Just opened an account with Betashares this morning and my plan is to put $50 pw. Open to suggestions!

Edit: Thanks for the supportive comments peeps 🥂

Love learning about investing and how the market works. I’ve been investing $50 a week for 2.5 months, I’ve increased to $200 a week now and into I’ll be at a $10k portfolio by end of 2027.

It’s been a year of investing, started when I was 26. Never missed, consistently putting $600 per month regardless. Automation is such a big factor to it.

Please let me know how I can improve. Cheers!

Hello, thanks in advance for your time. I heard about FIRE a few years ago but only got my first real full time job at 31, so have been slack about sorting myself out earlier. Honestly I incorrectly thought that it wouldn’t really apply to me (didn’t grow up with money). Now I have done relatively well at work and pay has gone up significantly in the last 2 years, although this has potential to do so for a little bit longer, it will plateau.

- Annual income 185k
- Super 98k, and now meeting concessional super cap yearly
- Have a study loan that will take about 17k a year for 3 more years
- Mortgage 640k, offset 110k (offset shared with partner, current interest rate 6.39 variable)
- Emergency fund 30k also in offset
- Monthly spend including mortgage repayment about 3k
- Partner income 120k, not likely to change in future
- No kids, my main spend is travel now that I can, and spend ~5-8k a year depending on friend/family and destination
- have about 70k in carry forward concessional super contributions (the oldest remaining amount is only about 2k).
- I’m also thinking of novated leasing an EV from work (~200-250$ a week). I drive 100km+ a day so electric is going to help me with fuel costs in the long run.

Things I’m wondering:
- Is it worth trying to get my tax bracket below 130k with my carry forward amount and salary sacrificing over the next 2-3 years with the novated lease and some salary packaging? I know it would only be possible if I prioritise this over travelling over this time. Or is this more of a personal ‘what do you value more vs FIRE’ decision?
- I have 5k I can put aside right now into either super or start investing (I’ve seen people recommend Betashares a lot due to their fee structure). But do I focus on maxing out carry forward concessional contributions before thinking about getting my head around stocks? I’ve been doing some reading this week on the resources from this sub, don’t feel comfortable with all the jargon like I still haven’t gotten my head around franking 😅
- Is it time to refinance that mortgage? Two months ago it was 6.1%

As always, regret not getting my shit sorted earlier but thankful to have found the community here!

Currently have a CommSec account with my investments in it, Want to know which platform is best to use and how the transferring process will work if i do decide to switch.

sorry if this has been asked before

Hi all, looking to get started investing and just wondering what platform everyone recommends. Thanks in advance

I’m working full time at the moment whilst figuring out what to pursue (GAP YEAR - Planning to enter FIFO work through trades).

I’m allocating $1000 monthly for investment into shares whilst the remaining amount is for expenses and increasing my emergency funds.

Right now I’m all into VDAL with roughly $6000 within the ETF.

Just wanting advice on whether I’m on the right track and should keep investing into this.

How would this ETF compare something similar such as DHHF?

Planning to salary sacrifice as well and increase the amount being put into SUPER.

Does the super fund you decide on matter? I’m aware that being in a industry super fund is important but how do they all compare with one another.

Is there anything that I could improve on? Would appreciate the advice.

Cheers

I am 40 years old and have recently inherited exactly $1,000,000 and need some guidance and peoples ideas on how to manage this new situation I am in.

Earn $110,000 per year in a fairly cruisy role that is engaging, challenging and stress free. I don't hate doing this job.

$550,000 in Superannuation high growth (I made forward a contribution from a much smaller inheritance a few years ago.

House valued at $700,000 -$750,000 with no mortgage. It is built on a severe slope with a steep driveway (45 degrees) and two flights of stairs. Although it has beautiful views, it is a real pain to maintain and get shopping up and not viable long term when I get old. I am fit now, but not when I am 70. I have actually fallen down the driveway a few times.

These are the options I am thinking about:

1. Sell my current house now and buy a new forever house for $1,100,000 on a flat block. I would be selling the house for a little over what I paid for it and have injected a bit fixing it up. Put the balance, $400,000 - $500,000 into ETFs live off this if I retire at 50-55, before super kicks in.
2. Keep my current house and buy a new forever house for $1,100,000 on a flat block. Rent out the original house. All my money is tied up in super and house.
3. Keep my current house and invest the $1,000,000 in ETFs. Retire earlier at 50 and look for a house that is much more suitable when I am older. Maybe retire overseas or somewhere else entirely once all my family is gone.

I am not Finance literate and I am unsure what do due to all the changes with the CGT and housing and I cant predict what house prices will be in 20-30 years. I dont know what the best option would be.

Repost

Stupid question, I know, haha. I got an investment account as a kid under my parents name when Gamestop went nuts, made 10k, and have had that sitting in my Etoro account for yeaaars now. I'm estranged with my parents but the account links to my bank account, and I wouldn't mind taking that money out and reinvesting it elsewhere in my own personal adult account.

Of course I know nothing about investing in the slightest, and I'm sure the ATO would set me straight if I filed wrong so it's nothing to worry about too bad, but I figured I'd ask anyway so I could do my best in figuring out how to handle this.

Hi guys, just looking for some general feedback on my portfolio as a 19 year old.
I have my investments attached. I have around 18k in there currently. I also have 6k in my bank savings account saved for travel, semi long term (5 years) goals, and emergencies. I have a few thousand in physical gold but dont plan to sell it as it was given by family.

Eventually I want to move out— should I save in my bank account for this, or just put most of my money into etfs??? and take it out when I need to use it?
Or should I aim to generally not take out my money from ETFs for the foreseeable future and use it for very long term goals like retirement/house instead??

Thank you!

Hey all,

Started my portfolio finally in April. Started with 70/30 s&p/asx. Decided to have a bit of fun with an individual stock just recently.

Any feedback or advice.

TIA:)

Hi all,
What is everyone using for a share trading platform, I’m currently on stake, between them getting hacked and them wanting to use a third party for biometrics.
It’s time to leave.

So looking for a different solution, ideally without Know Your Customer (KYC)
Drivers lic ect is ok, biometrics is not.

Hi,
Does anyone here invests in US covered call etfs or closed ended funds purely just for income purpose? Example: QQQI, GPIX, GPIQ or anything similar? What broker do you use for that?
Or does anyone invests in aussie income etfs? What are you guys invested in?

Currently 21M. Just moved back home.

Income; 103k total

($75,400 base remaining is a higher duties allowance / bonus so no super.)

Assets; 83k total

6k - motorbike & miscellaneous

11k - emergency fund in a HYSA

40k - home deposit (currently in offset for parents IP)

Super~ 24k

$2,000 - shares ($750 in etfs and remainder is part of employee share plan)

Debts / expenses; 14k

10k - hecs/helps

$600/fn - rent (paying half the rent for old place until end of this year as I’m on the lease and my ex-partner cannot afford it, to be replaced with board for parents from next year)

$500/mth - essential expenses (car, meds, clothes, food)

$600/mth - entertainment and miscellaneous (nonessential but keeps me sane)

Current strategy;

DCA $500 a fortnight into DHHF

Salary sacrificing $775 into super from next payslip.

Saving the rest for the home deposit goal: ~ 100k by 2029.

My current plan is to have 15k in concessional super contributions for the FHSS scheme, to ideally have the 50k to withdraw when I want to buy a house. Aiming for total deposit of 150k.

My current role is a secondment with a very high likelihood of permanency and will make my base 103k with no extra income expected to occur FY 27.

Are there any issue with my current plan? I haven’t done too much research because I tend to get analysis paralysis, and I wanted to maximise the time in the market. Only buying DHHF rn, might explore other options later.

Questions:

- Is it “worth” maxing my concessional super contributions if my plan is to retire before 50?

- the estimates I’ve provided are only estimates but I’m often left in surplus funds and I’m not sure what the best allocations would be for them.

Please share if I’ve made any oversights or any fatal mistakes in this set up. I work in banking yet I am not financially literate and am still working on building capability.

The role that I am professionally developing into has a 140k base w/ 10% performance bonus available, I estimate it will take Atleast 2 years before I am in that role tho, so I haven’t considered it as a part of my strategy.

Please also share any helpful resources for FIRE! I’m very new and wanted to take action ASAP as I feel very behind.

Thank you!

I'm not a shill for this just generally interested to see what people are building using Claude AI and this popped up. Skewed to the US but a very nice concept and design.

Hello!

I have to make a decision about whether or not to accept the bank (NAB) settlement offer of $7,000 today or to proceed to determination. I need your opinions/advice. Quick summary - I paid a tradie over $24,000 for work/materials that were largely not delivered. I called up my bank NAB and reported the transaction. NAB explicitly assured me on a recorded call that my funds would definitely be recovered, either through NAB or the receiving bank. They have accepted this was their mistake.

I relied on that assurance and delayed independent debt recovery (8 months ago) because I was explicitly told by NAB that the funds would be recovered and I would not need to engage any one else to recover them. They were unable to recover them and now the tradie is no longer In the same state or locateable. A debt collection agency says it would previously have taken on the debt with high recovery prospects but cannot proceed now without a current address.

My claim is about the recovery opportunity lost through relying on NAB’s assurance. NAB has offered $7,000 as a final settlement, and AFCA’s case manager thinks a determination is unlikely to award more. The AFCA preliminary assessment was in the bank’s favour. However NAB initially offered $2,000 as “non financial loss” compensation and a gesture of “good will” and then they upped it to $4,000 and then $5,000 and now $7,000 as their final offer. This is so that we can resolve it and it does not proceed to final determination.

My AFCA case manager said - NAB has offered to resolve the complaint by paying you $7,000. In my view, this offer more than adequately compensates you for the incorrect information NAB provided during the telephone call. Based on the information currently available, it is also likely to be more than AFCA would award if the complaint proceeds to determination.

This gives me 0 confidence.. so I am rather conflicted should I take the $7,000 or proceed to determination with the ombudsman?

Has anyone had a similar situation??

only opened my account very recently and just want some tips and tricks very new to all of this my parents don’t talk about finances much and my mother in in debt so never really had anyone teach me about it learning from youtube videos and reddit

Hi all,

I started my humble ETF journey in 2024, starting with a minimal purchase of VDHG. Then, VGS -> BGBL -> Balance with A200 (20-80 AU/Global strategy) (I know this was a learning curve).

I have since then stopped buying VDHG and VGS. Now just committing to BGBL and A200. Right now I am at roughly 80/20 (Cash/ETF ratio), trying to balance towards 50/50.

I would like to switch to Betashares, since it has zero brokerage fee and allows fractional purchases. As a result, it would allow me to DCA instead of the current lump sum invest to minimise the 6.5$ flat brokerage fee. I know the CHESS-sponsored benefits, but at the same time, I know about the Superannuation model in Australia is Custodian.

I will keep Pearler for the remaining VGS and VDHG until I decide to close my Pearler account completely, to minimise CGT tax.  However, there are a few questions:

- Can CHESS-sponsored ETFs be converted to a custodian ETF without selling and incur any CGT tax? For my case, it would be BGBL and A200.

- I am 25M, not currently a PR holder, but I have a long-term plan here. Would this complicate my circumstances?

Thank you. Have a nice day.

What is everyone's thoughts on these as ETF options? Been investing in these for a few months now (initial investment of ~$13,000). Should I prioritise NDQ more? Should I lessen the A200 share? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

I'm looking for Australian brokers that offer custodial accounts. So far, I've found CMC Markets and CommSec, both of which have their pros and cons. However, I'd like to access global markets without paying excessively high fees. Are there any other Australian brokers that offer custodial accounts while providing access to international markets at competitive prices?

Afca Complaint Help

Hi there I'm currently going through case management stage with afca against a bank. My case is two online orders. I have paypal pdf records, bank statements etc showing the behaviour of this issue. When I order through uber eats they instantly deduct the amount from my balance and place it on hold. Uber eats tends to finilaise the order hours later and release back the amount they requested, then requesting a slightly smaller amount. The bank should release the original hold while deducting the 2nd. They don't. My bank has continued to hold onto pending amounts and take a 2nd dipping days later when the pending hold finalises.

I felt crazy for awhile. The bank did everything to make it out im dumb or don't understand basic debit behaviour and pending holds. I researched non stop. Realised what was actually happening. The bank has offered low amounts the whole time while saying they never double charged me (only debited the purchase once). When I sent an email with PayPal pdfs showing the 2nd amount paypal requested from my bank and arguing the bank hasn't proved they released the original hold, all of a sudden the offer went from 50 to 500. Bank has admitted an error caused an overdraft and etc.

But I dont have an explanation. To why its happening. Will it happen again? Yes I just avoid online purchases now. Bendigo can't prove anythings fixed or that it's an individual issue. But 500 isn't a low amount...do I continue with this knowing I have a bank issue and have been getting ripped off for God knows how long or take the 500 and run off and the bank wins.

It's not about being right or the money. I chased an explanation this entire time while being degraded by the bank and made a fool. And I still have no real answers to this issue. Just a 500 offer if I take it. I just don't know if afca can request enough from bendigo or if I do all this for nothing.

What would you do. I just want my money safe from a banks "errors"

Im 26 (F) doing it all alone.

G’day everyone! I’ve saved up about $14,000 for a new motorbike, but I’m keen to hear your thoughts on credit cards. If I were to put the purchase on a card, which one would you reckon is best for scoring some decent perks? I’m after Qantas or Velocity points so I can use them for lounge access or flight upgrades when I’m travelling. Cheers for any tips!

I have around 120k in etfs which I invest $400 a week. I also have around 30k in savings. I’m in the process of joining the army where the plan is to obviously move out of home and live on base where most of my day to day and living expenses will be covered.

I’m thinking about buying an investment property in the next couple of years. Is it even worth going this route anymore with interest rates and negative gearing changes, or should I just load up on my portfolio account.

My minimum DCA is $2000 per week at a 75/25 split GGBL/GHHF for the next 10-15 years.
Receiving $200k early next year from a loan repayment from my parents. Intending to lump sum it in this whilst continuing the DCA strategy.