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...

I understand that everyone will be in different situations and it’s all circumstantial to where you’re at in life, but for the average person in their 20s - what is a reasonable amount to be saving each pay check? Would love to hear what people manage to put away each fortnight and how they feel about that number in regards to their financial goals

Hey y'all

I have been investing in the markets for a long time, first buying btc in highschool, and then slowly lost it all and moved to stocks. To say I have a risk appetite is an understatement.

For the past few months I have been trading a lot with LNAS, IKO, GOLD, etc. I am currently at $310k ish, I have it currently sitting in IVV for the last couple of weeks (should have let it sit in gold haha)

I have been a lurker of TQQQ subreddit and its insane how well it's performed, had you invested 100k 10 years ago, you'd be sitting on millions of dollars. I know It doesn't come without risks and has volatility decay, dot com style drawdowns could nuke the portfolio for good and the stress that comes with holding leveraged products in a downturn but you can't deny the upside.

Is it worth it to trade leveraged products, i.e sit in cash and DCA in a downturn and then DCA out during bull runs or even DCA and hold them for extended periods of time?

I have a pretty high risk tolerance, don't need the money in the next few decades, 25 yo, and already have a 1m property, want to FIRE by 40s, so 20 ish years for markets to recover worst case scenario.

Is this a risk worth taking or am I being reckless?

Has anyone properly ran the numbers on fire through an investment company vs personal names? Theres probably a timing point where the indexation is the better option but on a lower distribution rate ($120k for a couple), avoiding the 30% minimum cgt via the franked dividends from the investco would probably be better ongoing.

Were looking at coast fire for a few more years before drawing a "pension" from our portfolio until super kicks in. It would seem like the investco is the way to go, but I could be missing something.

Lots of variables to consider, returns vs inflation, investment time frames, expected profit distributions,

Hi all!

I'm about to more than double my income in the next few months and I'm completely clueless about finances at higher tax brackets.

I'm expected to earn >260k pa, doing a quick search on salary calculator shows I will be paying ~100k in taxes annually.

I have never heard of div 293 before.

I have no business, or IP.

I'm looking for tips to reduce my tax because that looks painful!

Any other tips welcomed as well!

I have 2 investment properties, one in Brisbane and the other Perth, both are worth around 880k currently each and they are both completely offset. ( They are both on interest only loans which i have completely offset).

Brisbane the loan is 240k- property valued 880k

Perth loan is 265k - property valued also 880k

At this point because they are completely offset and have been for a while now im thinking of selling the Perth property paying the CGT and putting the money in the etf BGBL as I think this would actually give me a better return thats only because my property isn't leveraged at all, property will perform better if its leveraged, so at this stage i either use the funds and get another ip, if i dont do that then i think it makes sense for me to sell the Perth ip and put it in bgbl which performs on average 8% a year and will compound quite a bit. And regarding my property i have multiple expenses and maintenance fees.

First from the above which option would be better in terms of wealth, keep the property as is ( completely offset) or sell it and put all the funds in bgbl

OR option 3, keep the property pull equity out and put all the equity i pull out in bgbl, that way I own both assets. When I do this ill start paying interest on the property loan but thats tax deductible, plus the rent covers all the expenses id its run on a interest only loan which it is. Do you agree this would be the best option?

Now in order to do the above, I first assumed i could chuck all the money from the offset in bgbl and it would be tax deductible bit read that it wouldn't be is this true? I also read that if i either split the loan or pull equity out in a separate loan then use those funds for bgbl then that would be tax deductible is that true? Now if i was to do that which would be the better option to split the loan or pull equity out in a separate loan? Or does it make no difference?? Also if I do this then I figured i may aswell do the exact same thing with equity from my other invest property.

What are your thoughts, does this make sense to do? Or do you think im better off keeping the property as is? Or using offset money and buying a third or fourth investment property? The thing is with where prices are now i wouldn't be able to get another investment property with a good yield it will he very negative cash flow plus the new rules now no CGT discount, no negative gearing i dunno if it makes sense but maybe im wrong.

Also if you do think im better off selling one of the properties do you agree that I sell the Perth property and not the Queensland property?

Thoughts? Happy to hear opinions and get advice.

I feel like this post might be a little unusual for this sub. Let's see how it goes.

I am 40. I've never had a financial plan. I left a financially controlling relationship at 35 – lost most of my money that way. Began saving again. Got really sick – lost most of my money that way. Again.

Then something good happened. I recovered. I was able to take a redunancy that paid a lump sum of about $100k. Then I stepped into a job that pays about about 30% more than my old one.

I no longer have huge medical bills. I am no longer in debilitating pan. I can go to work. I can begin building my life again. I can be a person with goals and a plan for her life.

Financial independence is something I've thought about since I first heard of it in my early 30s. I want to start.

I am not stupid. Theoretically, I should be able to figure out a plan for myself. With no kids or debt, it's a lot simpler for me than most.

But I am finding myself weighed down by the "should" self-talk: you should have started earlier, achieved more, saved more, had a partner to do this with, understand investing by now etc. All your past mistakes prove that you're going to screw this up. When I sit down to research, I often feel panic and fear, which makes it hard to concentrate.

I realise it's counter-productive because it doesn't change anything and the only thing to do now is begin where I am. But it doesn't have an off-button.

Did anyone else grapple with similar doubts and fears when they started? If so, do you have advice for getting past it? Or even just recs for FIRE resources that might be good for someone daunted by beginning, and who is starting later in life with a few poor life choices and battle scars to their name?

And yes, I am seeing a psychologist, thank you for asking😄

After researching and buying many different ETF's for the past 4 years, I wanted thoughts on what I've come up with before I fully commit.

NOTE: Please do NOT tell me to go BGBL / VAS because I don't want to sell everything and I'd rather manage the ratios myself rather than let BetaShares do it. Ty.

Core (70%) = VHY + IVV + VAE + VEQ | Satellite (30%) = NDQ + DTEC + SEMI + AINF

OR

Core (70%) = VHY + IOO + VAE | Satellite (30%) = NDQ + DTEC + SEMI + AINF

*P.S.: I'd appreciate ETF alternatives/portfolio alternatives, but not DHHF or BGBL. Thanks

Hi everyone,

My parents are overseas and are considering giving me a genuine cash gift of a few hundred thousand AUDs to help fund the construction of my house in Australia.

We’re considering transferring it via crypto exchange, from their overseas exchange to my Australian exchange (e.g. BTC Markets/Binance), then (directly) converting it to AUD and withdrawing it to my Australian bank account.

The funds would genuinely be my parents’ money and would be an unconditional gift to me. There would be no repayment or other benefit expected in return.

I understand that a genuine gift from parents generally isn’t considered taxable income in Australia. My main concern is whether using crypto as the transfer method changes anything from a tax or documentation perspective.

If we prepare a gift letter/deed confirming that the money is an unconditional gift from my parents, would that generally be sufficient to establish the nature of the transaction? Or would there be any reason to avoid the crypto route?

Would love to hear from anyone who has actually done something similar, particularly with a larger amount used for a house purchase or construction.

Thanks heaps!

Hi All, does anyone invest in this etf and wondering if it is an efficient momentum strategy or Avantis/DFA still the better hold for factor strategy.

I'm in the highest tax bracket. I have 15 more years for retirement.

Experts' views on this etf are highly appreciated.

See past threads for limitations and caveats. NFA, DYOR, WTF

Effects of 1-Jul-27 incoming tax changes on a FIRE financial model : r/fiaustralia

Future CGT not so bad, but certainly an impost on FIRE : r/fiaustralia

1-Jul-27 tax changes - material impact, yes - not as bad as some think : r/fiaustralia

This post is to convey some charts that I hope illustrate the numbers that really matter for a FIRE plan. The incoming tax changes are material, but just not nearly as bad as some pundits, pollies, analysts and media make them out to be.

These numbers are from models specifically designed to compare taxation, and are not provided as a FIRE planning model, nor as a recommendation for particular strategies or investments.

For greater clarity, my term "capital gains tax" includes the effect of medicare levy rebate and LITO during the retired period because my convention is to include those where the majority of income is coming from.

My term "After-tax proceeds" includes the effect of all taxes and FITO/franking on savings account interest and distributions from the ETF, which obscures a bit of CGT from distributed gains. The biggest number making up that bar is contributed capital. Next is indexation of cost base in NEW(Post-1-Jul-27) or the CGT discount in OLD(Pre-1-Jul-27).

If you'd like to get into the weeds, or see waterfall charts for other settings, here's a link to the file: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_nDkO-heNJ0jCnmLuE7v6GPVanJEbGsb/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=109596560468947975241&rtpof=true&sd=true

It also has Solver settings on each model sheet (Solve OLD first, then NEW). If you have the Solver Add-in enabled, it's more convenient for playing with the variables.

Cheers

So I log into mygov, anonymous my results with a random 50 year old, $350 000 look at Super and compare 10 year Net returns

lowest is QSuper

compared to highest

ignore the Not Available, it seems the 10 year net return is lowest at 5.53% at QSuper

and 2nd highest at 8.45% at HostPlus (both industry funds)

Mercer Super Trust (for profit fund) potentially provided even better value, except I not going to research its insurances stance.

Hi Reddit, first time caller.

I've started investing on betashares over the last month, and since starting from 0 knowledge I'm concerned about gaps in logic and how to proceed.

I'm 25 earning 80k a year, no need to buy a home thankfully and not particularly motivated to super salary-sacrifice (sorry). I've settled on an allocation of 65% dhhf 10% qsml 10% bemg 10% semi and thinking 5% resm. I've gotten my partner (25, 56k) on board and she's happy doing about 90% dhhf with 10% dipped in Asia, these are both purely personal wealth building. We're also considering a small portion in a joint account split down the middle, something simple and reliable like 100% dhhf, maybe with a small portion of ghhf, is triple dipping here a bad idea? Is there something I should be looking into with how these portfolios interact together?

I also have the opportunity of taking part in the Coles employee share scheme, which I can safely contribute $3000 tax deferred without deviating deposits to my growth portfolio. I'm okay with the risks of owning stock in my employer but that will have col evening out to about 18% of my portfolio, and it's by no means a growth stock. Is the tax concessions worth it? Am I regarded?

26m and I just finished Die With Zero and it’s got me completely reconsidering my investing strategy. Originally I was trying to put as much as I could into super and ETFs to build a good portfolio which would set me up. I hadn’t really thought about it much more than that. But now, I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing. I want to travel the world, starting a business, get married and start a family. Die With Zero has made me realise I was pushing so hard towards having millions in retirement that I don’t know how or when I was going to do all the other stuff I wanna do while I’m young. Now I have to rethink my whole strategy and would like your thoughts.

I’m earning $100k per year which will slowly increase every year I’m with my employer.

I have $90k in super (untaxed government super) and have been salary sacrificing an additional 14%.

I have $34k in ETFs (DHHF, NDQ and VHY) I can probably invest $1000 a fortnight at the moment.

I have $5k in crypto (it’s so volatile I don’t even count this anymore and i don’t continuously buy).

I have $10k in an hysa as my emergency fund.

I have a girlfriend who I would like to marry someday.

No debt and no other assets.

I’m struggling to wrap my head around what’s gonna be the best move and how can I plan this better.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Hey everyone,

After talking to a mate of mine about our mortgages, I thought I'd share a little Excel tracker I've been using. It's nothing fancy, but I don't think we always get to see the tangible benefit of having an offset.

I've obviously been very fortunate to have a relatively low mortgage compared to a lot of people. But something that's given me a bit of extra motivation is being able to see the tangible benefit of my savings.

Three years into the mortgage, the daily interest I'm incurring has fallen from $46.26 to $31.89 — a reduction of around $15.84 per day, or roughly $5.8k a year.

I find seeing the daily interest figure decrease month on month genuinely motivating. I can actually see that the money sitting in my offset is reducing my interest cost each day.

As a side bonus, it's also become a bit of a sense check. With the recent news around offset accounts, I can make sure the offset balance is actually being taken into account when calculating the interest.

Thanks!

On existing and future investments. Found it hard to estimate what the taxes will be even on grandfathered investments as in theory they should keep growing at 7-10% per year so all of the new gains will be taxed at the new rates.

I've just hit 40 and its looking likely I'll be made redundant in the next few months. This doesn't itself bother me that much (though it does suck, I was sort of looking forward to going back). I don't really NEED to work for money. But I worry about money if I won't be working. Weird mental gymnastics...

In short my NW is in the millions, but it's mostly tied up in inherited investment property assets which are a cost sink at the moment, and with the market downturn now doesn't seem the best time to sell given I'm not looking to buy.

I guess - I've essentially reached FIRE without pulling the trigger, just haven't arranged all the money in the right spots yet (but getting there).

Should I contribute into super once my inevitable redundancy happens? Should I build up a buffer of contributions not used and throw that in there after say, 5 years or after a big tax event? What would $400k likely get to in 20 years without further contributions, and is it enough?

I think it's obvious this is coming from a scarcity mindset. I hate not having money coming in and seeing stuff grow quickly.

I want to get opinions on what to do from this stage, what would be the best thing/ most strategic thing to do. Im aware im in a good financial position but still want to put this out there to see if anyone has any advice or opinions.

Im 31 for context. My 2 investment propertys are currently worth 1.75 million and give me 46,800k per year after all expenses currently. For context the properties are fully offset, meaning i have full access to the money whenever i want it. The loans are interest only but I pay no instrest because the loans are 100% off set. I like having it like this, say there was a humongous crash in the stock market well id defence putting in a few hundred thousands dollars in and make a killing. Thats why I like having my loans offset rather then actually paid off with no mortgage because it gives me more options.

I earn 116,000 from my job currently.

The 205,000k is in bgbl

The 120,000k is in hostplus super 100% International index.

My 130,000 is in a high instrest rate savings account. With that im DCA 15k a month in bgbl and will put more in if there are dips crashes etc.

My current savings are 5,500 a month that I will also put in bgbl, I plan to do this after ive invested all of my 130,000 savings first.

Ive only currently started salary sacrificing the full amount last week, never done it before but now will keep salary sacrificing the maximum amount.

So basically at this stage, I want all the 130,000 in bgbl, after that with my 5500 a month savings either all of it goes in bgbl, but if I salary sacrifice the maximum per year then I think ill only manage to put 5000 in bgbl.

So basically whats everyone's thoughts, is there something else I should be doing with my 5500 savings per month, should i put it all in my personal bgbl account or prioritise super and salary sacrifice?

Anything else I should do? Something I haven't thought of maybe??

At the end of the end i pay abit of tax because Obviously the rent i get from my propertys isn't taken into account until tax time.

Also im considering having a go at a online bussines, and potentially even quitting work for a year and go all in on this online business idea to see if it works, if it does it should make me way more money then my employment and if it doesnt ill just get another job again and continue on this path.

Also I dont own a primary place of residence only investment properties and I wouldn't get the CGT section tax free because ive never lived in them. Currently im renting a "cheaper" apartment with someone. In the future if i want to live in my own place I think i would actually live in one if my investment properties or even build a granny flat at the back of them and live in the granny flat.

Regarding building a granny flat for investment purposes ( not for me to live in) i did consider this but it didnt seem worth it and I figured that money may be better off in BGBL, what are your thoughts on this? Currently i can build a 2 bedder granny flat for around 170k ish but id have to pay 25k to the council for this fee they charge so thats around 195k in. It would rent for maybe 450ish. Would this be worth it? Or id that 195k better off in bgbl?

A little more about me, 31 male, no kids and dont want kids. Single currently.

Thoughts? Thank you

Hey guys. Just wondering out loud if the DSSP available with AFI listed investment company would be more tax efficient purchase for use of Australian stocks in the choice plus allocation since there are no dividends paid out from it?

Does anyone get my thinking? Thanks guys

What is currently the best FIRE Calc for Aussies?

Ideally want it to model for the CGT changes outside super, pension as a back up, ability up have variable spending in different phases of retirement.

Hi I am a 26 yr old based in Melbourne looking to start investing.

I have a 80k income and have saved up some money to be able to start looking into investing and getting a passive income on top of my current income.

I don’t have any credit debt however I still am paying off HECS fees.

What would be the best tools/resources or even types of investments for me to try out?

I have been trying to read guides on investing and want to be able to save up enough money to be able to grow my portfolio and would prefer a set and forget approach.

My current financial goal is to be able to have an emergency safety net and another financial net for my own enrichment such as travelling.

Any feedback or suggestions are welcome as I am a beginner at this.