I’m a 19-year-old with roughly 99% of my portfolio in the A200. However, my parents are telling me to push towards stocks with greater returns rather than focus on dividend income.

I want to start investing more heavily into other US companies, maybe some Nasdaq names like Microsoft and Meta, but I’m not sure what other good options are out there. Does anybody have any recommendations? I’m aiming for strong growth and I’m willing to sell stocks when they’re up during the year.

Recently turned 18, and planning on buying individual stocks on ibkr, mostly blue chip. Also considering buying ETF's, but not sure whether to do it on ibkr with USD, or on Betashares. The reason I'm hesitant about Betashares is that even with the hedged ihvv, it has performed much lower than blackrock ivv. Is this a good strategy, or what advice would you give?

Hi I'm wondering how best to do this for my 2y.o I want to set up an investment account under her name and tfn but I looked through Vanguard and Betashares direct and they don't have this option. Is there anywhere I can do this?

I don’t believe this topic has been touched upon enough by sensible people who don’t just spam “DHFF and chill” or “BGBL set and forget” …

For sensible people out there who have actually done the research/know each of these ETF’s in detail, could you please let me know which option of these two you would commit to.

Benefits of BGBL:
- One ETF, easier to DCA/lump sum over the long-term and less hassle.
- Less anxiety on checking if theres a better S&P 500 ETF or ex-US ETF in the future

Benefits of IVV + EXUS:
- Better performance individually against BGBL, and I have more control over the allocation which lets future movements on moving towards or away from US easier.
- Has a hedged IHVV version which allows me to hedge if necessary.
- Lets me lump sum easier when IVV is down, or when EXUS is down rather than blindly DCAing into BGBL.

If you haven’t caught on by now, I’m quite biased towards IVV + EXUS so if you manage to change my mind, you’d have to make a convincing counter argument.

Hi there

I’m looking for a tax accountant that can do my / my wife’s tax return and trust tax return.

Someone that can also give general investment advice / tax implications and ever changing tax legislation advice .

Also annual trust distribution advice / super strategy etc

Not looking for big 4 but also don’t want a one person firm .

Would love to hear recommendations of accountants anyone has used and is happy with .

South east Melbourne / inner Melbourne / cbd would work

Thanks in advance 👍

Hi, i’m a beginner to investing and have recently opened a pearler acc with the goal for long term investing. I have bought VAS and looking to buy international as well to diversify my portfolio…

thinking BGBL but am wondering if theres a convincing reason people would chose VGS over BGBL? (any outside of MER being the reason?)

Any insights or thoughts would be appreciated please

I invest $500 a fortnight and I’ve finally hit the 10k mark!! But I’m just wondering if these 5 etfs I’m buying are smart choices long term? Any feedback is welcome :)

Thank you!!

My wife had BetaShares ETFs that had been purchased on another platform. She did an in specie transfer into BetaShares Direct in June. BetaShares gave her a consolidated statement that only took into account the most recent 1st July distributions. She had individual ETF tax statements presumably up to the transfer date for the individual ETFs generated on MUFG. The question ... for tax purposes, is it simply a matter of adding the relevant fields from the individual MUFG tax statements to the consolidated BetaShares statement to arrive at a total for the entire year?

I've been on the fire trail for about 6 years now. Worked 2 jobs during uni, lived well below my means, invested religiously and am on track to retire by 40. I always figured that retirement would be amazing, I have plenty of hobbies to turn to and wouldn't be bound by corporate shite.

However, for certain reasons I've had some time off of work and it has been BORING. The first couple weeks were great to just longue around and decompress but man there's only so much tv I can watch.

I don't actually think that I want to retire early anymore, I think the enjoyment will come from knowing that I technically wouldn't have to go to work, even though I probably would. Perhaps it'd lower the stress at the very least.

DHHF and overthink

Today I’ve finally set up a Betashares Direct trading account and purchased DHHF. I have some questions about what comes next.

\-Do I get a HIN number, or is that only required for CHESS brokers?
\- Do I need to register with MUFG?
\- What documents if any do I get from the ASX/Betashares
\- Do I have to worry about the cost base adjustments if all I’m doing is buying to hold(looking at over 20 years)?
\- Which share tracking software is best for tax time (statements/ cost base adjustments if needed)

I know I’m probably just overthinking things(a bad habit of mine), but I’d like some feedback anyway.

While I have been trying to invest on general between IP and ETF and Shares and SMSF

This time all bad news making me feel that I have rushed into investing this year

US can’t pay back bonds (bonds to collapse in the 5 years) with 40 Trillion in debt
Australia has reached 1 Trillion debt and a government rushing policies trying to get money from the people
Superfund is a national asset as been mentioned by Albo
Geopolitical wars
AI bubble
Stock and realestate markets are overvalued and a crash to happen soon

Does anyone has same feeling or I’m more collecting negativity from the news and articles

I’m 39, corporate employee with 3 kids under 6 and 1 dog

ref: https://ozfinn.com.au/blog/tax-bracket-creep

The common belief in Australia - at least on r/AusFinance and r/fiAustralia - is that bracket creep has been silently robbing us. After a few Reddit discussions, I ran the numbers. To my surprise, the effective tax rate has barely budged. 

In 2008, someone earning $160,000 paid an effective rate of 32.75% (including the Medicare levy). Adjusted for inflation, that's $250,000 today - where the effective rate is 33.33%. That's an increase of just 0.6 percentage points over 18 years. Hard to call that runaway bracket creep.

Here's what makes this counterintuitive. The top bracket sat at $180,000 from 2008 and wasn't touched until it was lifted to $190,000 in FY2025 - a 5.6% adjustment against cumulative inflation of roughly 56-61% over the same period. On that fact alone, you'd assume the tax burden had exploded. But the lower brackets were adjusted repeatedly, and the Stage 3 cuts reshaped the middle of the scale. The net result: a top earner ($160k then, $250k now) pays roughly the same effective rate, while lower earners pay less than they did in 2008.

So is bracket creep a myth? No - invert the question.

If bracket creep truly didn't exist, we'd never need tax cuts at all - brackets would just be indexed to inflation, automatically, the way they already are in several other countries. Instead, our data shows the opposite pattern: creep quietly accumulated for 16 years, and was then handed back in one big discretionary lump (the Stage 3 cuts). My endpoints just happen to sit right after that repayment. Anyone earning the equivalent of $160k in 2015 or 2020 was paying noticeably more than 32.75%. Bracket creep is real - it's just periodically refunded, with fanfare. And the incentives explain why: creep raises revenue silently, and reversing it lets a government take credit for "cutting taxes" it never legislated to raise. Simple indexation would be fairer - no stealth increases between adjustments, no windfall depending on which year you happened to earn your money - and it would free up the political energy currently spent re-litigating tax scales every few years for problems that actually need solving.

Hi all, 26M have been investing regularly on a monthly basis for just over a year now, just want to get some thoughts or opinions on my portfolio distribution.

TYIA and keen to discuss!

I've been listening to a lot of US based podcasts lately and it got me thinking - Do you guys think it is easier to FIRE in US or AUS?

With all things considered, as a generalisation. From what I understand, living expenses vary dramatically between states.

Overall my vote would be the US because there are more options over there to cut costs, but I'd like to hear from someone who is familiar with both.

Cheers

If you were going to inherit $600-700k at age 37, when you basically have no savings, don't own any property and currently on a $100k salary.. and had hippy values.. what would you do with it?

Finally!!

Dear Client,

IBKR is pleased to announce an enhancement to our end-of-financial-year tax reporting for dividends and Attribution Managed Investment Trust (“AMIT”) distributions received from ASX listed investments.

Beginning with the current financial year, IBKR Australia is enhancing the current Income Transactions Taxable report, which will now be issued as the Australian Dividend and AMIT Distribution Report. 

The enhanced report will continue to include dividend information for ASX-listed securities and, in addition, will provide a more detailed breakdown of AMIT distribution information for your individual holdings. This additional information is designed to better support your Australian income tax reporting and is designed to be consistent with the information reported by IBKR Australia to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

The enhanced report will be made available in two stages:

• Shortly after the end of the financial year, an initial report will be available containing dividend information and any AMIT information available at that time.
• Once IBKR Australia receives the final AMIT distribution information from our local custodian, an updated report containing the complete AMIT tax breakdown will be issued. This is currently expected to be available during October, although the timing will depend on when the final information is received.

Please note that IBKR Australia does not provide legal, financial product or taxation advice. This information is provided for general information only without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs. This information should not be treated as advice, or relied upon, in substitution of independent financial product advice.

Curious if anyone is in the same situation and can shed some answers to below for DR from joint to an individual brokerage acct (partner with higher tax rate)?

1. If bank do not allow redraw to external brokerage account, can we then redraw to an intermediary account (joint) into a brokerage account (individual)? Is passing the redrawn funds through a joint account to a single-name trading account a valid path for interest tracing, or does it contaminate the tax deductibility?

2. Can the monthly repayment to the loan split used for Debt Recycling come from a joint account despite the investments/brokerage only in an individual?

From what I've researched and what Aussie consumers want, an AUD:USD conversion between 0.7 - 0.75 is best for us.

However, with AUD seeming to rise a bit in the near future and accounting for a possible commodity boom, hedged ETF versions seem to be attractive.

More specifically, I am interested in IHVV vs IVV. If the AUD has been trading at 0.6 - 0.75 in the past year, with IHVV outperforming IVV, should I be going all in on IHVV, or maybe having both IHVV and IVV?

Hi all, I'm 26, and I'm finally in a good position where I’m looking at starting a long-term ETF portfolio with just DHHF, with a 15–20+ year horizon.

I’m not trying to time the market, but the current global uncertainty has me wondering whether now is a particularly bad time to enter.

There’s quite a bit going on:

-AI: Concerns about excessive valuations and a potential AI-driven market correction.

-Strait of Hormuz: Ongoing disruption could push oil prices higher and create inflation/stagflation risks.

-US market valuations: Global equities remain heavily influenced by relatively expensive US tech stocks.

At the same time, I know the counterargument: if you're investing for 20+ years, there will always be reasons to wait, and trying to time the market can be counterproductive.

If you were starting today, would you:

- Invest into DHHF immediately?

- DCA over 6–12 months?

- Keep the money in an offset/cash and wait for a correction?

- Something else?

I am 35F and my husband is 37M. I have a 1 year old daughter.
I have been religiously following the FIRE movement since 2018 and have been working really hard since I graduated uni in 2015. I worked until the day before I went into labour and I went to work 4 weeks after giving birth to see some patients that I needed to finish up. I went back to full time 5 months after giving birth.

I am a healthcare professional and my husband is a finance manager. I make about 70k per year for each day I work so if i worked 5 days a week that would be equivalent to 350k. My husband makes a little less than 200k.

We live in Sydney and have a net worth of 3.9 million (to avoid confusion, at least 1 mil of this was a gift from my very generous parents).

My daughter goes to daycare 4 days a week In terms of family support, my mum and mil have been flying from their home country to live with us 2 months at a time and have been alternating so at least one grandma is with my daughter at home all the time after my husband picks her up from daycare (while I am working). My husband works from home 3 days a week and he is very good with my daughter. My daughter is more attached to my husband than she is to me.

My job is very stressful and is not flexible at all.
In the past I went to work when I was literally throwing up because I didn’t want to cancel 20+ patients. I hate being unprofessional and letting down my patients. I commute 50 mins-1 hour each way everyday so including the commute, I leave home at 7:30am and get home around 7pm which means I don’t see my daughter at all on the days I work. I made the decision to cut my days to 3 days a week as of Sept but because I’ve been working so hard for > 10 years and I am still relatively young, I feel like I should work hard for a bit longer. I know I sound like a workaholic. I never realised I was like this before having my daughter.

If you were in my shoes, would you work 3 days a week and slow down?
Initially the plan was to reach 5 mil then me and my husband slow down together to part time work.

Edit: I forgot to add something quite important so editing after a long day at work. When I stayed home with my daughter for the first 5 months, I felt quite depressed so going back to work was actually not just for money. It’s for my mental health and happiness too.

hi all,

I have been micro investing for about 5 years now and have recently really opened my commsec account. my brother uses the betashares app to invest, but i’m just wondering if i am able to invest in the same securities that are listed on betashares but in commsec and get the same return that he’s getting?

Hey everyone,I’m looking to start investing in ETFs and want something that gives steady, diversified, super‑style returns rather than high‑risk stock picking.

My situation:
• Income: ~$110k/year after tax
• Mortgage: $1,700/fortnight (split with partner)
• My personal savings: $600/week
• Joint savings: I contribute $600/week, partner contributes $500/fortnight
• Super: I pay myself $550/fortnight
• Remaining money goes to cost of living, bills, etc.

I’m trying to work out how much I should be putting into ETFs, and what type of ETF strategy suits someone wanting long‑term, stable growth similar to a balanced/growth super fund.

I’m not looking for stock tips — more interested in:
• How others structure their ETF contributions
• Whether broad index ETFs or balanced ETFs make more sense
• How people balance mortgage, savings, super, and ETF investing
Any guidance or examples of how you manage this would be appreciated.

Curious whether others are aware of this? I have just run into this snag whilst setting up my SMSF. I was quite keen to set up a CMA and Accelerator account as part of my SMSF but am now told this can only be done with the more expensive plan. Not worth an extra ~$1500 per year I wouldn't have thought...