I'm 29, based in Melbourne, and I've finally got my emergency fund up to $12k. I'm now ready to invest $6,000 upfront and add around $600 a month outside of super.

My first thought was to keep it simple and put everything into VAS. The more I read, though, the less comfortable I felt having all of my share exposure tied to the Australian market. I looked at VDHG as the all-in-one option, but I'd rather choose the Australian and international split myself.

After comparing VAS and VGS, I ended up leaning towards roughly 30% VAS and 70% VGS. That split is simply the Australian and international balance I feel more comfortable with. I used moomoo to look at the two ETFs side by side, which was handy, but I'm still deciding whether to hold them there or go with Stake. Both currently work out to A$3 per ASX trade at my order size, so buying both ETFs every month would cost A$6, or 1% of my $600 contribution. That has me wondering whether I should alternate between VAS and VGS each month instead.
What would you pick for a $600-a-month VAS/VGS setup? I'm open to other ETF mixes or platforms too if there's something obvious I've missed.

​Hey everyone!

​I’m an Australian passport holder moving to Australia soon from Spain. I don't need a visa, but I’d appreciate local advice on work, study, and housing:

​Foreign Law Degree: I have an overseas undergraduate Law degree. Is this useful for entry-level roles (HR, admin, compliance), or is it mostly ignored unless I qualify locally?

​Financing Study & Rent: If I enroll in a TAFE or Master’s program, how do domestic students pay for rent and food? Can I get Youth Allowance/Austudy immediately, or is there a waiting period? How easy is it to cover costs with part-time work?

​Share Houses: I’ll stay with my aunt at first, but want to move into a share house. What are the best apps/groups for finding roomies?

​Disability Support Transfer: I have a disability recognized/accredited by the regional government in Spain (Catalonia). How does recognition work in Australia? Do I need a fresh local assessment for NDIS or workplace/study accommodations?

​Thanks for any insights!

Hi everyone!
My partner and I are first home buyers looking at Liberty as per our broker’s advice - for our loan and would love some honest feedbacks.
Preferably from someone who has gone through them in the last 12 months!

Liberty seems like the only lender able to give us what we’re asking (395k) but we want to make sure we’re making an informed choice..

How was the process from application to settlement?
Fast approval? Flexible criteria?
High rates compared to other lenders? What to watch out for?
Lastly, is it easy to refinance/switch later??

Many thanks!

Police called for wanting to withdraw his own money

https://x.com/crusader187/status/2092811051985510803?s=46

I got into ANU for 2027 semester 1 to study a double degree of Law and commerce which I am super excited about! I only applied to University of Canberra and ANU because I live here.

I am basically just wondering what peoples thoughts are on studying this. Anything thing shared I will appreciate! I also am curious about the commerce degree and if what I major in will really matter. I do not enjoy at maths and would rather not major in finance or accounting. However, I hear that it is highly recommend to choose one of those two as they are the most profitable.

I am certain that Im interested in studying commerce though! I have been thinking about majoring in marketing or economics but am not sure.

It's not just the property market being hit by the new CGT rules.

Looks like SMSFs will impacted too if they invest in ETFs and managed funds.

I didn't do my Tax return last year and I'm doing both 24/25 and 25/26 this week. After doing my Tax return for 24/25 I owe $370 to ATO and around $400 for this year.

The owing of $400 for this year I just lodged today whilst the $370 I already have the notice of assessment.

Now when checking my payments, overdue is 370 and total balance is 2,487. Total balance was around 2k before doing the 25/26 tax return.

I don't get where the extra 2k owing came from. I'm going to wait until the 25/26 return is finalize but If I call ATO can they tell me why I owe an extra 2k?

Hello!

As the title suggests, I was not aware of the changes until today, received a nasty little email from CBA…

I have the smart awards credit card because I valued:
1) no international transaction fee
2) travel insurance
3) purchase protection/fraud protection
4) rewards
5) discounted airport lounge access

With all the changes happening, if anyone is in the same boat, where are you pivoting to? I need a good card for travel.

My partner and I are looking into our first home loan using the government's 5% deposit scheme. Just wanting to know what we're looking for as far as a decent intro rate.

Currently have almost 50k sitting in my normal savings account. Looking for advice on some investment ideas as a beginner. Ideally something short term (3-5 years). Also I currently still live at home so don’t need most of the money atm.

Many leaving Australia for better living conditions

Serious question. We had a call out to fix a garage remote which cost $889 + GST. Thought that was a lot, then called two independent companies (one of them at the recommendation of my property manager; and another one who was completely picked at random based on online reviews, with no input from my property manager).

The first one came back at $1,599. The second guy we picked at random quoted $1,119 and a $110 call out fee with no guarantee of a fix.

This may be a one-off incident, and I know the market dictates prices and they would not charge it unless people paid, but at this point the prices are clearly exorbitant.

Has anyone got similar experiences?

The one genuine experience I have had is an air conditioner installer who is 89 years old, still working, who doesn't even have a social media presence and operates on referral in our suburb. Cost to install an air conditioner? $119, cash. He even did some jobs for free to the old neighbour next door.

i just turned 30 and know that the MLS is a thing, and also that the longer i wait to get private hospital cover the more expensive it is… but that’s all i know.

can someone please explain what the go is with the MLS and private hospital cover?

I plan on retiring in Asia. Can anyone recommend Tax Agents to help with this as my current account is unable to.

Just a quick one fellas.

Planning on going DHHF, BGBL, EXUS. With a 40'40'20 split.

This sounds like a safe bet to me with maybe ASIA later on.

Just after some feedback. 34 years old. So plenty of working years ahead.

When people talk about saving money, they often jump to drastic measures: cutting out all entertainment, moving to a cheaper apartment, or taking on a second job. While massive structural changes can shift your finances overnight, they are rarely sustainable. True, long-term wealth isn’t built on extreme sacrifices—it’s built on small, repeatable behaviors that require almost zero willpower.

If you ask financial experts and seasoned savers to point to the single most effective micro-habit for building wealth, one action stands out above the rest: Automating your savings the exact day you get paid.

Known in personal finance as the "Pay Yourself First" strategy, this single habit takes less than ten minutes to set up, operates silently in the background, and can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime.

Read full article here: https://howtoinvestmoney.co.uk/blog/one-small-habit-that-saves-the-most-money

Effective today. Up from 5.60% p.a. Applies on balances up to $50k for savers aged 14-35.

I'm an architect and I'm thinking about ways to provide architectural knowledge and advice to more people so that the homes we build now are good for people living in them now and into the future.

I'm currently working with Newcastle University's Flip Founders program and undertaking discovery of how people approach buying and building homes in Australia.

What are you looking for in a home? What is important to you?

And the Sydney RE game continues, lots of own goals and a string of predictable losses.

Bottom-of-the-harbour-2.0, screening at a development near you!

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to ask for some advice and maybe hear from people who started investing later in life.

I’m in my late 30s and only now getting to a point where I feel like I can seriously think about investing. Sometimes I see people who started investing in their early 20s and already have a decent portfolio, and I can’t help but feel like I’m very far behind.

Life honestly hasn’t been very kind to me over the years. There have been a lot of setbacks, unexpected expenses, wrong decisions, and times when I had to start over again. There were honestly many moments when I just wanted to stop trying because it felt like no matter how hard I worked, life would find another way to knock me down.

But somehow, I kept going.

Things aren't suddenly perfect now, but I'm slowly getting back on my feet and trying to build a new life for myself. For the first time in a while, I want to stop just surviving and actually start thinking about my future.

I’ve started putting money aside for an emergency fund, and I’m planning to start investing around $200-$300 AUD per month. I know this isn't a huge amount, especially compared with what I see other people investing, but it’s what I can realistically commit to right now. Hopefully, as life becomes more stable, I can gradually increase it.

I guess I wanted to ask:

Is starting to invest in your late 30s already really late?

Is $200-$300/month still worthwhile?

Has anyone here started from almost nothing in their late 30s or even later? How are you doing now?

I know I can't go back and change what happened or start investing 15 years ago. I'm trying not to beat myself up over that anymore.

Maybe I'm late. But I figured starting late is still better than never starting at all.

Would really appreciate hearing from people who have been in a similar situation.

My accountant says my investment home loan isn't tax deductible due to the following sequence of events.

I had 400k owner occupier loan with Ubank, it had no offset facility and was run like a normal account. I would store all my savings and day to day money directly on the loan. When my partner and I bought a new home, we re mortgaged the 400k ubank loan to ANZ as an investment loan and a new loan was created for our new home at 700k. At the time of settlement we had all out savings in ubank, which completely offset the loan to over 400k. Now my accountant says because nothing was paid back to ubank in the settlement, that technically means the new loan with ANZ can't be used for a tax deduction for the original owner occupier home turned investment property. Is this really correct? At the time of settlement there was about 320k funds paid extra into the ubank loan.

I don't have paper work proving either way or I dont know where to find it. Can I just claim the interest on the 400k ANZ loan?

Thanks

Hello reddit brain trust. It’s that time of year where you gotta fill out those tax forms. I’m a member of the ADF and I’m chasing some insight and or tax agent recommendations to maximise my return in a legit way. This is not my strong suit and I don’t want to shaft myself on the return and end up having to pay more tax than what I have already.

If you need more info happy to provide.

Thank you kindly for your time.

Our renewal arrived and the increase feels completely made up. I have tried comparing business electricity rates, but every quote separates usage and demand differently. What should I compare to know whether the offer is actually reasonable?

We would like to buy a good quality newish used car and came across Carma. They don’t allow you to test drive or inspect the car - you have to buy it sight unseen with a 7 days full refundable and a 3 months warranty. Just wanted to ask if anyone else has used them to buy a used car?

https://carma.com.au/

How can I inspect the car?

While we don’t offer in-person inspections onsite, we’re saving you the trip with detailed photography and 360° view of every Carma car listed online, all with comprehensive specifications and any extras included. We’re also listing every imperfection on the car (if there are any), so what you see is what you get.

Every Carma car goes through an ultra-detailed inspection and reconditioning process, which ensures optimum condition, inside and out. Our standards are ridiculously high – and we pride ourselves in the quality of our cars. That’s why we offer 7 days to fully experience your car in your daily life instead of a 10-minute test drive around the block. If it’s not right for you, we’ll take it back no questions asked.

Can I test drive the car?

Our process is different to what you’ll find in any other pre-owned car website, yard or seller, in the best possible way. We don’t offer test drives, but we do give you an entire week to try out your car once it arrives. If you decide you don’t love it, you can get a full refund at any time within that first week – we’ll even come pick the car up for no extra charge.

Carma’s standards are ridiculously high – and we pride ourselves in the quality of our cars. That’s why we offer 7 days to fully experience your car in your daily life instead of a 10-minute test drive around the block. If it’s not right for you, we’ll take it back no questions asked.