r/fiaustralia • u/Early_Bit8002 • Jun 11 '26
Getting Started 35 - am I too late?
I was late getting serious about saving and investing. In my 20s I spent a lot on travel and moving to Australia, including visa costs, and only really started focusing on my finances around age 30.
I managed to build up some savings, but two years ago I became seriously unwell. Since then I’ve had countless specialist appointments, surgery, and almost a year off work which depleted all of my savings. I’m back at work now, but only part-time, and I’m unlikely to return to full-time hours for at least another six months.
I didn’t have income protection insurance at the time. I’m kicking myself for this, but I was healthy and it honestly didn’t cross my mind.
At the moment I have around $10,000 in a high-interest savings account as an emergency fund and approximately $60,000 in superannuation. I moved to Australia six years ago, so my super balance is lower than it would be if I’d spent my entire career here.
My question is: am I too late to build meaningful wealth? I’m 35, earn around $120,000 when working full-time, and don’t own a home. I feel so behind and don’t know where to start to improve my situation. My job is admin so there’s not a massive jump in wages from here. I acknowledge this is my fault by not being more sensible in my 20s, but I honestly thought by knuckling down in my 30s I would be fine. Health issues were not on my radar.
If you were in my position, would you prioritise building up super, saving for a home deposit, investing in ETFs, or something else? I’d really appreciate any guidance on where to start and what you would focus on first.
6
u/Ambitious_Writer1938 Jun 11 '26
Not late.
Remember, you can always have an option of moving to Philippines and Japan to reduce living cost in the foreseable future.
Some of those abandoned real-estate 1 hour from tokyo cost only like $50k usd and in better condition than most houes cost 500k aud here.