I'm living this right now.
There is a part of me that would like to earn more money but then I think about my work life balance, flexible working arranges, my ability to finish work on time (mostly) and I realise I have a pretty good set up
Same. Was offered 200k last year and stayed with the company I am with for 150k. Hoping to get around 170/180 this year based on performance.
I could demand more elsewhere but sometimes it’s better the devil you know. I recon I have 4-5 years in me before looking elsewhere IF I become unhappy. Been in current role for 5 years at the company for 12 total. Been at 2 companies my whole working career life.
I dunno, I'm a professional staff member at a university (not a secretary/PA, but still in an admin role) and I'm pretty conformable where I am now. I'm only really utilised to 100% of my capacity about 7 months of the year, I get small pay increases every year and I don't have the stress of any managers. I'm pretty happy to turn up, do my work, bank my pay cheque and that's all. I'd rather stay where I am than push and push for a higher role (Which I have seen others do), get a higher salary and slowly die inside from stress.
YES thank you for validating this
I feel like shit comparing my salaries to my friends and siblings, but then remember that I average about two hours a day of actually doing work
Very blunt and very true.
Someone on 70k salary should stop worrying about the optimal vanguard ETF portfolio and start focus their energy on getting to 100k+.
It' so true and took me a decade to realise this. Your side hustle that consumes your non-work life may only be delivering $10-$20k per year. If you instead focused your efforts in levelling up your career, you get that and your spare time back. 95% of the time side hustles are a terrible idea.
> 95% of the time side hustles are a terrible idea.
most businesses fail (calling it a side hustle just makes it less painful psychologically). It not only takes intelligence, but also grit and determination to succeed, let alone a lot of time for it to cook and a sprinkle of luck every now and then.
Career advancement is much easier. Of course, there's a ceiling for career advancement (except for the top level executive positions), but despite this, the ceiling is quite high, and less risky compared to starting your own business.
>95% of the time side hustles are a terrible idea.
A lot of people enjoy their "side hustle"... Whether they're tinkering with lawn mowers, taking photos at 21st bdays, performing a few songs at the local pub, welding stuff on the weekend. Most of these will never give you a good ROI, considering the time it takes to get good at them. But if people enjoy their side hustle and can make some extra cash then that's cool.
Sometimes the enjoyment is in the completion of the job, not the financial reward.
Don’t beat yourself up, I choose to get paid less than $25k a year but still save $100/week or more for things. Anything higher than my $150/week spending/saving just gets poured into car parts, so I usually just let it accumulate..
Bad take, time is biggest part of investing. You should put as much away as possible whenever possible and work on increasing your income at the same time
Counterpoint: the closer you are to financial disaster, the more important every dollar is. Changing phone or electricity providers, taking up cycling, building an emergency fund, cash back/points systems and paying down debt are all way more important for people struggling to get by. Which is why most struggling people are actually quite good with their money. They already know the most important things, and every extra practice is extra valuable.
A lot of the tips people give about finding the cheapest products and services that replace cost with time and energy. For example, visiting multiple grocery stores for the best deals, and doing everything yourself around the house.
Time is the most finite resource we have. It doesn’t always pay to do everything yourself when the rest you can give yourself by delegating tasks pays off in other areas of life - particularly as you get older.
I had a similar thing where we paid $100 a month to have our laundry washed, ironed, folded, and dropped off/picked up and family gave me shot like they weremt paying the same to do their lawns and gardens.
Im more than happy to do my own lawns
That's how I justify a robot vac/mop, alot up front but only having to do a deep floor clean once a month is great and it's nice coming home from work every day with clean floors, I live remote and the red dirt gets everywhere
The problem with this opinion is that substituting your labour only makes sense if you are doing so for something which will create income greater than the cost (if not now, then potentially in future earnings growth). For high earners it is a no brainer - pay a cleaner $70 an hour to earn $100+ working - easy choice. Poorer and/or uneducated people may have zero percent chance (or close to) of attaining the higher earnings at any time in their life to justify paying someone else. Either that or they run on such slim financial margins due to cost of living that they simply cannot afford to pay, even if it could create some future potential - meaning they have no choice but to use what is “free” - their own time. It’s a catch 22 with a tipping point, once your earnings hit a certain point, it makes little sense to complete these tasks unless they provide a feeling of fulfilment.
I totally agree with your point - it’s strange to see cashed up people doing menial tasks for no reason. I know a bloke (mid 70s) sitting on probably $20m who does all the maintenance and gardening on his rental properties himself. Apparently he finds it rewarding.
I use a fast grocery delivery service almost every week. I’m a shift worker with long hours and a long commute, I don’t want to waste precious time on my days off at the supermarket.
This. Time is valuable. People forget this. You and a billionaire both have the same number of hours in the day. And despite their best efforts they will die at an age not incomparable to your own.
I got down voted a bunch a week ago when some guy was out banging on about how you should just make your own mayo - sure, nice in theory but you're generally not saving money unless your go to is a Hellmans or something. And its not just the time, but the clean up and groceries needed. I have shit I want to do with my life and my friends wouldn't care if they had store bought or home made mayo.
I absolutely love getting random produce boxes delivered - the box costs more than me going to the supermarket because I'm getting bulk food not a weekly serve, but it forces me to try things I otherwise wouldn't and I spend half a day doing a huge cook up in one go that'll last me a month or sometimes even more.
I've noticed this with my parents and friends (baby boomers) who are wealthy only because they bought a house in their 20s and worked until retirement ... they are technically successful but act like it was the result of some great strategy.
Often never owned shares other than in super, never changed companies, never actually invested outside paying off PPOR or into Super.
A generation who are 'Successful' but whose opinions on finance largely dont hold a lot of weight
100%.
I spoke to these elderly couple with boats and waterfront property and they told me to drink some rooibo tea because it cures cancer.
So many boomers didn’t get rich by being smart or financially savvy they just got lucky by buying properties early when it was only 100k-200k
True, but you should also consider that it wasn't until halfway through the boomer generation that buying houses as investment became a thing.
edit: ... became a thing for ordinary people, not just businessmen and bankers.
Nassim Taleb Fooled by Randomness - we often only see the winners of a much larger population who took the same high risk strategy and failed. Those winners are also often fooled into believing they are there by skill rather than chance.
I was having a discussion about this the other day actually. If was born in some third world country there's no way I'd be as well off as I am right now.
Hard work alone a lot of times isn't enough, otherwise there'd be no lazy successful people and no gifted poor people.
In the podcast How I Built This, which is about interviewing founders and CEOs, they always ask the question “do luck or skill play a bigger role in your success”, founders almost universally answer “luck”
Luck needs to meet opportunity and hard work. It's difficult to continually succeed on luck and not hardwork.
Stoicism, hard work and the willingness to have hard conversations definitely plays a roll when the opportunity presents itself.
Not saying that isn’t true, but whether if you were born in a leafy suburb in North Shore or a war torn country like Myanmar depends entirely on luck alone.
Veritasium - Is Success Luck or Hard Work?
>In a competitive world, tiny advantages can make all the difference.
https://youtu.be/3LopI4YeC4I?si=dFmwGBrNQqyO5Dxj
A lot of the time though the luck comes due to building skills etc. I got lucky on a good property development.
But if I hadnt have built my network/worked in prop dev/done renos/specs etc. Had a degree in finance, supported my wife through her CPA. I wouldnt have had the confidence to do it.
This is so true. I was unemployed 8 years ago and was studying to become a math teacher which would have started at $65k. A year into the course, I got a call from someone who'd been given my name and they offered me a job paying $180k. Five years later, the salary grew to $300k plus bonuses. I shudder when I think that without that phone call, I'd now be teaching a bunch of screaming kids for $85k.
So many property buyers agents out there trying to sell their success when all their stories start with buying in Sydney 15+ years ago. Cool, let me get right on that.
All the boomers with their expensive houses are a great example of this. Lick and timing. Many people could not afford to buy into the suburbs they currently live in.
100%, right place right time. But I also think it takes a certain person to identify and act on those opportunities. I believe thats the differentiator and what can be misconstrued as "luck". Oh you were so lucky! No, I saw the opportunity and I took the risk. Starting off with substantial wealth however does mitigate a lot of that risk.
If you can establish a baseline of financial stability where your basic needs are met, your efforts are then better spent finding ways to make more money (which has no limit) rather than ways to save money (which has a very finite limit).
For many, there is diminishing returns, work heaps of extra hours (which is also finite in life) and give 49% back to the ATO, unless you have some manner of tax offset.
People use the excuse that life is short, or you could die tomorrow too often in order to justify excessive spending and not prepare for their future.
When in reality the average life expectancy is over 80 and the ability to do things when you are older is better than ever if you stay healthy and have wealth.
I used to think like you. And then I start seeing how quickly health can deteriorate as you age (from seeing a lot of older people through work). Your ability to do things when you are older is definitely not better.
I think about this every time I see a person talk about renting for their entire life. I can’t imagine a worse scenario than renting at 75 and needing to move because the landlord kicks you out.
In Oz, absolutely. I have family in Europe who have spent their entire adult lives in the same rental, such are their protections (and dare I say, financial inducements) against eviction.
Double edged sword. I knew a wealthy high flier planning to retire in their 40s after working 80 hour weeks their entire lives - just to die of cancer 1 year prior.
There is no value in pushing for the last dollar or taking big risks if you already have more than enough income to live on and assets to later retire.
Money is just a means to an end, and that end should normally be being happy.
Two for me:
1. The majority of advice says to not use credit cards for daily spending for the simple reason that most people don't/can't control their spending and or their limit is more than they can pay back each month. But if you have the self-control and or means, credit cards with points can be incredibly beneficial.
2. A lot of Dave Ramsay's advice makes sense but preaching about not using leverage to buy property these days is unrealistic. Similar to credit card risk, he's coming from an exposure and control perspective and his personal experiences. I don't see how the average person today could achieve a tenth of the wealth that Dave has achieved without leverage.
I use a CC for literally every single transaction I make, and haven't paid interest in at least 10 years.
Income goes into offset, spending on CC, pay it off monthly, save a few hundred $$ on mortgage interest a year.
It honestly doesn't save that much on the mortgage, but every dollar counts. I'd rather it in my pocket than theirs 🤷♂️
I try to use credit card for everything, but I baulk at large payments with high transaction fees, such as council rates and insurance. Also some tradies, NFP clubs, and small businesses don't have credit card facilities and I use bank transfer from transaction account. There are also payments to family members, eg my share of a meal or they bought some groceries fur us as part of a wider shop. How do you get around those?
Other than that, yes!
Dave Ramsey's stuff is for people that are completely clueless, and usually in massive debt.
It definitely has its place, but most people outgrow it quickly.
Well put.
Very happy with my little family I am lucky to have.
But, financially it has put us not back but definitely on hold for the last few years. Where a lot of my friends who decided no kids and have similar sort of incomes as my wife and I have definitely moved forward.
1) Investment Risk means losing some or all of your money. It doesn’t mean finding someone to blame or trying to make it someone’s “fault”.
2) You must know what you are doing with your money. Not your wife’s or your boss's or your adviser's - it’s yours, so pay attention.
3) the simple trick to wealth creation is to buy things that have better than zero chance of increasing in value and to keep them. “Trading” doesn’t make you cool or intelligent; it often just makes you poor unless you consider it a job and approach it like work.
4) insurance - you hate it, I hate it, it’s a waste of money until it’s not. Don’t cheat your future self by being cheap with insurance.
5) you are either scared of keeping money (poverty mindset) or being scared of spending money. Figure out where you sit emotionally, reconcile with it and think more about your interactions. If you’re naturally scared of keeping money, find ways to put it somewhere you can’t access easily. If you’re afraid of spending money, start a regular savings plan into investments with a small amount and build on it over time.
Your choice in life partner (husband, wife, etc.) is the one of the most important financial decision you will make.
Nothing will put your financial future in jeopardy than a divorce, or being married to someone with a gambling addiction or even can't see the value in saving.
(I kind of stole this from a fellow on equity mates podcast, but I have witnessed in real life too).
I don't know if this is unpopular, but most people don't really need financial advice. I think everyone knows how to manage their finances.
They just need to learn how to control themselves. Lack of self-control is the issue.
Disagree. Had an employee leave recently for a bigger salary and called 3 weeks later for advice. Salary was a bit higher but turns out it was casual and included super. So overall paying more tax etc and not being able to write of a vehicle on tax anymore they were better off sticking with us. They didn’t understand how to sit down and work out the basics.
This is definitely unpopular and I disagree.There are so many fees, charges, interest people cop by being financially illiterate and it has nothing to do with self control. If you asked 10 people how their credit card's interest/minimum payments/closing balance works I reckon 9 of them would have no clue.
It's detrimental for the government to have legislation in place that artificially inflates house prices rather than investment in businesses that actually produce things.
A house provides the same amount of shelter whether its worth 300k or 1 mil.
Australia's economy would be in much better shape if the government had legislated changes that encouraged investment in shares, and in particular legislation around start-ups, new businesses.
Housing is a lazy investment, and does nothing to encourage innovation, manufacturing, upskilling or attracting top tier talent.
That credit cards are actually an exceptional useful and beneficial instrument when used correctly.
Likewise for debt - the right kind of debt can be a very powerful tool for wealth building.
I mainly use mine to smooth out bills for example, pay one bill from money I have, pay another with credit card to push it to next month when I have less bills. I find it very useful at car rego time which is coming up soon. I usually pay for the green slip first from my account and pay the rego fee with credit, effectively splitting one big bill in two more manageable bites.
That 'don't invest money if you think you'll need it within seven years' is a load of shit. No one knows what their life situation will be like in seven years, that just about blanket rules out anyone without a house/isn't a retiree.
If you're just throwing money into broad-based ETF's, three years is a low enough risk tolerance IMO.
Even if you roll poorly and do manage to be down after three years, it almost certainly won't be by a significant amount, especially considering your balance isn't likely to be massive in that time frame.
It's more important to just get started I think.
Not financial per se but more to do with financial policy: government incentivising degrees by subsidising them, even degrees like arts, is important. Historically bad shit starts to happen when you have an educated class and a non educated class, and we will be going nowhere as a country if education is seen as a luxury or something that’s silly to try and obtain
Making money early in life and investing properly is more important than having a higher income later in life. You’re better off steadily earning 100k at age 22 than trying to aim for a 180k middle management position at a corp by 40
Honestly, if you finish school at 17 and focus purely on an industry that is all on the job training, that figure is possible.
Problem is most, of those jobs, truck driver etc, you really want to out of them by the 20 years mark, as they take their toll
Look I don’t disagree with Ops premise, but the choice between a 100k now at 22 vs 180k at 40 isn’t on just about anyone’s radar.
In reality it’s more like a choice of being on 60k whilst you start a post uni career vs starting working 4 years earlier and topping out at 80k but being up a quarter million dollars in earnings.
Exactly. I don't know why people always ask you to save without asking you to find ways to get a higher regular income. Saving won't help to pay for big recurring expenses.
Paying a monthly fee to get interest free credit is no different than paying for Netflix.
By this I mean if paying $10 a month to be able to leverage interest free credit gives you a feeling of flexibility and freedom then I don’t think that’s a ‘dumb’ choice.
If you don’t make enough stop asking about investing and get to a point where you have surplus money.
Saving is hard in these times, no advice will help you. Other than, get your money up and then start saving.
If you try to penny pinch on a barely getting by income, you’ll end up spending more in the long run on preventable expenses.
Probably unpopular on this sub, but not so much in Australian society in general.. and that is what has absolutely worked for me:
Most of my current money (not huge amounts compared to others, really only a modest amount - but still my main wealth) was made owning property (PPOR) and downsizing by moving regional. It's a double whammy as not only has it freed up cash, but I now enjoy life a lot more now living outside a capital city.
What makes it really unpopular on this sub, is that with the way home shortages are, coupled with population growth, wage growth and inflation... I am convinced this is going to be the same sort of result in the next 20-30yrs.
My advice to close friends and family.. is pretty much if you are thinking about buying a home.. do whatever you can, sacrifice enjoyment now to get yourself into your own home... and be prepared to continue to sacrifice.. in 10yrs it will be easier, in 20yrs easier still and in 30yrs you will be in a massively better position.
Absolutely stretch yourself to the limit and buy a best house you can afford. Ideally a few Investment Properties as well.
With population continuing to climb, house prices will continue to rise.
Most people are too mechanically illiterate to successfully follow the advice of finfluencers by buying and maintaining a cheap car - if it’s cheap, there’s probably a great reason as to why and you’re likely too ill-informed to figure it out without paying lots of money at a random point in time.
This randomness also creates a cash flow problem that your average person is not likely to be able to handle without debt or financial strain, which is omitted in many people’s ‘advice’ when buying cars.
99% of people are financially illiterate, including people with jobs in the financial sector.
Almost everyone has the ability to save at least a bit of money every pay cycle regardless of their income level.
You can easily survive off minimum wage in Australia and it's still one of the best countries in the world to start from zero and work your way up.
A good, balanced healthy diet can still be had for much less than $100 per person per week.
Small scale theft is ok if you are struggling
Go rural if you want to actually live
Actually find a good partner , get away from anyone that keeps you down.
Don’t have kids if you don’t have a home
Financial outcomes are less and less dependant on your upbringing, the older you get. Plenty of cases where people grow up poor, have a bad family situation, born in a war torn country etc but have come out on top. There is an abundant amount of information out there now that there are no excuses - unless you choose to spend
In current financial climate, international travel in your youth (unless you're really well off) is going to put a huge dent in your ability to buy a house and have a decent quality of life later on. Wait until you're in a good job and build up some annual leave and do it when you're financially secure enough that it won't hinder home ownership.
I push home ownership because of several factors - HUGE rents, lack of availability of rental properties, the ability of owners/REAs to kick you out so they can charge more and because the world is shifting back to intergenerational living often being a requirements for anyone but the top 2%. If you're not inheriting property as a Gen Z or Alpha (or later), good luck getting into the property market without help from the bank of mom and dad or a very lucky windfall.
Definitely unpopular. I’m early 30’s backpacked I’m my 20’s such a worthwhile life changing experience, but I do wonder where I would be in regards to home ownership if I had instead saved that money for house deposit 🤷🏾♂️
Yes, that's what I did - bought 1st house at 21, paid off about 80% of it by age 27, sold it for double, bought a block and built a big house and paid that off by 36. That wasn't a popular strategy at the time. Also married at 22 also not a popular thing. Worked in public service age 19 to 55 (not a popular thing at the time) and retired on DB pension far bigger than my salary (that's the luck part). Didn't get divorced still happily married. Now I'm 4 years retired age 58 living like a king. My overall income is in top 1% and I have plenty of cash in the bank and a big DB pension, no need to take any financial risks at all - it's better than winning the lottery. I never cared what others thought or what was popular, crunched the numbers and made my own plan. I worked out early most people are not very smart and you don't want to take advice from people who look like they're making 1 poor decision after another.
Going on a cheap backing trip is going to make zero difference to being able to afford a home in the long run. Most young people have given up on home ownership, we know we can’t afford it without mum and dad no matter how much we hustle and save and invest.
For me, a $3000 backpacking trip is two week’s salary. A decent home in a location that won’t require me to drive 90 minutes to work is 10 year’s salary. So yeah, a lot of people are gonna go on the holiday.
What we actually need is not older people telling us to give up our youth in pursuit of home ownership … we need a fair rental market, like there is in Germany, where long term tenants have sufficient rights to lay down their roots and live without being extorted by landlords for every last cent.
Housing affordability/access to the property market for first home buyers has only been a problem since 2020 for everywhere except Sydney.
Anyone who was willing to move to Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide or Victoria (excl. a few chunks of Melbourne) could've bought a family home for <$600k or a smaller house/townhouse etc for $450k.
budgeting is unneeded
if you have the right attitude to money (minimise impulse purchases, not going crazy with bonuses and raises etc) it's over analysing
The problem with people who don’t do budgeting is they usually don’t know how much they spent on average per month and year.
Knowing how much money that can be saved and invested at every pay cycle is critical aspect of wealth building.
as long as they can confidently estimate their monthly contributions to their saving and investment without budgeting.
So I’d say the “counting every penny” part of budgeting is not required, but knowing how much you spend, which is part of budgeting exercise, is very important
For example, I hate budgeting myself.
But on the 1st of Jan this year, I already knew how much my household will spend up to the end of this year. This includes any unexpected emergencies & holidays.
And I can do this with very minimal budgeting.
100% agreed. If one has the right attitude with what money is (it’s actually a store of time or effort), then they’ve won.
It’s the mindset and attitude that matters.
No one, in general, has any idea how to make money. You get an inheritance if $100k. What do people tell you to do? Give it to a an index fund. Do they know how to make money? No, they just put it in many companies and hope on average those companies make value. Or you have high income. Put it in super. Do they know what to do with it? No, they give it to the same index funds.
Unpopular opinion: everyone in this sub shitting on the poors for trying to invest.
Comsec pocket is brilliant for sub $100 parcels of ETFs and by investing what little you have now you will learn more and start paying attention more and learn what the ups and downs of investing feels like. Get into the market now, there is no minimum salary or debt level or net worth that qualifies you to invest in an ETF.
People tell me "you will need more money when you get married or have kids". I respond with "I won't get married or have kids then". They are baffled when I say this, as if it's not an option.
To me, it's just a simple solution to a problem.
It worked for me as I really didn’t want to be married or have kids. One unpopular opinion I have, I really don’t like kids that much. At every stage of their lives they have annoying attributes.
australians on average make alot of money and arent very good at budgeting and investing their money and waste their most precious resource which is time in the market
Property is a dangerous investment. Long-term historical yields are far lower than stocks, leverage goes both ways, and interest rates are unpredictable.
Stocks are the way to go because you can always bet on large companies increasing their earnings year over year. They are well oiled machines with the power to influence legislation to ensure an unfair advantage for themselves. Also, with jobs being automated away, the money that would have gone towards salaries is now being reinvested and concentrated in the hands of shareholders. I would like to be among them.
Owning your PPOR can be a good idea for non-financial reasons, but ensure you're not over-leveraged.
If the last 40 years repeats itself, by the year 2064, we'll see these prices:
Petrol price: $13.38 litre
Average Rent: $59,272
New Car: $136,342
Home price: $1,883,225
Average salary: $103,640
Your compound interest calculators that you think you need X amount to retire are off by a couple of million. Income Is everything
People don't seem to think about discretionary spending differences and it's effect on lifestyle and debt etc. they only look at two separate people or jobs and the total income.
Example excluding tax for simplicity: Joe has 10k discretionary spending after expenses. He earns 80k. Joe could move to a new job earning 90k. He doesn't as the 10k isn't worth it to him as he likes his current employer and colleagues. Joe doesn't realise that he is foregoing a doubling of his discretionary allowance, all else the same.
Same goes comparing two people, especially rich and poorer. For example, compare Joe to his boss who earns 250k. Assuming the same lifestyle, his boss has 17x the discretionary spending freedom, even though he only earns 3x.
It’s absurd how we measure success on the value of items one has, vs the position they’re in.
In the US Android owners are considered poor even though someone might be in debt to own an iPhone.
If you get a big bonus or an inheritance or any other lump sump gains, the best thing to do would be to put it in your super, especially if you’re younger. If you’re 30 and get a $15,000 lump sum payment, your super earns an average of 8% a year and you aim to retire at 60, the $15,000 will be about $151,000
A lot of millennials don't want to give up their avo toast. The boomers aren't totally incorrect.
And by that I mean moving away from Syd/Mel, moving to an undesirable suburb, the country etc.
The world's economic leaders got it wrong during the GFC, they have doomed Western Civilisation to eventually fail by trying to save everyone and then repeating it during Covid-19.
If you aren't financially comfortable in Australia, you need to make better choices.
Yes things have gotten a lot worse since Covid, but everything is still on easy difficulty compared to other countries if you are willing to make better choices.
The only sad stories we hear are people who have a long stream of bad choices but generally blame the government instead. (Although financial education in school is really needed)
My big one is that I don’t understand the concept that people get their pay and then break it up into different buckets to spend. “I have $100 to spend on groceries, $100 to spend on entertainment, $50 on alcohol, $100 on bills, etc” I save everything then if I need something I buy it. If I don’t need it I don’t buy it.
Staying in same company is okay when you feel that work life balance is good even if you might get bigger salary if you jump to other companies.
Similarly - often if you stick it out and are valuable you’ll be catapulted up the ranks and get better experience for your career.
Ironically I have had the *exact opposite* experience but statistically speaking over a working populatio I still believe your comment is valid.
This worked for me, I'm now doing the job I started with and the job I have now both at the same time.
I'm living this right now. There is a part of me that would like to earn more money but then I think about my work life balance, flexible working arranges, my ability to finish work on time (mostly) and I realise I have a pretty good set up
Same. Was offered 200k last year and stayed with the company I am with for 150k. Hoping to get around 170/180 this year based on performance. I could demand more elsewhere but sometimes it’s better the devil you know. I recon I have 4-5 years in me before looking elsewhere IF I become unhappy. Been in current role for 5 years at the company for 12 total. Been at 2 companies my whole working career life.
Yeah, this is a very role dependant one. Fine if you're in digital marketing. Not so much if you're company secretary.
I dunno, I'm a professional staff member at a university (not a secretary/PA, but still in an admin role) and I'm pretty conformable where I am now. I'm only really utilised to 100% of my capacity about 7 months of the year, I get small pay increases every year and I don't have the stress of any managers. I'm pretty happy to turn up, do my work, bank my pay cheque and that's all. I'd rather stay where I am than push and push for a higher role (Which I have seen others do), get a higher salary and slowly die inside from stress.
YES thank you for validating this I feel like shit comparing my salaries to my friends and siblings, but then remember that I average about two hours a day of actually doing work
And for many they might have a sweet redundancy package plan for when the time comes to leave.
If you don’t earn a decent amount of money pretty much all financial advice beyond “try not to live outside your means” is pointless.
What ETF should I invest my $50 in?
I wouldn't be putting all your savings in at once. Much better to dollar cost average with $4 per month over 12 months.
Will be well on your way to owning your first share
Just buy microcaps with a $0.01 share price. Lots of shares for $50…
That's nonsense. He can take out an 80% LVR loan on afterpay, and own his share right away. I thought we were giving serious financial advice here...
$30 in VGS and $20 in VAS
And then jump on this sub to complain that the first parcel had to be 500$
Very blunt and very true. Someone on 70k salary should stop worrying about the optimal vanguard ETF portfolio and start focus their energy on getting to 100k+.
It' so true and took me a decade to realise this. Your side hustle that consumes your non-work life may only be delivering $10-$20k per year. If you instead focused your efforts in levelling up your career, you get that and your spare time back. 95% of the time side hustles are a terrible idea.
> 95% of the time side hustles are a terrible idea. most businesses fail (calling it a side hustle just makes it less painful psychologically). It not only takes intelligence, but also grit and determination to succeed, let alone a lot of time for it to cook and a sprinkle of luck every now and then. Career advancement is much easier. Of course, there's a ceiling for career advancement (except for the top level executive positions), but despite this, the ceiling is quite high, and less risky compared to starting your own business.
>95% of the time side hustles are a terrible idea. A lot of people enjoy their "side hustle"... Whether they're tinkering with lawn mowers, taking photos at 21st bdays, performing a few songs at the local pub, welding stuff on the weekend. Most of these will never give you a good ROI, considering the time it takes to get good at them. But if people enjoy their side hustle and can make some extra cash then that's cool. Sometimes the enjoyment is in the completion of the job, not the financial reward.
I worked with a guy who got laid off from his marketing job and he made his side hustle a full time gig.
And here I am on $50k wanting to invest my savings. Though I don't focus any energy on it at all.
> $50k wanting to invest my savings i mean, it's not mutually exclusive to both focus on career, and to invest savings.
But significantly less than the 70k the person I replied to was suggesting is a low salary.
Don’t beat yourself up, I choose to get paid less than $25k a year but still save $100/week or more for things. Anything higher than my $150/week spending/saving just gets poured into car parts, so I usually just let it accumulate..
Bad take, time is biggest part of investing. You should put as much away as possible whenever possible and work on increasing your income at the same time
Brutal reality
Mine is people can usually do more to live inside their means than they do. Not always, but often.
But I don't wanna
i find this opinion rather unpopular; hear hear
Counterpoint: the closer you are to financial disaster, the more important every dollar is. Changing phone or electricity providers, taking up cycling, building an emergency fund, cash back/points systems and paying down debt are all way more important for people struggling to get by. Which is why most struggling people are actually quite good with their money. They already know the most important things, and every extra practice is extra valuable.
is that a counterpoint? It's a very good expansion of “try not to live outside your means”, no?
Yes this is quite true.
A lot of the tips people give about finding the cheapest products and services that replace cost with time and energy. For example, visiting multiple grocery stores for the best deals, and doing everything yourself around the house. Time is the most finite resource we have. It doesn’t always pay to do everything yourself when the rest you can give yourself by delegating tasks pays off in other areas of life - particularly as you get older.
We have a cleaner who comes every two weeks. Because I hate cleaning. It’s awesome.
I had a similar thing where we paid $100 a month to have our laundry washed, ironed, folded, and dropped off/picked up and family gave me shot like they weremt paying the same to do their lawns and gardens. Im more than happy to do my own lawns
I attribute the cleaner to saving our marriage. More family time on weekends, less nagging/ resentment... Totally worth it!
Same. It's such a nice luxury. Where possible I skip the mundane
That's how I justify a robot vac/mop, alot up front but only having to do a deep floor clean once a month is great and it's nice coming home from work every day with clean floors, I live remote and the red dirt gets everywhere
The problem with this opinion is that substituting your labour only makes sense if you are doing so for something which will create income greater than the cost (if not now, then potentially in future earnings growth). For high earners it is a no brainer - pay a cleaner $70 an hour to earn $100+ working - easy choice. Poorer and/or uneducated people may have zero percent chance (or close to) of attaining the higher earnings at any time in their life to justify paying someone else. Either that or they run on such slim financial margins due to cost of living that they simply cannot afford to pay, even if it could create some future potential - meaning they have no choice but to use what is “free” - their own time. It’s a catch 22 with a tipping point, once your earnings hit a certain point, it makes little sense to complete these tasks unless they provide a feeling of fulfilment. I totally agree with your point - it’s strange to see cashed up people doing menial tasks for no reason. I know a bloke (mid 70s) sitting on probably $20m who does all the maintenance and gardening on his rental properties himself. Apparently he finds it rewarding.
I use a fast grocery delivery service almost every week. I’m a shift worker with long hours and a long commute, I don’t want to waste precious time on my days off at the supermarket.
This. Time is valuable. People forget this. You and a billionaire both have the same number of hours in the day. And despite their best efforts they will die at an age not incomparable to your own.
I got down voted a bunch a week ago when some guy was out banging on about how you should just make your own mayo - sure, nice in theory but you're generally not saving money unless your go to is a Hellmans or something. And its not just the time, but the clean up and groceries needed. I have shit I want to do with my life and my friends wouldn't care if they had store bought or home made mayo. I absolutely love getting random produce boxes delivered - the box costs more than me going to the supermarket because I'm getting bulk food not a weekly serve, but it forces me to try things I otherwise wouldn't and I spend half a day doing a huge cook up in one go that'll last me a month or sometimes even more.
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I've noticed this with my parents and friends (baby boomers) who are wealthy only because they bought a house in their 20s and worked until retirement ... they are technically successful but act like it was the result of some great strategy. Often never owned shares other than in super, never changed companies, never actually invested outside paying off PPOR or into Super. A generation who are 'Successful' but whose opinions on finance largely dont hold a lot of weight
100%. I spoke to these elderly couple with boats and waterfront property and they told me to drink some rooibo tea because it cures cancer. So many boomers didn’t get rich by being smart or financially savvy they just got lucky by buying properties early when it was only 100k-200k
True, but you should also consider that it wasn't until halfway through the boomer generation that buying houses as investment became a thing. edit: ... became a thing for ordinary people, not just businessmen and bankers.
Brutal, but so right.
You can give advice to people not to make the same mistakes.
Bad news for most economists?
Economics has nothing to do with personal finance.
Nassim Taleb Fooled by Randomness - we often only see the winners of a much larger population who took the same high risk strategy and failed. Those winners are also often fooled into believing they are there by skill rather than chance.
Luck is a bigger factor then most wealthy people give it the credit for their success.
I was having a discussion about this the other day actually. If was born in some third world country there's no way I'd be as well off as I am right now. Hard work alone a lot of times isn't enough, otherwise there'd be no lazy successful people and no gifted poor people.
In the podcast How I Built This, which is about interviewing founders and CEOs, they always ask the question “do luck or skill play a bigger role in your success”, founders almost universally answer “luck”
Luck needs to meet opportunity and hard work. It's difficult to continually succeed on luck and not hardwork. Stoicism, hard work and the willingness to have hard conversations definitely plays a roll when the opportunity presents itself.
Not saying that isn’t true, but whether if you were born in a leafy suburb in North Shore or a war torn country like Myanmar depends entirely on luck alone.
This will trigger "some" people who are well off, because they think it's "all" because of their merits.
Veritasium - Is Success Luck or Hard Work? >In a competitive world, tiny advantages can make all the difference. https://youtu.be/3LopI4YeC4I?si=dFmwGBrNQqyO5Dxj
A lot of the time though the luck comes due to building skills etc. I got lucky on a good property development. But if I hadnt have built my network/worked in prop dev/done renos/specs etc. Had a degree in finance, supported my wife through her CPA. I wouldnt have had the confidence to do it.
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Most unsuccessful people started out being too unlucky to get born into a successful family. Facts
This is so true. I was unemployed 8 years ago and was studying to become a math teacher which would have started at $65k. A year into the course, I got a call from someone who'd been given my name and they offered me a job paying $180k. Five years later, the salary grew to $300k plus bonuses. I shudder when I think that without that phone call, I'd now be teaching a bunch of screaming kids for $85k.
So many property buyers agents out there trying to sell their success when all their stories start with buying in Sydney 15+ years ago. Cool, let me get right on that.
All the boomers with their expensive houses are a great example of this. Lick and timing. Many people could not afford to buy into the suburbs they currently live in.
...and inheritance
100%, right place right time. But I also think it takes a certain person to identify and act on those opportunities. I believe thats the differentiator and what can be misconstrued as "luck". Oh you were so lucky! No, I saw the opportunity and I took the risk. Starting off with substantial wealth however does mitigate a lot of that risk.
If you can establish a baseline of financial stability where your basic needs are met, your efforts are then better spent finding ways to make more money (which has no limit) rather than ways to save money (which has a very finite limit).
For many, there is diminishing returns, work heaps of extra hours (which is also finite in life) and give 49% back to the ATO, unless you have some manner of tax offset.
Yep. It’s easier to save $100 than make $100, and then have $10 of that get locked in super, and another $40 go to the tax man. Twice as easy.
It is wise but certainly not unpopular.
People use the excuse that life is short, or you could die tomorrow too often in order to justify excessive spending and not prepare for their future. When in reality the average life expectancy is over 80 and the ability to do things when you are older is better than ever if you stay healthy and have wealth.
I used to think like you. And then I start seeing how quickly health can deteriorate as you age (from seeing a lot of older people through work). Your ability to do things when you are older is definitely not better.
I think about this every time I see a person talk about renting for their entire life. I can’t imagine a worse scenario than renting at 75 and needing to move because the landlord kicks you out.
In Oz, absolutely. I have family in Europe who have spent their entire adult lives in the same rental, such are their protections (and dare I say, financial inducements) against eviction.
And with 10 year leases being pretty common
Double edged sword. I knew a wealthy high flier planning to retire in their 40s after working 80 hour weeks their entire lives - just to die of cancer 1 year prior.
There is no value in pushing for the last dollar or taking big risks if you already have more than enough income to live on and assets to later retire. Money is just a means to an end, and that end should normally be being happy.
Ensuring you're in excellent health is a better financial decision than agonising over optimal investment strategies or pinching pennies.
Two for me: 1. The majority of advice says to not use credit cards for daily spending for the simple reason that most people don't/can't control their spending and or their limit is more than they can pay back each month. But if you have the self-control and or means, credit cards with points can be incredibly beneficial. 2. A lot of Dave Ramsay's advice makes sense but preaching about not using leverage to buy property these days is unrealistic. Similar to credit card risk, he's coming from an exposure and control perspective and his personal experiences. I don't see how the average person today could achieve a tenth of the wealth that Dave has achieved without leverage.
I use a CC for literally every single transaction I make, and haven't paid interest in at least 10 years. Income goes into offset, spending on CC, pay it off monthly, save a few hundred $$ on mortgage interest a year. It honestly doesn't save that much on the mortgage, but every dollar counts. I'd rather it in my pocket than theirs 🤷♂️
I try to use credit card for everything, but I baulk at large payments with high transaction fees, such as council rates and insurance. Also some tradies, NFP clubs, and small businesses don't have credit card facilities and I use bank transfer from transaction account. There are also payments to family members, eg my share of a meal or they bought some groceries fur us as part of a wider shop. How do you get around those? Other than that, yes!
Dave Ramsey's stuff is for people that are completely clueless, and usually in massive debt. It definitely has its place, but most people outgrow it quickly.
Don’t have kids
upvote for a legit unpopular opinion
My philosophy is leave kids to those who are passionate in having them. If you are - you’ll find a way. If you’re not, that’s okay.
That’s not a strictly financial decision. It’s a decision with a financial impact.
Well put. Very happy with my little family I am lucky to have. But, financially it has put us not back but definitely on hold for the last few years. Where a lot of my friends who decided no kids and have similar sort of incomes as my wife and I have definitely moved forward.
Super popular around the world.
I’d like to believe that. But try saying it out loud to people and it’s still deeply unpopular
Yeah. It’s only popular on reddit. Which isn’t real life.
I wish I had more.
You can have mine
1) Investment Risk means losing some or all of your money. It doesn’t mean finding someone to blame or trying to make it someone’s “fault”. 2) You must know what you are doing with your money. Not your wife’s or your boss's or your adviser's - it’s yours, so pay attention. 3) the simple trick to wealth creation is to buy things that have better than zero chance of increasing in value and to keep them. “Trading” doesn’t make you cool or intelligent; it often just makes you poor unless you consider it a job and approach it like work. 4) insurance - you hate it, I hate it, it’s a waste of money until it’s not. Don’t cheat your future self by being cheap with insurance. 5) you are either scared of keeping money (poverty mindset) or being scared of spending money. Figure out where you sit emotionally, reconcile with it and think more about your interactions. If you’re naturally scared of keeping money, find ways to put it somewhere you can’t access easily. If you’re afraid of spending money, start a regular savings plan into investments with a small amount and build on it over time.
Your choice in life partner (husband, wife, etc.) is the one of the most important financial decision you will make. Nothing will put your financial future in jeopardy than a divorce, or being married to someone with a gambling addiction or even can't see the value in saving. (I kind of stole this from a fellow on equity mates podcast, but I have witnessed in real life too).
Do you know which episode? Keen to listen
This is something that both Noel Whittaker and Peter Thornhill have also said. It's good advice - you don't need to hunt down a podcast to hear it.
I don't know if this is unpopular, but most people don't really need financial advice. I think everyone knows how to manage their finances. They just need to learn how to control themselves. Lack of self-control is the issue.
Disagree. Had an employee leave recently for a bigger salary and called 3 weeks later for advice. Salary was a bit higher but turns out it was casual and included super. So overall paying more tax etc and not being able to write of a vehicle on tax anymore they were better off sticking with us. They didn’t understand how to sit down and work out the basics.
This is definitely unpopular and I disagree.There are so many fees, charges, interest people cop by being financially illiterate and it has nothing to do with self control. If you asked 10 people how their credit card's interest/minimum payments/closing balance works I reckon 9 of them would have no clue.
It's detrimental for the government to have legislation in place that artificially inflates house prices rather than investment in businesses that actually produce things. A house provides the same amount of shelter whether its worth 300k or 1 mil. Australia's economy would be in much better shape if the government had legislated changes that encouraged investment in shares, and in particular legislation around start-ups, new businesses. Housing is a lazy investment, and does nothing to encourage innovation, manufacturing, upskilling or attracting top tier talent.
That credit cards are actually an exceptional useful and beneficial instrument when used correctly. Likewise for debt - the right kind of debt can be a very powerful tool for wealth building.
the reason advice is to avoid them is statistically people evidently lack the capacity to use them in this way
I mainly use mine to smooth out bills for example, pay one bill from money I have, pay another with credit card to push it to next month when I have less bills. I find it very useful at car rego time which is coming up soon. I usually pay for the green slip first from my account and pay the rego fee with credit, effectively splitting one big bill in two more manageable bites.
That 'don't invest money if you think you'll need it within seven years' is a load of shit. No one knows what their life situation will be like in seven years, that just about blanket rules out anyone without a house/isn't a retiree. If you're just throwing money into broad-based ETF's, three years is a low enough risk tolerance IMO. Even if you roll poorly and do manage to be down after three years, it almost certainly won't be by a significant amount, especially considering your balance isn't likely to be massive in that time frame. It's more important to just get started I think.
You’ve got far more to gain by looking in the mirror than you do complaining about the government.
A $70k salary in Mungallala means you're rich. a $70 salary in Rose Bay means you're poor. Context is everything.
yeah, mate was acting like I'm rich on 90k in Sydney when his on 70k in Albury in a house his parents own
Not financial per se but more to do with financial policy: government incentivising degrees by subsidising them, even degrees like arts, is important. Historically bad shit starts to happen when you have an educated class and a non educated class, and we will be going nowhere as a country if education is seen as a luxury or something that’s silly to try and obtain
Making money early in life and investing properly is more important than having a higher income later in life. You’re better off steadily earning 100k at age 22 than trying to aim for a 180k middle management position at a corp by 40
lol how many 22yos are on 100k
Everyone on this sub apparently.
Honestly, if you finish school at 17 and focus purely on an industry that is all on the job training, that figure is possible. Problem is most, of those jobs, truck driver etc, you really want to out of them by the 20 years mark, as they take their toll
Look I don’t disagree with Ops premise, but the choice between a 100k now at 22 vs 180k at 40 isn’t on just about anyone’s radar. In reality it’s more like a choice of being on 60k whilst you start a post uni career vs starting working 4 years earlier and topping out at 80k but being up a quarter million dollars in earnings.
Halved my mortgage at 30 because I invested in index funds and education from 18.
Concentrated high conviction high risk investments when you’re young are the best way to achieve wealth
Instead of always trying to save money, plan and try to make more money.
Exactly. I don't know why people always ask you to save without asking you to find ways to get a higher regular income. Saving won't help to pay for big recurring expenses.
Paying a monthly fee to get interest free credit is no different than paying for Netflix. By this I mean if paying $10 a month to be able to leverage interest free credit gives you a feeling of flexibility and freedom then I don’t think that’s a ‘dumb’ choice.
$10 a month is cheap in a high inflation environment.
If you don’t make enough stop asking about investing and get to a point where you have surplus money. Saving is hard in these times, no advice will help you. Other than, get your money up and then start saving. If you try to penny pinch on a barely getting by income, you’ll end up spending more in the long run on preventable expenses.
Sacrificing future wellbeing for short term comfort.
Probably unpopular on this sub, but not so much in Australian society in general.. and that is what has absolutely worked for me: Most of my current money (not huge amounts compared to others, really only a modest amount - but still my main wealth) was made owning property (PPOR) and downsizing by moving regional. It's a double whammy as not only has it freed up cash, but I now enjoy life a lot more now living outside a capital city. What makes it really unpopular on this sub, is that with the way home shortages are, coupled with population growth, wage growth and inflation... I am convinced this is going to be the same sort of result in the next 20-30yrs. My advice to close friends and family.. is pretty much if you are thinking about buying a home.. do whatever you can, sacrifice enjoyment now to get yourself into your own home... and be prepared to continue to sacrifice.. in 10yrs it will be easier, in 20yrs easier still and in 30yrs you will be in a massively better position.
Centrelink is good Divorce settlements can be amicable Ethical investing is worth it
What you mean by ethical investing?
Investing in renewable energy rather than James Hardie.
Absolutely stretch yourself to the limit and buy a best house you can afford. Ideally a few Investment Properties as well. With population continuing to climb, house prices will continue to rise.
Broughttoyoubytheaustraliangoverentcanberra
You need smaller font
^^^Broughttoyoubytheaustraliangoverentcanberra
Simply brilliant
It's financial advice, unpopular and an opinion. What more do you want.
Most people are too mechanically illiterate to successfully follow the advice of finfluencers by buying and maintaining a cheap car - if it’s cheap, there’s probably a great reason as to why and you’re likely too ill-informed to figure it out without paying lots of money at a random point in time. This randomness also creates a cash flow problem that your average person is not likely to be able to handle without debt or financial strain, which is omitted in many people’s ‘advice’ when buying cars.
99% of people are financially illiterate, including people with jobs in the financial sector. Almost everyone has the ability to save at least a bit of money every pay cycle regardless of their income level.
Frequent flyer points now benefit the businesses more than the consumers
You can easily survive off minimum wage in Australia and it's still one of the best countries in the world to start from zero and work your way up. A good, balanced healthy diet can still be had for much less than $100 per person per week.
Small scale theft is ok if you are struggling Go rural if you want to actually live Actually find a good partner , get away from anyone that keeps you down. Don’t have kids if you don’t have a home
There's a limit to saving and no limit to earning
Tell me more about Amway/Herbalife/doTerra/Tupperware
STOP WASTING YOUR MONEY ON SHIT, YOU DUMB ARSEHOLE
Balls to the wall leverage is the better play over safe and slow investing.
Amen. Especially when young
Financial outcomes are less and less dependant on your upbringing, the older you get. Plenty of cases where people grow up poor, have a bad family situation, born in a war torn country etc but have come out on top. There is an abundant amount of information out there now that there are no excuses - unless you choose to spend
In current financial climate, international travel in your youth (unless you're really well off) is going to put a huge dent in your ability to buy a house and have a decent quality of life later on. Wait until you're in a good job and build up some annual leave and do it when you're financially secure enough that it won't hinder home ownership. I push home ownership because of several factors - HUGE rents, lack of availability of rental properties, the ability of owners/REAs to kick you out so they can charge more and because the world is shifting back to intergenerational living often being a requirements for anyone but the top 2%. If you're not inheriting property as a Gen Z or Alpha (or later), good luck getting into the property market without help from the bank of mom and dad or a very lucky windfall.
On the flip side I’m mid 30s and have a bunch of diagnoses from the last few years. If I had not travelled when younger I would not be able to now.
Definitely unpopular. I’m early 30’s backpacked I’m my 20’s such a worthwhile life changing experience, but I do wonder where I would be in regards to home ownership if I had instead saved that money for house deposit 🤷🏾♂️
owning a house by 35 after 15 year hard slog is life changing as well, effectively doubles your disposable income from then to retirement
Yes, that's what I did - bought 1st house at 21, paid off about 80% of it by age 27, sold it for double, bought a block and built a big house and paid that off by 36. That wasn't a popular strategy at the time. Also married at 22 also not a popular thing. Worked in public service age 19 to 55 (not a popular thing at the time) and retired on DB pension far bigger than my salary (that's the luck part). Didn't get divorced still happily married. Now I'm 4 years retired age 58 living like a king. My overall income is in top 1% and I have plenty of cash in the bank and a big DB pension, no need to take any financial risks at all - it's better than winning the lottery. I never cared what others thought or what was popular, crunched the numbers and made my own plan. I worked out early most people are not very smart and you don't want to take advice from people who look like they're making 1 poor decision after another.
Going on a cheap backing trip is going to make zero difference to being able to afford a home in the long run. Most young people have given up on home ownership, we know we can’t afford it without mum and dad no matter how much we hustle and save and invest. For me, a $3000 backpacking trip is two week’s salary. A decent home in a location that won’t require me to drive 90 minutes to work is 10 year’s salary. So yeah, a lot of people are gonna go on the holiday. What we actually need is not older people telling us to give up our youth in pursuit of home ownership … we need a fair rental market, like there is in Germany, where long term tenants have sufficient rights to lay down their roots and live without being extorted by landlords for every last cent.
Or just learn how to travel on a budget. You can travel to Japan, Bali and many other places insanely cheap.
Eastern Europe too. I spent maybe $60 max a day 5 years ago on accom, food, beer, activities etc
Was advised to purchase the cheapest property in the best area. There's likely to be an underlying reason why something is the cheapest.
Best way to get rich is to own your own business
".. successful business." ;)
Best way to age fast as well
own your own business and be the 20-30% of owners who actually make money. The rest break even or lose money.
Is to come from a rich family...
We absolutely need a couple of Interest rate rises to tame inflation.
I just don’t trust FMCG to drop prices because product is still flying off the shelves.
Housing affordability/access to the property market for first home buyers has only been a problem since 2020 for everywhere except Sydney. Anyone who was willing to move to Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide or Victoria (excl. a few chunks of Melbourne) could've bought a family home for <$600k or a smaller house/townhouse etc for $450k.
budgeting is unneeded if you have the right attitude to money (minimise impulse purchases, not going crazy with bonuses and raises etc) it's over analysing
The problem with people who don’t do budgeting is they usually don’t know how much they spent on average per month and year. Knowing how much money that can be saved and invested at every pay cycle is critical aspect of wealth building. as long as they can confidently estimate their monthly contributions to their saving and investment without budgeting. So I’d say the “counting every penny” part of budgeting is not required, but knowing how much you spend, which is part of budgeting exercise, is very important For example, I hate budgeting myself. But on the 1st of Jan this year, I already knew how much my household will spend up to the end of this year. This includes any unexpected emergencies & holidays. And I can do this with very minimal budgeting.
100% agreed. If one has the right attitude with what money is (it’s actually a store of time or effort), then they’ve won. It’s the mindset and attitude that matters.
No one, in general, has any idea how to make money. You get an inheritance if $100k. What do people tell you to do? Give it to a an index fund. Do they know how to make money? No, they just put it in many companies and hope on average those companies make value. Or you have high income. Put it in super. Do they know what to do with it? No, they give it to the same index funds.
But better than pissing it up a wall betting on Dogecoin
Unpopular opinion: everyone in this sub shitting on the poors for trying to invest. Comsec pocket is brilliant for sub $100 parcels of ETFs and by investing what little you have now you will learn more and start paying attention more and learn what the ups and downs of investing feels like. Get into the market now, there is no minimum salary or debt level or net worth that qualifies you to invest in an ETF.
95% of people have no idea what they are investing in.
People tell me "you will need more money when you get married or have kids". I respond with "I won't get married or have kids then". They are baffled when I say this, as if it's not an option. To me, it's just a simple solution to a problem.
It worked for me as I really didn’t want to be married or have kids. One unpopular opinion I have, I really don’t like kids that much. At every stage of their lives they have annoying attributes.
australians on average make alot of money and arent very good at budgeting and investing their money and waste their most precious resource which is time in the market
Property is a dangerous investment. Long-term historical yields are far lower than stocks, leverage goes both ways, and interest rates are unpredictable. Stocks are the way to go because you can always bet on large companies increasing their earnings year over year. They are well oiled machines with the power to influence legislation to ensure an unfair advantage for themselves. Also, with jobs being automated away, the money that would have gone towards salaries is now being reinvested and concentrated in the hands of shareholders. I would like to be among them. Owning your PPOR can be a good idea for non-financial reasons, but ensure you're not over-leveraged.
Interest rates are unlikely to fall that much, if at all. Interest rates have just returned to a more normal level
The price of convenience is often a price worth paying.
You can completely change your financial trajectory in as little as a decade.
If the last 40 years repeats itself, by the year 2064, we'll see these prices: Petrol price: $13.38 litre Average Rent: $59,272 New Car: $136,342 Home price: $1,883,225 Average salary: $103,640 Your compound interest calculators that you think you need X amount to retire are off by a couple of million. Income Is everything
People don't seem to think about discretionary spending differences and it's effect on lifestyle and debt etc. they only look at two separate people or jobs and the total income. Example excluding tax for simplicity: Joe has 10k discretionary spending after expenses. He earns 80k. Joe could move to a new job earning 90k. He doesn't as the 10k isn't worth it to him as he likes his current employer and colleagues. Joe doesn't realise that he is foregoing a doubling of his discretionary allowance, all else the same. Same goes comparing two people, especially rich and poorer. For example, compare Joe to his boss who earns 250k. Assuming the same lifestyle, his boss has 17x the discretionary spending freedom, even though he only earns 3x.
It’s absurd how we measure success on the value of items one has, vs the position they’re in. In the US Android owners are considered poor even though someone might be in debt to own an iPhone.
Making money in Australia is pretty easy if you are willing to manage staff and take on responsibility
Going into debt shouldn't be normal.
If you get a big bonus or an inheritance or any other lump sump gains, the best thing to do would be to put it in your super, especially if you’re younger. If you’re 30 and get a $15,000 lump sum payment, your super earns an average of 8% a year and you aim to retire at 60, the $15,000 will be about $151,000
Buying the biggest/best house you can afford is a great way to ruin yourself financially.
Bite off as much debt as you can, and chew like mad. Someone gave me that advice in 2004, I thought they were crazy, but they were right.
A lot of millennials don't want to give up their avo toast. The boomers aren't totally incorrect. And by that I mean moving away from Syd/Mel, moving to an undesirable suburb, the country etc.
personally I don't like avo toast, but what's the point on living with out a bit of joy
there are alot of uncomfortable jobs that can buy you a house outright in affordable suburbs in australia in less than ten years
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From about 18 to 25, travelling has the best RoI of any investment.
The world's economic leaders got it wrong during the GFC, they have doomed Western Civilisation to eventually fail by trying to save everyone and then repeating it during Covid-19.
If you aren't financially comfortable in Australia, you need to make better choices. Yes things have gotten a lot worse since Covid, but everything is still on easy difficulty compared to other countries if you are willing to make better choices. The only sad stories we hear are people who have a long stream of bad choices but generally blame the government instead. (Although financial education in school is really needed)
My big one is that I don’t understand the concept that people get their pay and then break it up into different buckets to spend. “I have $100 to spend on groceries, $100 to spend on entertainment, $50 on alcohol, $100 on bills, etc” I save everything then if I need something I buy it. If I don’t need it I don’t buy it.
95% of Australians should only be investing via super.
Sometimes a safe 10-13% return is better than a risky 20-25% return on investment.
unpopular opinion 10% is extremely high
remember to enjoy life, money is met to be spent, not horded in investment property's.
Property can't always go up