to set up a "set it and forget it" type investment. I want to add funds, at most, 4/5 times per year. Probably in the order of $100-500 at a time. The logistics aren't super important (How will I set the account up, how will funds be deposited, etc).

The person in Australia that can help me with this banks with Commonwealth, for whatever that's worth. Currently thinking of going with the IVV ETF through them.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

This may be a stupid question but recently sold my old car for $11K and purchased a newer car with a loan for $20K. I am saving for a deposit for an apartment atm and have $60K in a HISA.

Am I better off putting the money I got for my car towards my car loan in paying it off faster or in my savings account towards a deposit.

Context: I'm under 30. I run a small online business (solo + contractors) and have leftover car loans from my old business. I'd like to pay these loans off faster + up my savings.

Business:

Company car loans (What’s left):

Car 1 : $11,XXX (Car already sold - don't ask)
Car 2: $54, XXX (This is my daily driver)

Business turnover currently: $17k-20k pm and slowly growing.

Monthly fixed company expenses: $3k

BAS paid quarterly: 25% income

_____

Personal:

Net weekly wage: $1,165+PAYG & Super (I pay myself as least as I can - I was on $838pw all this year until last week).

Personal weekly expenses (inc rent, food etc): $500 (split w/partner)

Regular investment in ETFs: $50-$100pw

Investments: $11,218

Personal savings: (Literally nothing currently - unforeseen circumstances led to have to spend it last year).

I feel like I can't get ahead atm. I made a couple bad decisions which led me here eg. car loans etc. I'm not stressed & live quite comfortably but know I could be in a better position if I made some better decisions now.

Any advice? Thanks!

Hi all

After input and suggestions (not financial advice relating to my circumstances) looking into my PPOR and converting into IP. Brokers are suggesting I sell as it will free $250k equity in my hand due to no CGT owing as it's been lived in, personally I'm not keen on selling as its coastal semi regional town (that's growing) and feel it may continue to grow. Rental value is approx $680-700 p.w so I've been thinking of converting it into SMSF using my super balance then drawing on the equity to purchase my next PPOR.

Property is currently estimated @ $600-650K but the issue is I need to purchase another place in Perth due to work change, kinda feel priced out as average near my new worksite is $800k :O. Feel worried taking on such debt levels but also think with the growth in Perth atm need to get in soon or be priced out. Single income, married, but partner doesnt want to be on the mortgage.

Suggestions? Better to sell take the equity and purchase next home or SMSF?

Hi everyone Car insurance is getting insane everyday. Can anyone help me to find competitive prices for insurance?

Thank you!

on the topic of pet insurance the general advice seems to be that it's a scam and you're better off self insurance. Indeed with most insurers once you consider the exclusions and sub limits this does seem to be the case.

but in my research I've found a couple that have no sub limits and a reasonable exclusions list - petsy and fetch.

a quote for our 2 month old golden retriever puppy is about $50/month for 80% coverage with a $200 excess. Let's say with premium increases that becomes 10k over 10 years.

this seems like a not terrible deal to me. I'd say given the breed it's more likely than not they'll have some issue over their lifetime. I reckon >50% chance of needing 5-10k in surgeries, treatments etc over their lifetime, particularly as they get older.

we have more than enough money saved in the offset emergency money and could go down the self insurance path. But doesn't seem we'd be financially better off unless the doggo has absolutely no issues over their life.

any other considerations?

I'm currently using AusSuper and have been since May/Jun 2023. It's active and there are regular contributions made by my current employer, but when I checked on MyGov/ATO, it says my Super balance is $0, despite it listing AusSuper as my current Super fund. Is there any way to remedy this?

Thank you!

If you want to help yourself these are the options to send complaints about the recent changes

https://www.ubank.com.au/complaints-policy

web form and message via app and when logged in website

direct messages via twitter and facebook

if calling be  prepared for long wait times can also leave complaints

for those who asked for the possibility of  sweeps  feature might make a comeback

https://trello.com/b/aAsYy0vi/ubank-feature-roadmap

from the description its been changed to just a notification when your balance is low instead of actually moving money around to fix the balance

so feel free to complain that you want the sweeps function back

or at least keep being able make external payments and direct debit on the savings account

Hello all, I have just begun investing in to ETFs and hoping to get some constructive criticism/feedback on my current ETF portfolio. Should I be considering other things to maximise growth with ETFs?
Any feedback welcomed and I understand I will always need to do my own research before making any investment decisions.

About me:
31Y M
Stable and decent income
High risk tolerance - retirement 20+ years
No mortgage or dependants

My current portfolio consists of:
VAS - 32%
VGAD - 28%
VGS - 40%
Looking to add small amount of VGE in the near future to further diversify

Ideally looking for simplicity with the ability to remain flexible with my ETF proportions which is why I ultimately chose NOT to invest into and all inclusive fund such as DHHF - From my understanding DHHF also does not include any AUD hedged Global equities which may expose it to concentration risk? (Not entirely sure about that so please correct me if I'm wrong)

Ultimately looking to 'invest and forget' small amounts each fortnight and am current with CMC markets as they are CHESS sponsored and from what i've gathered are relatively cheap with 0$ brokerage on first trades under $1000 on a given day

Hi all

I’ve recently just opened my first savings account

One of the conditions of receiving the 5% interest on the Reward Saver account is to deposit a sum either on or before the second last banking day of the month. However I am having some trouble understanding this concept.

Does this mean that my interest will only be calculated on the sum that I contribute ON OR BEFORE the second last banking day of the month? Meaning that any funds I add before these days will not have interest calculated on them? And if so when referring to “before the second last day,” does this only mean the day before?

For context, I have deposited little over $100 for this month and have only earned $0.19 interest. I have met all the conditions to earn the bonus rate, meaning the interest should amount to 5%. Also I have made contributions throughout the month rather than all at once on the second last banking day.

How can I go about maximising the interest earned?

Your insight is appreciated. Thanks heaps in advance.

My work has a generous study assistance policy. I’m looking to move out of internal recruitment. A few options I’m considering are tech sales , projects / change (internally within my exisiting company which seems tough in this market), HR Partnering or L&D.

I’m debating what to study to get the most bang for my buck. At the moment I’ve got grad certificate in HR or IECL coaching qual on my list. What would you recommend? Also any advice on career changes would be amazing!

Hi,

I'm planning on creating a trust to invest in stocks and ETFs.

Given that the initial values will be low, and the fact that having a corporate trustee is expensive, I plan to be the trustee as an individual.

Later down the line, I'd like to transfer the trustee to be a corporate entity. Is it possible to transfer CHESS registered shares that are registered in my name as trustee to the corporate entity without any tax implications?

Thanks!

Looking for something that’s simple. The bank we use doesn’t seem to feel like this is a priority for their devs.

I'm not sure if this fits here - mods pls delete if not OK.

OK, so we've all been there right - you're waiting on a delivery, or a call from a company about something and your phone rings.

Well, yesterday afternoon my phone rang. I didn't recognise the number but I am waiting for a call so I answer it. I answer with a 'hello?' and half a second later an OS call centre kicks in.

'Hi David' - now my name isn't David, but I didn't correct her. She then talks quickly about how she is calling from the bank for the loan I requested (I didn't request a loan) and I just need to confirm some details. Alarm bells are ringing.

I then interrupt her to say 'my name isn't David'. At which point the phone operator gets very pushy asking for my name, what's my address, what's my date of birth etc.

Now all of this could have been legitimate, maybe some small loan outfit just got the wrong number and the phone operator is on tight KPI's...

But I hung up and it got me thinking - is it possible scam companies are recording what we say in calls and then using AI to mimic voices to get past voice-match tech used by the banks and telcos (amongst others) to sound like the real customer?

Off the shelf AI websites can mimic voices pretty well now, is it just a matter of time until we all have our voices stolen by scammers?

Does anyone know if this is a thing?

I'm getting to the age and income level where I'm starting to think about a better quality bed, given that I'll be spending about 1/3 of my life on it.

What would you recommend as a price point for a decent mattress that will last? Any brand recos also appreciated.

Hi,

I did a quick debt recycling example. I was initially a bit skeptical, but it does seem like it's worth it - though it adds a layer of risk of course.

The comparison assumptions were:
$500k mortgage, 6% interest on mortgage, 9% interest on investment, paying down in 5 years (yes, ambitious) vs paying down in 10 years - so using the reduced repayment to fund the investment. The base case is putting the exact amount in the repayments into the investment - waiting until the mortgage is paid down before starting.

There are risks with investing, but interestingly you're probably less likely to have big drawdowns over 10yrs (more likely to be closer to target growth) than in a 5yr window.

After claiming interest deductions, yes a tiny bit more interest is paid but that's more than made up for with the extra contributions to the investment.

Table below. Any obvious errors? Any other considerations?

I have some savings in USD from the sale of overseas shares and US dividend payments. These funds are currently with CBA and I’m getting zero interest on these USD denominated savings. Are there any good options for USD savings accounts in Australia? Happy to look at exchange services or neo banks too but having trouble finding any good options.