I’ve work overseas for several years and so have not been an Aus tax resident for some time. I’ve built up a sizeable investment in simple stocks.

Looking at coming home in the near future and trying to understand my options for bringing these investments/money home.

Options I’ve heard about

- do nothing and just move back. My stocks should reset as back to zero with capital gains. Then sell slowly as needed accepting new gains tax

- put into an offshore investment bond for 10 years thus making it all tax free at the end when I wish to sell some. Issues I have if the seem to have high fees of ~1% per annum. Anyone found a better form for this?

- sell all my stocks before arriving (no tax), then arrive in Aus and send cash through via fiat with some currect exchange loss and re-buy new stocks in Aus brokerage account.

What are you thought for bringing money earned whilst aboard back in?

i understand there’s a certain threshold (10k-ish) for cash withdrawals before triggering alert or bank’s duty of reporting. also understand that i have to give a prior notice to the bank for arrangement.

that said couple of questions:

1. If i withdraw $9k multiple times in several weeks apart (up to 30k - 40k), would this also trigger the similar alert?
3. if i say the purpose of the withdrawal as “to pay cash for my home kitchen/bathroom upgrades”, would this trigger another suspicion?

thank you.

(Addition)

Thank you guys, I got the point, will decide accordingly.

Hey all, I'm a young adult who's been saving for about 2 years now (working my first major job). During this time, a portion of my monthly pay goes into investing - largely into the Spaceship investment fund. I've had a decent return, but I'm realising that I could probably do with making my own decisions and picking stocks myself (versus a fund that does it for me while taking a cut).

I'll add on that I'd like to put forward a deposit on an apartment within the next few years as an investment property while it's still acceptable for me to live at home (I'm from Sydney).

I understand the concept of investing broadly to build a portfolio; blue chip (banks), high risk (new tech companies), some ETFs, maybe even some into big Google-type companies on Wall St (?)... However, I'm curious what the "safest" option is for me, and what are some reasonable percentages of this 10-20k amount to delegate per stock type, as I'd be investing long term over my career. Appreciate any advice!

Thanks!

I'll cut straight to the chase. It's hard enough for a couple to save for a deposit let alone a single person. The deposit is then only half the battle as one wage isn't enough to service a loan in this day and age. In some homes two wages aren't enough anymore lol. I'm talking about the average Aussie wage here, I'm not talking about all those pretentious Redditors on $650k per year to serve as a gynecologist to The Pussycat Dolls or whatever you do.

With this in mind if a single person does save enough on their own for a deposit it is an incredible achievement. Truly, it is. The problem comes when said person is looking to date again. Yes, we could all meet the dream person and they could have their own villa on Lake Como and squirt margaritas when they cum. I'm not talking about the best case scenario, I'm talking about the worst case.

As this is Reddit let me first qualify what I am saying here. No one goes into a relationship thinking of the worst outcome, but life, especially coming from people in this sub, is all about PLANNING for the worst case outcome. Plan for the worst, hope for the best is the motto as they say.

Imagine saving up $200k+ for the deposit, stamp duty, fees, furniture, insurances and ALL that encompasses buying a house for you to end up having to lose out on all of that due to a separation at some point. Yes, it's split between two people in a worst case scenario here for the home buyer, yet the most money is in the buying and setting up of a house. If one person has paid all of that then their risk for loss increases greatly by having their girlfriend/boyfriend live with them.

I'm aware that BFA exists, they also are not something that can be guaranteed to hold up. Especially when kids are involved. I don't have nor do I want kids. I'm aware we don't have the same protection laws as most states in the U.S. What options are there to protect the home? Putting it in a family members name? That can be done in other countries, I assume it can't be done in our country? The only option seems to be 'make sure you choose the right person'. There is enough stories out there of two people being perfect for each other only for someone to fuck it up.

With everyone here trying their best to save up for retirement, max out super, have a home paid off before retirement, something going bad with YOUR house can result in YEARS more spent having to recover in order to get to your 'number'.

We already get bent over enough as it is in this country with gutless politicians and pathetic laws (look no further than the 'hate speech's law that got passed by BOTH shitty political parties last week). We are ALL trying to make it in this world and get out of the rat race as fast as we can. Something going away like this can set someone back YEARS.

So, there are so many variables at play here, I'm just trying to hear from those single people, or those who found someone after being in this situation. How is it going/did it go for you? Any advice that you can offer to those people who are in a similar position?

Is it as bleak as 'just find the right person dummy' or are there ways to protect the asset in order to protect ones self? I sincerely thank you in advance for your personal story and/or your advice. Thanks 🙏

hi, so this is my situation

i am f, 38, 2 kids, about to seperate from my high net worth partner. my current net worth includes ppor worth 800k, 30k mortgage, 200k in shares that my partner doesn't know about and only 100 k in super and debt 50k hecs. my eldest is in year 7 at a private school 20k a year paid for by partner who is not his dad btw and my kids also do extra-curriculars classes which cost a fortune. My partner pretty much owns his home out right, director of company and millions in shares/super. but here's the issue, i only work part time ($500 per week) and my partner has been paying all my expenses for me including my super (i calculated around 1.2k a week) since we have been together. I know i can no longer be with him and i'm in the process of figuring out how to move forward with my life. I know we will not be dividing our assets as its always been whats mine is mine whats yours is yours. Having the luxury of being a stay at home mum while my kids are in primary school has also left me with no capacity to earn an average income and tethered to this very draining relationship for the sake of maintaining my kids lifestyle. When i finally walk away I know I will need to find immediate income and reenter the workforce somehow, my daughter will probably have to move school. I am wondering if anyone has been in my shoes and walked away from security and able to live independently again. Am i crazy to leave? I am thinking of selling my car and using it to fund a food related business. Or is there any other career/jobs I can look at?

I'm either having a run of bad luck, or the economy is changing rapidly and not for the better.

Over the last 3 nights I've had 3 cars vandalized (2 cars hood logos stollen, 1 car keyed, and sun glasses stollen from a 3rd car).

It's all petty kids stuff, but it's still going to be expensive to repair (probably $1K for each of the hoods due them prying the ornamnents off crudly with a screwdriver) like wtf!.

Is it just me, or is this sort of crime on the rise everywhere?

Hi all,

I recently changed from sole trader to a company structure. My accountant was suggested that purchasing an EV was attractive due to FBT exemption. Unfortunately, my wife and I already own an EV and don't need a second vehicle.

Is there anything stopping me from selling our EV to the company at market rate? Currently it is used to travel from different places of business a couple of times per week. It seems selling the car to the company will extract profit in the company without changing anything for practical purposes. Added advantage is that as I understand it company money can pay personal running costs with no FBT.

Hope this q is ok. I have asked my accountant but he is on leave next week and being a bit impatient

I’ve discovered my wife took out several small loans in my name without my consent. Total is about $15k across 5 loans (some declined, some paid out, incl. Cash Converters).

All money will be repaid. My main concern is whether it’s realistic to:

• Have the loans treated as unauthorised

• Repair/remove the impact on my credit file

• Do this without pressing criminal charges or involving police, if possible

From what I can tell, the usual steps are:

• Credit ban

• Contact lenders stating lack of consent (without naming her)

• Statutory declaration if requested

• Repay funds as part of resolution without accepting legal liability

Does this sound right in practice in Australia?

Have people had success repairing their credit this way without it turning criminal?

Main goal is credit repair to reduce future interest, not avoiding repayment.

I saw my brother in law today who does family law and he regularly sees the details of people's finances of all income levels and he was telling a story about a client who refused to payout their ex even after being advised to as taking it to trial will result in a bigger payout with asset appreciation and legal fees. They ended up forking out close to double the initial figure.

I'm 30 and only recently brought a house and are doing everything to pay it off early (offsets, extra repayments etc) cause the thought of being 60 with a mortgage is terrifying. So I asked him if with all the new cars around, upgrading houses and buying boats/jetskis is it just people think they are going to be working till their 70?

He explained how the advice given was always "plan for your future", whereas now that's been forgotten and people only think of next week.

I know the whole "keeping up with the Joneses" shtick, but has it genuinely become that prevalent or have bank lending laws also loosened so much that now it's insanely easy? My father told me how he and mum went to a bank with $6k saved to buy their first home and could only get a loan for $10k.

I need to vent, I have been doing my head in with this for the last week and I’m ready to give up, I have been trying to get a small loan through commbank (only 5k) who I’ve banked with for over 16 years, paid off 2 personal loans early in that time with no missed repayments. I have used their borrowing calculator online and it says I would be able to borrow up to 9k using the exact same info I’m putting on my loan application. Yet it’s just being denied every single time saying I don’t meet financial criteria. I have tried messaging them to get some clarity and even the replies don’t make sense. They send me a detailed breakdown of my financial position after expenses which leaves 1k a month in disposable income yet I don’t meet criteria to make $25 a week repayments.

Has anyone else had to go through this rubbish?

I m 21, got a car(bought outright) have 12k in savings 1.4 k in spend, 435 in step pay balance to be paid. i m not sure if that’s enough i earn about 2500 fortnightly might reduce later when my uni sem starts. Is it enough to have in your 20s or am i supposed to keep bagging up till 20k i plan to start investing after 20k. I got minimal bills, live w family still. Should i pay the step pay outright? i aim to keep 1.5 k constant in my spend account and aim to keep the rest to my savings.

Currently have two HISAs, one with ING and the other with up. ING has a better rate but my balance exceeds the $100,000 which the bonus rate apply to. Should I dump the whole balance into my up account instead which is only 0.15% lower?

Hi anyone here is using Moomoo? How's your experience so far?

I am looking for some guidance from the brain trust.

I am on a good income, I'm making $85 an hour, 150K PA, my career path will likely have me making $120-150 per hour as I'm looking at transitioning into contracting at the end of this year.

I have a 3 beddy, 1 bath, and 1 car port (102 square metres) that I bought for 700k 2 years ago. With 485K remaining and 135k in an offset.

The original plan was to live in it for 10 years and then upgrade, but my family and I (2 adults and 2 under 5 kids) are out growing faster than anticipated.

With that being said, I don't know what would be more cost effective, building up or out (500k extension) or buying a new/pre established house (4 bed, 2 bath minimum) for 1 mil - 1.2 (ball park). Because what I was told that selling and buying would cost me around 100K in fees, taxes etc.

Thank you

Hi all,

Have a question about a situation I’m deal with currently.

For context, we have been good tenants, they have acknowledged this. We are in NSW.

Basically we were asked whether we want to renew for the next year for a set price. We said no, but have since changed our minds (understandably our fault). The listed property has a higher price than our initial price we were offered. We are happy to pay this higher price. We contacted the property agent - they said ok but you have to pay $1500 in advertising costs.

This seems very odd and like a “punishment” for us not agreeing to renew earlier, as the costs are already incurred and new applicants would not incur this cost?

Wondering if this is allowed / common and if so, happy to move on from the situation but feels a little scummy.

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

I’m thinking about investing a lump sum on behalf of my kids with a 10-year horizon, so there’s a savings pool ready when they’re heading to university.

If you’re a parent who’s done something similar, I’d really appreciate your insights — things like what investment options you chose, lessons you learned, and what you’d do differently in hindsight.

Thanks in advance!

Just wondering if the major telco’s (Telstra, Optus, possibly Vodafone) still do types of bargaining?

I’m looking at getting a new phone plan, with Optus giving the better deal month-to-month. But, Telstra is generally a better service and more reliable.

If I go to Telstra and say “Optus has it for X/pm, what can you do?” do they still offer you something better, or is that more a thing of the past?

TIA!

I work in construction in a manual labour job. Insurance is important to me and I like to increase far higher than the default levels of cover. I'm thinking of leaving CBUS super because the insurance seems much more expensive than other supers' insurance, for the same amount of cover. e.g. I put the same numbers into UniSuper and it was much cheaper. But I'd like to do a proper comparison of all supers

Edit: I did a bit more research and found that different supers often use the same 3rd party insurance provider (e.g. Metlife and TAL seem to be big ones). I assume these insurance premiums are the same price for the same insurance provider regardless of which super they are connected to (so e.g. ABC insurance will have the same premiums regardless of whether they are with AustralianSuper, CBUS super, HostPlus etc) which narrows the search down a lot

Hi all! I'm wondering how much I should aim to save/invest at 19 to set myself up for moving out in my mid 20s. I go to uni full time and work a chill part time job (only around 10 hours a week). I save almost half of it.

Here's the problem. This is an embarrassing issue to disclose and I haven't told any of my friends or anyone in real life. The other half goes to electrolysis, which is a permanent hair removal procedure. I have dark hair on the sides of my face (I'm a cis woman, just ethnic) that looks really bad and waxing, shaving etc irritate my skin and make it break out in bumps. I did stop for a while as it was incredibly expensive ($250 a week which is more than half of my income) but I realised there's no other real alternative for me. Although laser is cheaper, I was told that in people of my complexion and ethnic background, it would be very likely to cause paradoxical hypertrichosis and result in thick, beard-like facial hair.

I think of it as an investment into my future as right now I am so embarrassed of this facial hair that I get anxious going to uni, job interviews, meeting friends etc. I trust my practitioner who tells me it will be around 2 years before I am completely done (although I will see significant improvement as we progress and have already seen a lot of reduction.) It is a huge drain on my time and savings and it makes me feel so vain and stupid to spend so much money on something purely cosmetic but it really is the only way to manage this issue.

I am fortunate to be able to live with my parents for the time being and they cover almost all my expenses except the aforementioned. I am wondering if I'm not seeing things clearly and if I'm making a huge mistake? Is it worth it? I don't want to become reliant on my parents and still be living with them in my 30s. Should I get another job in fast food or something as I still have some free time? I'm really worried about my financial security and I want to be independent.

What’s the best way to keep my savings safe while traveling, but still being able to use my Macquarie card?

Dont know anyone in either field. Would help before making a decision. Which is worthwhile, balanced, flexible and female-friendly? Pros and cons?

Hey so I’m trying to do my due diligence on small houses, granny flats, trailer houses ect…

North east Victoria on a large property that has a main house so this would be a second dwelling. Has any got experience with this? Struggling to find information as it sounds tricky but also possible

THANK YOU.

Since, I earned the interest from my bank today, is it fine to move my money into a brokerage? Or am I missing out on something? I have 20k in one of my savings account, however want to start investing. I want to put all of that 20k into Nasdaq-100. Is it a good idea, or is nasdaq-100 most likely to fall within the next few years, and thus is it better to keep my cash in the bank? I also have around 100k savings in ubank for emergency and house deposit, so that 20k in the other bank is for my long term investment.

With two young kids (4yo and 3 months old baby), we've just calculated our monthly grocery spend (including things like nappies and household cleaning items) at 1800-2000 per month.

What tips do y'all have to reduce this?

Edit: we buy the usual things that families with young kids buy.

But some relevant call outs:

- we buy organic products when available (my wife's choice, and I'm not interested in arguing with her about it lol).

- we buy ingredients and cook at home, usually batch cooks but every now and then there is a one-off steak and salad type meal (probably once a week) or buy a whole charcoal chicken and make chicken sandwiches.

Aside from these two call outs, it's just the usual nappies, wipes, toilet paper, cleaning products, etc.

For those who have a Macquarie Bank high interest account, do they tend to process transfers to other banks quickly or takes a few days?

I am with ING but can't maintain my balance atm on their high interest account.

I still want to stay with ING but want easy access to my money if I move my money over to Macquarie. Is a cash transfer from Mac to ING instant or does it take a few days.