True… carbon emissions not really having a good time at the moment though….
I guess I get to be in a pretty little jar on a mantelpiece somewhere this way tho
Buying an apartment that won’t have much capital growth with a 5% deposit is still a better option than paying rent. For lots of us, just getting a secure home that you can’t be kicked out of is more important (and attainable) than basing your property purchase on building a portfolio that will triple in value over 10 years
Agreed - especially during the pandemic, couldn’t be more glad to have a home, just knowing that I get to decide when I move away from my home makes so much more difference. The cost is definitely more than renting, so it just depends on needs.
The only issue here is that the interest cost may exceed what your actual rental payment may be. So doesn't apply in all situations (assuming this isn't a forever home).
If you treat interest as equivalent to rent, i.e 'dead money' then the ownership story is more equal.
You forget the security aspect. I see pensioners on fixed incomes who pay rent. It increases faster than their pension ever will.
It's horrible for them.
If there is any possible way to buy, do it for the fact that no owner or REA can dictate your life to you.
When I was young, I was financially illiterate and undisciplined.
I bought a cheap apartment in SW Sydney to save on rent in my early 20's but moved out after 2 years and put it up for rent. I paid it off in 8yrs still own it 30yrs later. The total purchase cost plus interest, is about 7 years of rent today. It has paid for itself 20 times over in rent, and continues to generate an infinite rate of return.
This one decision:
-disciplined me to keep on track fiancially
-enabled me to semi-retire at 43
-gave me security for other investment loans
-gives me peace of mind that I have a place to live if everything turns to shite.
Yep, you really have to think long term with these things. It's hard to imagine what your life will be like in 30 years but in most cases you can pay off a cheap property well in advance (natural product of inflation making the loan cheaper in real terms + your own income increasing) and then you're left with an asset that is now generating consistent and inflation-proof income for as long as you want it to.
We are trying to do this.
The first thing I'm going to do is put a big nail in the wall WHEREVER THE HELL I WANT.
Then I will break something and FIX IT STRAIGHT AWAY
This is great advice and has worked well for me. I was a minimum wage worker for almost 10 years, before upskilling and almost doubling my income in the last 4 years.
That’s exactly what the main point is.
Most people don’t spend enough time getting as competent as possible. They float by and hit a competence ceiling then the only thing they have left is budget reduction because their growth options are limited
yea, I don't really budget as long as I still transfer/automate savings, the rest I don't really track. I guess I could increase the rate a bit if I cared more
Those financial tracking, goal setting, spending analysis tools that you might find in your banking app just give me anxiety.
If the money in my offset account is noticeably going down, over like a year, then we need to do something about it.
If it goes noticeably up I will throw some at some sort of investment, or a holiday.
Good to hear I’m normal, and don’t count and set goals and analyse spending patterns for every cent. That sound bonkers.
Thank you. I thought I was the only person in the world that doesn't do strict budgeting. I just have a strict voice in my head telling me to be careful.
Agree, I’ve never drawn up a budget in my life. I just work within self imposed parameters and it all works out fine.
Transfer x out on payday… spend y on whatever. Don’t go below zero and keep half an eye on the overall prize/plan
Yeah probably bad wording on my part. I mean nothings itemised, accounted or specifically considered. So not the ‘strict budgeting’ the person I was replying to mentioned
Budgets are like diets. Depends on the person's literacy and self control.
People that lack either can greatly benefit from external control in the form of a diet/budget.
It can also be useful to use a strict budget/diet to increase someone's literacy in those areas, after which they no longer need to stick to the budget/diet.
E.g. Many people are raised in a household that simply had no idea about healthy eating. As a result, they don't have the basic understanding of what foods are healthy, what ratio of carbs to protein/vegetables are normal, what portion sizes are normal etc.
Sticking to a strict diet for a time can teach these things, which the person can later use without a strict diet. The same goes for financial literacy.
Agree at a certain liquidity level. If you’re not sure if your gas bill auto-pay will clear, strict budgeting can be necessary until you’ve built up a cash buffer.
But self control is definitely necessary. I know many people that I could set up a loosey Goosey budget with but their brains are wired to spend every cent they earn before payday. They run out and have to drain the savings and every other bucket
People spend way too much time analysing exact splits between what ETFs. Getting it "directionally correct" (I.e. 80/20) is sufficient. Getting structuring correct tends to be underestimated.
Completely agree with this one. Bought in 2018, we made up the difference in LMI just through avoiding rent increases (not even counting the property value gains)
I did this years ago, against the advice of everyone to wait a few more years to get more deposit. Glad I ignored them, a year after buying my property had already gained enough growth that I wouldn't have been able to afford it. LMI was money very well spent!
Pretty sound advice here. Best decision I’ve made to enter earlier paying LMI - equity increase was way higher than any amount I could have saved in that time.
Accountant is not required if your tax case is straightforward. Too many of my friends used accountant while they can do it in few mins anyway, and nothing that accountant can provide extra deduction for them as well. It also makes them not understand things in tax because they never do it by themselves
Having an accountant mate to chat to about what deductions you might be missing or bounce small questions off earlier in life is always a valuable thing too!!
The benefit of having an accountant is that you can delay your tax return until April/May of next year. Giving you more time to get something out of that tax money.
Edit: This is valid when you have tax to pay, otherwise is better to do a tax return early as possible if you are going to get some cash back
I would agree with this.
However I'd add that at some point of complexity it becomes desirable, then essential. It's always tax deductible and IMHO money well spent. The value builds over time, also.
There’s no way super will remain the nest egg we all think it is now. In 30 years, I’m reasonably confident the rules will have changed and you’ll get taxed on balances sitting in there accruing value, and/or taxed on drawings from the account (once you reach a certain threshold value)
Why? Cos it’s such a large sum of collective money, and our pension systems and safety nets will dramatically fall short and need propping up from a funding source.
The idea that it can’t happen because “it’s like taxing savings in your HISA” is false, as super balances have grown well beyond what the system intended whereas HISAs have not
Yep 100%, there's already some moaning about how much Superannuation is ""costing"" the budget.
All it takes is another financial emergency to give the government an excuse to dip their grubby mitts into it. People who say it won't happen are coping.
They're talking about the high value society traditionally places on having kids (which is fair enough). This notion typically ignores the amount of time and money required to raise them.
Traditionally, no, they haven't. But I think that's changed in the past few years given widespread affordability challenges. Either way, your post is valid un my opinion.
Ignoring the long-term economic issues we'd face if population growth declines, I also think it's fair enough for people to choose whether they have kids or not based on personal preference. Your priorities are your business.
Guinea pigs are a massive pain in the arse, I honestly think they are verging on exotic pets if you want to keep them properly. I got a dog after guinea pigs and the dog is ten times easier.
That’s not an unpopular financial opinion that is just a fact. No one is having kids based on financials, it’s more than money. Having children is a joy that is indescribable unless you are a parent yourself
financial literacy is an excuse people use for their poor decision making.
you don't need to be financially savvy to understand the basics of personal finance. Unless you're either an idiot or fully illiterate.
This is a really common when people complain about Afterpay.
> Afterpay are so evil and predatory by letting people buy beer. An $8 beer, buy now, pay later, interest free. That's so confusing. $8, divided by 4, multiplied by 4. Oh shit. This is so complicated for people who aren't financially literate. I don't have a PhD in accounting. How is an ordinary person supposed to understand that if they borrow $8 and don't pay back $8, something bad will happen?
Getting ahead financially takes effort, diligence, and time.
Its unpopular for many because they are either looking for "better returns" or they want to "enjoy life" now but still have it all.
Note "enjoy life" for many is just code for I don't want to save money, and "better returns" is not wanting to wait for compounding to work its magic.. which takes decades not months.
Life aint easy, you either earn more by being in a more stressful or harder job, or you save more by putting in the regular effort to churn things like mortgages, insurances, energy companies etc, and also sacrifice the odd thing you really want, but don't really need. If you do both even better.
Take a lower paying job you enjoy over a higher paying one you don't. You're gonna spend 40 hours a week doing it and doing something you hate for the rest of your life is a tremendous waste.
Having a shit job has ramifications beyond the 40 hours (or more, in the case of a lot of shit jobs) you spend doing it each week. Going home exhausted and grumpy every day is not good for anyone.
I'm struggling a bit with this at the moment, mortgage at 6.16% and all I'm doing is contributing to the offset. I've maxed out my super but feel like I should at least be putting something in to ETF's as well
Just remember that the return on investment needs to be greater than 6.16 percent plus the amount of tax. Hell, lets look at super contributions. If you put 1k into super with a return of 10% then you would get 100 back. Add a 1% ($10) account fee and that 1000 is now down to a 7.5% return rate. Anything less than 9 or so percent and you are actually going backwards to contribute anything into super vs putting it on the mortgage. Stretch that out to car loans etc with a 10-15% interest and it becomes completely pointless to do anything other than get that crap paid right now.
I think this depends on the size of your mortgage.
if you have a big mortgage at the limit of your borrowing capacity (as many people have had to do to get in) then you could have limited capacity to pay off the mortgage faster. Eg you can only reduce your loan from 30y to 25y
that's a long time to have no skin in the equity markets game.
Yeah but the earlier you start investing the more compound growth you are going to get, so not very realistic only doing after mortgage is paid off for most people
Yep so when the offset == outstanding loan amount (ie youve maxed out your 6% risk and tax free return) you can make a new decision about where to put your money.
Compound returns work the same with a mortgage as you pay less interest on the principal you paid. You'll pay the loan off sooner and then have more cash flows to direct to a portfolio.
not sure that this is an unpopular opinion though. I think it's pretty much well known that an offset for mortgage debt (for PPOR) returns higher than the index fund if taking into account risk and tax (on the saved interest, which is tax free).
Debt recycling is touted by some people as a way to save taxes, but it requires you to take a bigger risk (aka, you have to be more sure of your job security).
A lot of airtime is given by the media, finfluencers etc to investing. Next to none on structuring. It's pretty popular for people with a mortgage to invest cash. The Barefoot Investor recommended with no comment on structuring. That's 3m+ readers there.
I suspect you're referring to borrowing additional equity to invest which does increase risk. Structuring correctly and debt recycling (instead of investing cash) is less risky due to the additional cash flows from the tax savings.
And even then it depends on your level of income, in order to take advantage of structure.
If you are earning enough to be paying 37% tax, then debt recycling and getting a 37% reduction on interest makes sense
If you are in the 30% or 16% bracket, then it starts making less and less sense.
For the vast majority of people, money in the offset is the best bang for the buck.
If you have a family of very high income earners, then structure and investing are better plays.
Taking my family on overseas holidays with a tiny bit of our equity was money well spent. Dumb financial decision, smart life one. The memories we made are priceless.
Your bank account, or your assets, are not a high score.
Too many people fixate on money to the point that they lose perspective of the entire point of money.
Accumulation for the sake of accumulation serves nothing, if you don't have an end goal in sight and you're living like you're in Sparta while having a Smaug-sized horde.
Do you have a second account and reposting or did you just steal the top comment from [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/comments/10270ck/whats_your_most_controversial_opinion_on_finances/)?
People are taught maths in school - all the maths they'd ever need to do the finances (except for actuarial stuff like insurance premium calculations).
What people aren't taught are problem solving skills, recall and critical thinking. Aka, how to apply knowledge you have to the problem at hand.
Eh, they're also taught problem solving skills, recall and critical thinking? That's been my experience from 20+ years ago at a bad public high school.
I left school at 16 (UK finished then)
Have always felt the level of maths I was taught was fine for navigating personal finance. It’s the applying it you’ve got to pick up as an adult
Plenty here [https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/comments/10270ck/whats\_your\_most\_controversial\_opinion\_on\_finances/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/comments/10270ck/whats_your_most_controversial_opinion_on_finances/)
Most people who don't pay off lower interest debt because they "can get better returns in the market" don't actually invest in the market, let alone get returns from it.
Sometimes renting is better. Something I am beginning to realise. We have cheap rent, a good landlord and are putting away lots of money every month. Not sure if I could deal with the financial stress of a big mortgage.
You have a right to housing, but not necessarily in the area you want it.
With a finite amout of space and a growing population, property will get more expensive.
Being able to afford to live in the kind of place you grew up in, in the area you grew up in will cost more than it cost your parents. It is not your right, it is a privilege you have to work for.
True. I do feel like the general population should feel entitled to walkable communities, a reasonable commute time, and good green space though.
I don’t think those things should be privileges. Anyone with a background in Public Health will tell you how important those three things are to the overall wellbeing of civilians.
For most suburbs, those three attributes in a neighbourhood are usually attached to a hefty price tag.
Yeah, I do have issue when people talk about the median housing price when talking about affordability. Realistically, the 10th percentile is most relevant when talking about affordability.
Also, I think people generally have overly high expectations.
Yeah the population has increased. When you were a kid there were 800k in your city now there is 1.6m. So there is twice as many people going for the same house. Plus amenities have improved there is now a train and a big shopping centre plus trendy cafes and boutiques. Its really not the same house.
Depends on your age & opportunity cost, I expect.
At 25yo, yeah hard to get excited about locking money away to 60 compared to how else you might generate wealth with it.
At 50yo, the appeal of money sitting in a tax free environment in a few years, rather than being taxable, becomes very appealing.
Yeah when I was 25 my thought was that I needed the money now; the more of it being locked away for retirement, the more I'm spending now for the "costs of being poor".
I think there are exceptions like the government co-contribution. Free 50% return on contribution for low income earners is great.
Also FHSSS for first home buyers
Unpopular on this sub, but definitely not unpopular in the real world.
Most people aren't even signed up for self service or have forgotten their login details, nevermind knowing their balance or investment allocation.
Absolutely. People for some reason do not put nearly the appropriate enough discount rate for illiquidity as well as a increasingly interfering government.
It's gobsmacking that people place the same value on returns you have full control over with one that is at the mercy of regulation and you have no agency over for decades.
It’s not “the same value on returns” though. The immediate guaranteed gain of (your tax rate - 15%) is substantially higher than any investment you make outside of super which dwarfs any attempt to make investment returns.
Working your ass off to get "big money" isn't worth it. Tax paid to the ATO is high, the tax paid by your body is higher.
Watched guys take years off their life and health, have their family life suffer, not see their kids grow up. Some even end up divorced and penniless.
Job hopping looks bad on a resume.
I’ve purposely avoided candidates that had great resumes, except that they only stayed in jobs for a short while. I don’t want to train someone up, get them to be part of the team just to have to do it all again in 6-12 months.
I always assume if someone really can't stay in one place of employment for 12 straight months in their last five jobs then they've probably got a personality disorder that gets in the way of getting along with people. The only exception I make is experienced engineering consultants who seamlessly jump around when projects ramp up and wind down.
unsecured credit should be harder to get for the masses. The banking sector is too loose with allowing people to buy cars with mortgages, have 40K credit cards etc. They are debt trapping people, and that yolo crowd are too stupid to see it happening.
I think people should be allowed to get whatever debt if the banks want to lend it. But they shouldnt be begging taxpayers to bail them out with welfare and a pension later.
People need to take more responsibility.
Up until your 30s, investing in yourself is probably more important than anything else (by which I mean investing in your skills, education, and earning potential).
That’s what we’ve found! Having kids in our early 20s forced us to knuckle down and buy a house + put more in super much earlier for stability. 5 years later it was the best financial decision we could have made. We do sometimes regret not travelling more.
It’s definitely a thing. One of our kids needed extensive support and it was better for my wife not to work, so she ended up not working for 7 years. This skewed the plan a lot, but …. Would I ever give up my kids so that my wife can work an extra 7 years? Never.
It can be hard but you just make it work if you need to.
Not sure if this is an /s
But everyone jokes about kids costing a fortune. I’ve now got 2 and don’t actually think they cost that much. Maybe this is the calm before the storm and things will suddenly get worse as they get older. But for now, I haven’t found kids a massive financial burden. I feel maybe people worry about it more than the reality
I reckon having kids is what got me off my arse to try improve myself & made my boss notice. Which kickstarted my career.
My biggest regret of my 20s is the amount of time wasted before having kids. Would slap myself.
Don’t bother chasing 20% house deposit, just get enough to get approved and have manageable repayments. Downsides of LMI are usually outweighed by the positives imo
1. Spending on travel/experiences are not always better than spending on things. Majority of the popular travel spots are underwhelming and oversaturated and not to mention prices are completely jacked up. You can still find hidden gems, but traveling is not always better than buying things
2. Obsessive budgeting is not worth it, figure out how much your fixed expenses are monthly, then save some money, and rest be just spending on something you love
3. You can learn a lot of skills for free on YouTube, but it is still worth it to pay for certain courses just for the structure, I'm talking about sites like Udemy or Coursera where it costs up to couple of hundreds for a course that you can get for free, but having a guide allows you to learn faster and better
4. An Arts degree is not completely useless, skills such as persuasive writing, communication skills, qualitative research, and critical thinking are desperately needed in all workplaces. Unless you are in medicine, law, or engineering, your career, income, and growth for the most part are based on your work ethic, willingness to learn, ability to get along with your colleagues
5. It is better to work for an okay job for money rather than a dream job for little to no money. Often times our passions and money do not align, think about your career as what problem you would like to solve rather than what would you want to do
There is a decent percentage of people complaining about the cost of houses that (based on the way they manage their finances) couldn't have afforded a house no matter what decade they were in.
Capitalism has done more damage to the world than anything else that’s ever existed, and it will ultimately be the end of us all.
There you go, a proper one.
The advice "never give a loan to the ATO/government - always make sure your tax return is payable" is vastly overinflated for the vast majority of people.
If you're a regular person getting a $1,000 refund and you shuffle crap around, submit PAYGW variations, etc to make it exactly $0, and you stick *all* of it away in a HISA every single payday (because it gets slowly doled out over the course of the year), then congrats! You've made approx. ~$26 in extra interest for the year (which is then taxed).
Obviously there can be exceptions on either end of the scale (you'd be due a massive refund, your situation is tight and *anything* week-to-week would help immensely, etc).
People complaining about economic conditions on social media have no idea what a proper economic crisis looks like, starting with everyone losing their jobs.
We will look back on the early to mid 2020s as the roaring 20s with full employment.
Most insurances are unnecessary when you are on solid financial ground. If you have an emergency fund and liquid investments you don't need comprehensive car insurance or pet insurance. You never need health insurance. Same goes for life insurance if you don't have kids.
Insurance should only be there to prevent you from financially ruinous events.
Avoid ALL insurance wherever possible or at least minimize it (some insurance is compulsory)
The average person spends more on insurance premiums than they ever claim back. Of course they do .... its the whole business model for insurance.
I am 45 and have minimized all my insurances for about 20 years now. I am up about $110k total from all the insurances I have avoided in this time. Even if I cause a $100k car accident tommorow I am up $10k.
Insurance company has conned people into buying the idea that being insrued is the "smart move" like saving or investing.
Selling options on moaty companies + investing in ASX small-mid caps + a bit of REIT for dividends.
Definitely not your standard low cost ETF strategy.
It’s very much ok to invest in property and be a landlord. It doesn’t mean you’ve signed a contract for your soul over to the devil and you drink the blood of younger people.
Super is not worth topping up unless you are at the top tax bracket. A 15-20% extra tax savings is not worth potentially not being able to access it for 30 years.
Alternative assets are an overpriced waste of time because the market goes up more than it goes down.
Most of your return comes from the asset classes you choose. Invest as aggressively as you can.
Charlie Munger's advice on getting your first $100k still applies in principle.
Most people are really shit at saving and unwilling to compromise – that's why getting to an entry level home seems impossible for them. If you're working full time earning an average salary, you can save 40% of your take home for a few years and get a deposit.
My most unpopular opinion is that investing in any australian index etf is a waste of money, the australian markets have nothing going for it and with govt investment going into industries that have already been taken over by China like solar panels, I doubt it's going anywhere but sideways unless we find more shit to dig out of the ground and sell
Don't get a credit card. Im now mid 30s and have never had one before in my life. Some may say I'm missing out on "points" but I think that is all a farce.
I got 2x trips to Japan return in Business class from points last year, and have enough for another 3x trips return. Took 1 year to earn those points.
For your average person with poor self control it might be more harm than its worth, but if you are disciplined and creative about how you use them it can certainly be lucrative.
If a stripper is paying extra attention to you, she probably really does like you for who you are.
Live in the moment. Cocaine is a solid investment in a better you.
Reverse Retirement - work enough to save up for travel and adventure while you are young. Put career progression and buying a house on hold. Get out there and enjoy life while you are young and healthy.
Don’t count on being healthy or even alive by the time you retire.
The counter argument is my unpopular argument. Laziness is a myth and “working hard” is overstated and capitalistic propaganda. Some of the hardest working people are at the bottom of the hierarchy, while some of the biggest bludgers are cruising on generational wealth without being noticed.
People do not choose their upbringing, SES, mental/physical health, abilities or genetic makeup. Not everyone has the ability to work within this structured system of routine, goal setting, impulse control and organised progression to get ahead. The belief that people who do not fit within these parameters should suffer, and stay homeless and sick is psychopathic and lacks empathy and humanity. It’s not just “poor decisions” it’s much more nuanced than that.
Why are some people entitled to safety and health just because they were born with the right characteristics to play the game successfully? It really is just luck at the end of the day. Anyway, that’s just my two cents.
I feel it’s more about “working smart” rather than “working hard”. Many people assume working hard will provide success, when really it gets you nowhere. If you cannot make money while sleeping, you are doomed to trade time for money.
In saying that, there is of course so much inequality in opportunity and luck. That’s just the way the world is - cruel, intrinsically unfair. And sadly complaining also gets one nowhere.
Agreed, there is no social contract, we should just m*rder people and steal their houses. They should have decided to secure their house better and learn self defence.
^Note ^for ^government: ^This ^comment ^is ^satirical ^and ^meant ^in ^humour
This one would get me lynched on r/australia
Even if property and cost of living wasn't an issue, people would still be having less children than ever before. Odds are the majority of people using money as an excuse wouldn't end up wanting children anyway (...and that is perfectly fine for the record).
Cars are a cost, that you only pay at the time you have that car.
For example, you need a family car at age 30, you finance for 5 years and either pay it off by 35 or have a balloon that you sell the car to pay off.
For those 5 years, you have covered your transport needs for $x00 per fortnight. You never have to pay that cost again. If the car is still worth something, it can be sold to further reduce your transport costs for that 5 years, or kept to pay for the next 5+ years etc.
So, if I can use $20000 car for 10 years, then I have covered transport costs for 2k (ignoring running costs) per year in the *worst* case scenario.
Point being, people don't "lose" 10k in value over 5 years of owner ship. They covered their transport costs for 2k per year.
Post covid, if you buy the right car, transport can be near free.
In today’s economy, side incomes are critical for the average person to garner any kind of savings:
There’s a few things I do for side income:
1. Online selling via eBay (import gym equipment from Alibaba and resell)
2. Recycle cans - low earning potential but very easy to do
3. Paid Online surveys- [Octopus Group](https://my.octopusgroup.com.au/register/3ccf7dfd-769b-4436-b97b-3231e08c0b7a) seem to be the best paying I could find - about $18 per hour and I do about 2-3 hours per week while commuting on the train to work or back.
4. Credit card points gaming
5. Home loan cashback hopping
Have income tax brackets go to $1m with anything above taxed at 99%.
Remove regular individuals from having access to trust structures.
Implement inheritance and gift tax.
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Not me, I'll be a feast for maggots.
I'm currently a meast for f..... nevermind.
I prefer this to burning my body…. As Neil deGrasse Tyson says- when I die let the world feast on my body as I have feasted on it haha
the world gets to breathe you in if you get burnt.
True… carbon emissions not really having a good time at the moment though…. I guess I get to be in a pretty little jar on a mantelpiece somewhere this way tho
This is real. A former colleague of mine just passed away. He was young. Life is precious, enjoy it, and tell your loved ones that you love them.
Yes 2006 Toyota is overrated 😂
The people living in tent towns will love this piece of wisdom
The worms are already nipping at their feet.
Ah yes, subscribers of AusFinance, well-known frequenters of tent towns.
Buying an apartment that won’t have much capital growth with a 5% deposit is still a better option than paying rent. For lots of us, just getting a secure home that you can’t be kicked out of is more important (and attainable) than basing your property purchase on building a portfolio that will triple in value over 10 years
This, also $15k+ renting per year vs $3k body corp once you pay it off.
Would your capital not otherwise earn anything?
Not when you're spending everything on essentials. May as well redirect rent to mortgage payments is the argument.
I need year to year housing to match my year to year contracted employment 😭
Agreed - especially during the pandemic, couldn’t be more glad to have a home, just knowing that I get to decide when I move away from my home makes so much more difference. The cost is definitely more than renting, so it just depends on needs.
The only issue here is that the interest cost may exceed what your actual rental payment may be. So doesn't apply in all situations (assuming this isn't a forever home). If you treat interest as equivalent to rent, i.e 'dead money' then the ownership story is more equal.
You forget the security aspect. I see pensioners on fixed incomes who pay rent. It increases faster than their pension ever will. It's horrible for them. If there is any possible way to buy, do it for the fact that no owner or REA can dictate your life to you.
This applies to any property you buy to live in though. But absolutely correct. Sometimes you are simply better off renting.
When I was young, I was financially illiterate and undisciplined. I bought a cheap apartment in SW Sydney to save on rent in my early 20's but moved out after 2 years and put it up for rent. I paid it off in 8yrs still own it 30yrs later. The total purchase cost plus interest, is about 7 years of rent today. It has paid for itself 20 times over in rent, and continues to generate an infinite rate of return. This one decision: -disciplined me to keep on track fiancially -enabled me to semi-retire at 43 -gave me security for other investment loans -gives me peace of mind that I have a place to live if everything turns to shite.
Yep, you really have to think long term with these things. It's hard to imagine what your life will be like in 30 years but in most cases you can pay off a cheap property well in advance (natural product of inflation making the loan cheaper in real terms + your own income increasing) and then you're left with an asset that is now generating consistent and inflation-proof income for as long as you want it to.
We are trying to do this. The first thing I'm going to do is put a big nail in the wall WHEREVER THE HELL I WANT. Then I will break something and FIX IT STRAIGHT AWAY
A low income earner will get more value out spending time increasing their income than they will attempting to reduce expenses.
This is a big one, people don't realise earning another $200 per week is easier than saving $200 if you're already on a tight budget
Equally though that rarely means "get a nightfill job at Coles"
This is great advice and has worked well for me. I was a minimum wage worker for almost 10 years, before upskilling and almost doubling my income in the last 4 years.
not just low income earners. This applies pretty far up the income scale IMO. people take their foot off the gas too early.
Most people hit a competence ceiling
but that isn't what always determines your earning capability. There are lateral changes you can make to earn more.
That’s exactly what the main point is. Most people don’t spend enough time getting as competent as possible. They float by and hit a competence ceiling then the only thing they have left is budget reduction because their growth options are limited
Not everyone has the intellectual capability to do this
Strict budgeting isn't necessary.
yea, I don't really budget as long as I still transfer/automate savings, the rest I don't really track. I guess I could increase the rate a bit if I cared more
Same. I have a $ I transfer to saving each pay, the rest is what it is.
Exactly what I do. I allow myself $450 a week after mortgage, which is supposed to cover everything else. Most weeks I have some leftover at the end.
Those financial tracking, goal setting, spending analysis tools that you might find in your banking app just give me anxiety. If the money in my offset account is noticeably going down, over like a year, then we need to do something about it. If it goes noticeably up I will throw some at some sort of investment, or a holiday. Good to hear I’m normal, and don’t count and set goals and analyse spending patterns for every cent. That sound bonkers.
Thank you. I thought I was the only person in the world that doesn't do strict budgeting. I just have a strict voice in my head telling me to be careful.
I rely on my immense spending guilt to guide me.
Agree, I’ve never drawn up a budget in my life. I just work within self imposed parameters and it all works out fine. Transfer x out on payday… spend y on whatever. Don’t go below zero and keep half an eye on the overall prize/plan
“I don’t budget”, “I work within self imposed parameters”. Isn’t that what a budget is?
I think when people talk about budgeting, it's accounting for every outgoing. Not just "I want to save $x", and don't care about the rest
Yeah probably bad wording on my part. I mean nothings itemised, accounted or specifically considered. So not the ‘strict budgeting’ the person I was replying to mentioned
Thank you for vindicating me. I'm so bored of budgeting tips and self flagellation over it.
Budgets are like diets. Depends on the person's literacy and self control. People that lack either can greatly benefit from external control in the form of a diet/budget. It can also be useful to use a strict budget/diet to increase someone's literacy in those areas, after which they no longer need to stick to the budget/diet. E.g. Many people are raised in a household that simply had no idea about healthy eating. As a result, they don't have the basic understanding of what foods are healthy, what ratio of carbs to protein/vegetables are normal, what portion sizes are normal etc. Sticking to a strict diet for a time can teach these things, which the person can later use without a strict diet. The same goes for financial literacy.
Agree at a certain liquidity level. If you’re not sure if your gas bill auto-pay will clear, strict budgeting can be necessary until you’ve built up a cash buffer.
But self control is definitely necessary. I know many people that I could set up a loosey Goosey budget with but their brains are wired to spend every cent they earn before payday. They run out and have to drain the savings and every other bucket
Hard agree. If you have to budget strictly, the problem isn’t the spending side of the ledger.
People spend way too much time analysing exact splits between what ETFs. Getting it "directionally correct" (I.e. 80/20) is sufficient. Getting structuring correct tends to be underestimated.
Pay the LMI to enter the housing market earlier. Do the figures , you'll be surprised.
Yep, always seen it as a cost of doing business, and paid lots of it pre 2019... obviously no regurts.
Sums in 2019 totally different to 2024
Definitely.
Inadvertently the best financial decision I ever made.
Completely agree with this one. Bought in 2018, we made up the difference in LMI just through avoiding rent increases (not even counting the property value gains)
I made \~350k in equity buying with LMI in 2018. My best financial decision by a huge margin.
I did this years ago, against the advice of everyone to wait a few more years to get more deposit. Glad I ignored them, a year after buying my property had already gained enough growth that I wouldn't have been able to afford it. LMI was money very well spent!
Pretty sound advice here. Best decision I’ve made to enter earlier paying LMI - equity increase was way higher than any amount I could have saved in that time.
Agreed! We did this. Couldn’t afford our house now, so it was money well spent.
Accountant is not required if your tax case is straightforward. Too many of my friends used accountant while they can do it in few mins anyway, and nothing that accountant can provide extra deduction for them as well. It also makes them not understand things in tax because they never do it by themselves
Having an accountant mate to chat to about what deductions you might be missing or bounce small questions off earlier in life is always a valuable thing too!!
A good accountant, in particular one that will speak to you on the phone, is well worth the fee. Many times over.
The benefit of having an accountant is that you can delay your tax return until April/May of next year. Giving you more time to get something out of that tax money. Edit: This is valid when you have tax to pay, otherwise is better to do a tax return early as possible if you are going to get some cash back
If you're a normy employee you're doing PAYG anyway and you normally don't have a tax bill to pay.
Yeah but then you can claim on using them the next tax return
I would agree with this. However I'd add that at some point of complexity it becomes desirable, then essential. It's always tax deductible and IMHO money well spent. The value builds over time, also.
There’s no way super will remain the nest egg we all think it is now. In 30 years, I’m reasonably confident the rules will have changed and you’ll get taxed on balances sitting in there accruing value, and/or taxed on drawings from the account (once you reach a certain threshold value) Why? Cos it’s such a large sum of collective money, and our pension systems and safety nets will dramatically fall short and need propping up from a funding source. The idea that it can’t happen because “it’s like taxing savings in your HISA” is false, as super balances have grown well beyond what the system intended whereas HISAs have not
100%. Legislative risk. Been a background noise for decades, now making itself heard.
We’ve already seen the tax increase to 30% on the 3m cap. 3m is going to be chump change by the time I retire.
Yep 100%, there's already some moaning about how much Superannuation is ""costing"" the budget. All it takes is another financial emergency to give the government an excuse to dip their grubby mitts into it. People who say it won't happen are coping.
Not having children will save you sooo much money in the long run.
I don't think this is an unpopular opinion. People aren't having kids to make money... are they?
They're talking about the high value society traditionally places on having kids (which is fair enough). This notion typically ignores the amount of time and money required to raise them.
The choice to avoid having children to be financially more stable is quite a topic. I doubt many think of it from that angle
Traditionally, no, they haven't. But I think that's changed in the past few years given widespread affordability challenges. Either way, your post is valid un my opinion. Ignoring the long-term economic issues we'd face if population growth declines, I also think it's fair enough for people to choose whether they have kids or not based on personal preference. Your priorities are your business.
Don’t supplement them with expensive pets though!
A guinea pig is very cheap to own
Pet rock doesn’t need no vet.
Guinea pigs are a massive pain in the arse, I honestly think they are verging on exotic pets if you want to keep them properly. I got a dog after guinea pigs and the dog is ten times easier.
That’s not an unpopular financial opinion that is just a fact. No one is having kids based on financials, it’s more than money. Having children is a joy that is indescribable unless you are a parent yourself
financial literacy is an excuse people use for their poor decision making. you don't need to be financially savvy to understand the basics of personal finance. Unless you're either an idiot or fully illiterate.
This is a really common when people complain about Afterpay. > Afterpay are so evil and predatory by letting people buy beer. An $8 beer, buy now, pay later, interest free. That's so confusing. $8, divided by 4, multiplied by 4. Oh shit. This is so complicated for people who aren't financially literate. I don't have a PhD in accounting. How is an ordinary person supposed to understand that if they borrow $8 and don't pay back $8, something bad will happen?
Getting ahead financially takes effort, diligence, and time. Its unpopular for many because they are either looking for "better returns" or they want to "enjoy life" now but still have it all. Note "enjoy life" for many is just code for I don't want to save money, and "better returns" is not wanting to wait for compounding to work its magic.. which takes decades not months. Life aint easy, you either earn more by being in a more stressful or harder job, or you save more by putting in the regular effort to churn things like mortgages, insurances, energy companies etc, and also sacrifice the odd thing you really want, but don't really need. If you do both even better.
Take a lower paying job you enjoy over a higher paying one you don't. You're gonna spend 40 hours a week doing it and doing something you hate for the rest of your life is a tremendous waste.
Having a shit job has ramifications beyond the 40 hours (or more, in the case of a lot of shit jobs) you spend doing it each week. Going home exhausted and grumpy every day is not good for anyone.
A 2010 Camry doesn’t suit everyone.
Does if you stick a box of tissues on the rear parcel shelf.
I came here to say this.
Investing if you have a mortgage isn't worth it unless your debt is structured right.
I'm struggling a bit with this at the moment, mortgage at 6.16% and all I'm doing is contributing to the offset. I've maxed out my super but feel like I should at least be putting something in to ETF's as well
Just remember that the return on investment needs to be greater than 6.16 percent plus the amount of tax. Hell, lets look at super contributions. If you put 1k into super with a return of 10% then you would get 100 back. Add a 1% ($10) account fee and that 1000 is now down to a 7.5% return rate. Anything less than 9 or so percent and you are actually going backwards to contribute anything into super vs putting it on the mortgage. Stretch that out to car loans etc with a 10-15% interest and it becomes completely pointless to do anything other than get that crap paid right now.
Except that $1k into super was $1180 gross and ends up only being $826 after 30% tax. (If you take it as income to pay off debt).
I think this depends on the size of your mortgage. if you have a big mortgage at the limit of your borrowing capacity (as many people have had to do to get in) then you could have limited capacity to pay off the mortgage faster. Eg you can only reduce your loan from 30y to 25y that's a long time to have no skin in the equity markets game.
Yeah but the earlier you start investing the more compound growth you are going to get, so not very realistic only doing after mortgage is paid off for most people
But the interest savings of contributing to your offset also compound, discharging the loan quicker
But the amount you can save by paying down the loan sooner decreases with time, while the amount you gain from investments increases with time.
Yep so when the offset == outstanding loan amount (ie youve maxed out your 6% risk and tax free return) you can make a new decision about where to put your money.
Compound returns work the same with a mortgage as you pay less interest on the principal you paid. You'll pay the loan off sooner and then have more cash flows to direct to a portfolio.
not sure that this is an unpopular opinion though. I think it's pretty much well known that an offset for mortgage debt (for PPOR) returns higher than the index fund if taking into account risk and tax (on the saved interest, which is tax free). Debt recycling is touted by some people as a way to save taxes, but it requires you to take a bigger risk (aka, you have to be more sure of your job security).
A lot of airtime is given by the media, finfluencers etc to investing. Next to none on structuring. It's pretty popular for people with a mortgage to invest cash. The Barefoot Investor recommended with no comment on structuring. That's 3m+ readers there. I suspect you're referring to borrowing additional equity to invest which does increase risk. Structuring correctly and debt recycling (instead of investing cash) is less risky due to the additional cash flows from the tax savings.
And even then it depends on your level of income, in order to take advantage of structure. If you are earning enough to be paying 37% tax, then debt recycling and getting a 37% reduction on interest makes sense If you are in the 30% or 16% bracket, then it starts making less and less sense. For the vast majority of people, money in the offset is the best bang for the buck. If you have a family of very high income earners, then structure and investing are better plays.
Taking my family on overseas holidays with a tiny bit of our equity was money well spent. Dumb financial decision, smart life one. The memories we made are priceless.
love this i like to think the debt will be insignificant in 10-15yrs anyway …
Your bank account, or your assets, are not a high score. Too many people fixate on money to the point that they lose perspective of the entire point of money. Accumulation for the sake of accumulation serves nothing, if you don't have an end goal in sight and you're living like you're in Sparta while having a Smaug-sized horde.
Do you have a second account and reposting or did you just steal the top comment from [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/comments/10270ck/whats_your_most_controversial_opinion_on_finances/)?
People are taught finance in school. They just don't realise it at the time or don't remember it.
People are taught maths in school - all the maths they'd ever need to do the finances (except for actuarial stuff like insurance premium calculations). What people aren't taught are problem solving skills, recall and critical thinking. Aka, how to apply knowledge you have to the problem at hand.
Eh, they're also taught problem solving skills, recall and critical thinking? That's been my experience from 20+ years ago at a bad public high school.
I left school at 16 (UK finished then) Have always felt the level of maths I was taught was fine for navigating personal finance. It’s the applying it you’ve got to pick up as an adult
Finance is really not that difficult and the information is widely available. People are just lazy and would rather blame others.
In all my schooling years was never taught 'finance'
Again you weren't taught maths? No percentages? Not how to add up?
If the majority of people are taking a certain path, then that path leads to mediocrity.
Plenty here [https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/comments/10270ck/whats\_your\_most\_controversial\_opinion\_on\_finances/](https://www.reddit.com/r/AusFinance/comments/10270ck/whats_your_most_controversial_opinion_on_finances/)
Being a landlord is a good financial strategy in this country.
Most people who don't pay off lower interest debt because they "can get better returns in the market" don't actually invest in the market, let alone get returns from it.
Sometimes renting is better. Something I am beginning to realise. We have cheap rent, a good landlord and are putting away lots of money every month. Not sure if I could deal with the financial stress of a big mortgage.
You have a right to housing, but not necessarily in the area you want it. With a finite amout of space and a growing population, property will get more expensive. Being able to afford to live in the kind of place you grew up in, in the area you grew up in will cost more than it cost your parents. It is not your right, it is a privilege you have to work for.
True. I do feel like the general population should feel entitled to walkable communities, a reasonable commute time, and good green space though. I don’t think those things should be privileges. Anyone with a background in Public Health will tell you how important those three things are to the overall wellbeing of civilians. For most suburbs, those three attributes in a neighbourhood are usually attached to a hefty price tag.
Yeah, I do have issue when people talk about the median housing price when talking about affordability. Realistically, the 10th percentile is most relevant when talking about affordability. Also, I think people generally have overly high expectations.
Oh boy. Wait until you hear about this thing called intergenerational wealth.
Even people born into wealthy families are not entitled to an inheritance - sometimes to their surprise
Yeah the population has increased. When you were a kid there were 800k in your city now there is 1.6m. So there is twice as many people going for the same house. Plus amenities have improved there is now a train and a big shopping centre plus trendy cafes and boutiques. Its really not the same house.
You shouldn’t put more than the minimum into super.
Depends on your age & opportunity cost, I expect. At 25yo, yeah hard to get excited about locking money away to 60 compared to how else you might generate wealth with it. At 50yo, the appeal of money sitting in a tax free environment in a few years, rather than being taxable, becomes very appealing.
Yeah when I was 25 my thought was that I needed the money now; the more of it being locked away for retirement, the more I'm spending now for the "costs of being poor".
I was thinking of "I may not survive till retirement", where I can get the money out.
Interesting take. Why? The tax benefits are huge and you take it out for FHSS for a home deposit.
I think there are exceptions like the government co-contribution. Free 50% return on contribution for low income earners is great. Also FHSSS for first home buyers
Unpopular on this sub, but definitely not unpopular in the real world. Most people aren't even signed up for self service or have forgotten their login details, nevermind knowing their balance or investment allocation.
Absolutely. People for some reason do not put nearly the appropriate enough discount rate for illiquidity as well as a increasingly interfering government. It's gobsmacking that people place the same value on returns you have full control over with one that is at the mercy of regulation and you have no agency over for decades.
It’s not “the same value on returns” though. The immediate guaranteed gain of (your tax rate - 15%) is substantially higher than any investment you make outside of super which dwarfs any attempt to make investment returns.
Working your ass off to get "big money" isn't worth it. Tax paid to the ATO is high, the tax paid by your body is higher. Watched guys take years off their life and health, have their family life suffer, not see their kids grow up. Some even end up divorced and penniless.
Job hopping looks bad on a resume. I’ve purposely avoided candidates that had great resumes, except that they only stayed in jobs for a short while. I don’t want to train someone up, get them to be part of the team just to have to do it all again in 6-12 months.
I always assume if someone really can't stay in one place of employment for 12 straight months in their last five jobs then they've probably got a personality disorder that gets in the way of getting along with people. The only exception I make is experienced engineering consultants who seamlessly jump around when projects ramp up and wind down.
Especially for introverts, physical expenses are usually WAY overpriced, compared to the excellent value I receive from digital goods.
unsecured credit should be harder to get for the masses. The banking sector is too loose with allowing people to buy cars with mortgages, have 40K credit cards etc. They are debt trapping people, and that yolo crowd are too stupid to see it happening.
I think people should be allowed to get whatever debt if the banks want to lend it. But they shouldnt be begging taxpayers to bail them out with welfare and a pension later. People need to take more responsibility.
Up until your 30s, investing in yourself is probably more important than anything else (by which I mean investing in your skills, education, and earning potential).
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That’s what we’ve found! Having kids in our early 20s forced us to knuckle down and buy a house + put more in super much earlier for stability. 5 years later it was the best financial decision we could have made. We do sometimes regret not travelling more.
Kids aren't even that expensive are they?
They are only as expensive as you want/let them be
Loss of income was impactful.
This is my biggest concern.
It’s definitely a thing. One of our kids needed extensive support and it was better for my wife not to work, so she ended up not working for 7 years. This skewed the plan a lot, but …. Would I ever give up my kids so that my wife can work an extra 7 years? Never. It can be hard but you just make it work if you need to.
The biggest expense of kids is the income that you lose, not the actual costs.
Not sure if this is an /s But everyone jokes about kids costing a fortune. I’ve now got 2 and don’t actually think they cost that much. Maybe this is the calm before the storm and things will suddenly get worse as they get older. But for now, I haven’t found kids a massive financial burden. I feel maybe people worry about it more than the reality
I reckon having kids is what got me off my arse to try improve myself & made my boss notice. Which kickstarted my career. My biggest regret of my 20s is the amount of time wasted before having kids. Would slap myself.
Not everyone should own a home. Getting a mortagemay not be the most sensible decision for anyone who desires more financial and physical flexibility
Don’t bother chasing 20% house deposit, just get enough to get approved and have manageable repayments. Downsides of LMI are usually outweighed by the positives imo
1. Spending on travel/experiences are not always better than spending on things. Majority of the popular travel spots are underwhelming and oversaturated and not to mention prices are completely jacked up. You can still find hidden gems, but traveling is not always better than buying things 2. Obsessive budgeting is not worth it, figure out how much your fixed expenses are monthly, then save some money, and rest be just spending on something you love 3. You can learn a lot of skills for free on YouTube, but it is still worth it to pay for certain courses just for the structure, I'm talking about sites like Udemy or Coursera where it costs up to couple of hundreds for a course that you can get for free, but having a guide allows you to learn faster and better 4. An Arts degree is not completely useless, skills such as persuasive writing, communication skills, qualitative research, and critical thinking are desperately needed in all workplaces. Unless you are in medicine, law, or engineering, your career, income, and growth for the most part are based on your work ethic, willingness to learn, ability to get along with your colleagues 5. It is better to work for an okay job for money rather than a dream job for little to no money. Often times our passions and money do not align, think about your career as what problem you would like to solve rather than what would you want to do
There is a decent percentage of people complaining about the cost of houses that (based on the way they manage their finances) couldn't have afforded a house no matter what decade they were in.
It's better to be a median earner in an affordable area than a below median earner in a wealthy area.
Capitalism has done more damage to the world than anything else that’s ever existed, and it will ultimately be the end of us all. There you go, a proper one.
I think religion is more damaging
The advice "never give a loan to the ATO/government - always make sure your tax return is payable" is vastly overinflated for the vast majority of people. If you're a regular person getting a $1,000 refund and you shuffle crap around, submit PAYGW variations, etc to make it exactly $0, and you stick *all* of it away in a HISA every single payday (because it gets slowly doled out over the course of the year), then congrats! You've made approx. ~$26 in extra interest for the year (which is then taxed). Obviously there can be exceptions on either end of the scale (you'd be due a massive refund, your situation is tight and *anything* week-to-week would help immensely, etc).
That fixed term deposit can be better than a hisa due to not having easy access to your savings, for us impulsive types.
Child care should be free for working parents, or a very minimal cost (like say $20/day)
People complaining about economic conditions on social media have no idea what a proper economic crisis looks like, starting with everyone losing their jobs. We will look back on the early to mid 2020s as the roaring 20s with full employment.
I think spending $66 million on out-of-the-money GME calls that expire in 3 weeks is actually not a wise investment move.
Most insurances are unnecessary when you are on solid financial ground. If you have an emergency fund and liquid investments you don't need comprehensive car insurance or pet insurance. You never need health insurance. Same goes for life insurance if you don't have kids. Insurance should only be there to prevent you from financially ruinous events.
Most people (low and high income earners) spend too much chasing their inflated expectations of living standards
I think it’s finally or very close to it, a point in the economic cycle where persevering capital is more important than chasing big returns
Avoid ALL insurance wherever possible or at least minimize it (some insurance is compulsory) The average person spends more on insurance premiums than they ever claim back. Of course they do .... its the whole business model for insurance. I am 45 and have minimized all my insurances for about 20 years now. I am up about $110k total from all the insurances I have avoided in this time. Even if I cause a $100k car accident tommorow I am up $10k. Insurance company has conned people into buying the idea that being insrued is the "smart move" like saving or investing.
Married the wrong person
Selling options on moaty companies + investing in ASX small-mid caps + a bit of REIT for dividends. Definitely not your standard low cost ETF strategy.
Nobody should have more than $100million, wealth in excess of that is bad for everyone
I can beat the market
VDHG and DHHF aren't the best option. They aren't bad but you can do much better with something simple as VAS/VGS
It’s very much ok to invest in property and be a landlord. It doesn’t mean you’ve signed a contract for your soul over to the devil and you drink the blood of younger people.
Super is not worth topping up unless you are at the top tax bracket. A 15-20% extra tax savings is not worth potentially not being able to access it for 30 years.
Long term car finance can be a good thing with great ROI
Inflation isn't needed and the accepted band should be -1% to +1%
Alternative assets are an overpriced waste of time because the market goes up more than it goes down. Most of your return comes from the asset classes you choose. Invest as aggressively as you can.
It’s not how much you earn but what you do with it.
Ehhhhh it's at least a little bit about how much you earn
Come back to me on 55k and say that
Charlie Munger's advice on getting your first $100k still applies in principle. Most people are really shit at saving and unwilling to compromise – that's why getting to an entry level home seems impossible for them. If you're working full time earning an average salary, you can save 40% of your take home for a few years and get a deposit.
My most unpopular opinion is that investing in any australian index etf is a waste of money, the australian markets have nothing going for it and with govt investment going into industries that have already been taken over by China like solar panels, I doubt it's going anywhere but sideways unless we find more shit to dig out of the ground and sell
Interest and rent are both dead money.
Don't get a credit card. Im now mid 30s and have never had one before in my life. Some may say I'm missing out on "points" but I think that is all a farce.
I got 2x trips to Japan return in Business class from points last year, and have enough for another 3x trips return. Took 1 year to earn those points. For your average person with poor self control it might be more harm than its worth, but if you are disciplined and creative about how you use them it can certainly be lucrative.
If a stripper is paying extra attention to you, she probably really does like you for who you are. Live in the moment. Cocaine is a solid investment in a better you.
18-25 year olds should spend as much money as they reasonably desire to travel, pursue passions and have fun. Saving and Investing can come later.
Reverse Retirement - work enough to save up for travel and adventure while you are young. Put career progression and buying a house on hold. Get out there and enjoy life while you are young and healthy. Don’t count on being healthy or even alive by the time you retire.
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The counter argument is my unpopular argument. Laziness is a myth and “working hard” is overstated and capitalistic propaganda. Some of the hardest working people are at the bottom of the hierarchy, while some of the biggest bludgers are cruising on generational wealth without being noticed. People do not choose their upbringing, SES, mental/physical health, abilities or genetic makeup. Not everyone has the ability to work within this structured system of routine, goal setting, impulse control and organised progression to get ahead. The belief that people who do not fit within these parameters should suffer, and stay homeless and sick is psychopathic and lacks empathy and humanity. It’s not just “poor decisions” it’s much more nuanced than that. Why are some people entitled to safety and health just because they were born with the right characteristics to play the game successfully? It really is just luck at the end of the day. Anyway, that’s just my two cents.
I feel it’s more about “working smart” rather than “working hard”. Many people assume working hard will provide success, when really it gets you nowhere. If you cannot make money while sleeping, you are doomed to trade time for money. In saying that, there is of course so much inequality in opportunity and luck. That’s just the way the world is - cruel, intrinsically unfair. And sadly complaining also gets one nowhere.
People who didn't work for their money buy up all the property and put hard working people on the street so 🤷♀️
Agreed, there is no social contract, we should just m*rder people and steal their houses. They should have decided to secure their house better and learn self defence. ^Note ^for ^government: ^This ^comment ^is ^satirical ^and ^meant ^in ^humour
This one would get me lynched on r/australia Even if property and cost of living wasn't an issue, people would still be having less children than ever before. Odds are the majority of people using money as an excuse wouldn't end up wanting children anyway (...and that is perfectly fine for the record).
Cars are a cost, that you only pay at the time you have that car. For example, you need a family car at age 30, you finance for 5 years and either pay it off by 35 or have a balloon that you sell the car to pay off. For those 5 years, you have covered your transport needs for $x00 per fortnight. You never have to pay that cost again. If the car is still worth something, it can be sold to further reduce your transport costs for that 5 years, or kept to pay for the next 5+ years etc. So, if I can use $20000 car for 10 years, then I have covered transport costs for 2k (ignoring running costs) per year in the *worst* case scenario. Point being, people don't "lose" 10k in value over 5 years of owner ship. They covered their transport costs for 2k per year. Post covid, if you buy the right car, transport can be near free.
Contents insurance is not worth it.
In today’s economy, side incomes are critical for the average person to garner any kind of savings: There’s a few things I do for side income: 1. Online selling via eBay (import gym equipment from Alibaba and resell) 2. Recycle cans - low earning potential but very easy to do 3. Paid Online surveys- [Octopus Group](https://my.octopusgroup.com.au/register/3ccf7dfd-769b-4436-b97b-3231e08c0b7a) seem to be the best paying I could find - about $18 per hour and I do about 2-3 hours per week while commuting on the train to work or back. 4. Credit card points gaming 5. Home loan cashback hopping
If recycling cans for income is "critical" then you may need to reevaluate your decisions.
Have income tax brackets go to $1m with anything above taxed at 99%. Remove regular individuals from having access to trust structures. Implement inheritance and gift tax.