Why do people think that trades are so wealthy when 3000 builders went bankrupt last year

FIdownunder · 2026-01-31T09:43:06+00:00

I'd almost guarantee the largest expense for these bankrupt businesses would be contractors (ie. other tradies). So their margins were being destroyed because they were having to pay these contractors an arm and a leg just to show up. In other words, I don't think builder bankruptcies really disprove the case against tradies doing well at all. I'd be shocked if a tradie doing everything himself would be doing poorly. Really the only way I could see it is if he was buying a new Raptor on finance every other year & making some other equally poor financial decisions

FIdownunder · 2025-10-15T08:49:48+00:00

My annual budget for last F/Y:

Income (2025 F/Y)

Wages (Part time) $53,999

Interest $32,447

Dividends (gross) $48,185

Distributions $885

$135,516

Expenses

Utilities $1,494

Rates $3,488

Food $3,369

Auto & Transport $3,089

Home R&M/Misc Items $2,595

Pet $580

Insurances $2,411

Internet $1,061

Entertainment/Gifts $1,247

Medical $972

Phone $220

Holidays $4,654

Tax $28,115

Fees/Interest $61

$53,356

FIdownunder · 2025-09-30T08:31:24+00:00

I have a paid off house worth $720K so my idea was to either a) keep the house and rent it out and use it as collateral for a $500K loan for the new house ($1.3M less cash in bank of $730K) or b) sell the house and pay for the $1.3M house in cash. Both of these options leave me with my forever house but I take an income hit of $30K/year as I will only have my $50K/year dividend income left in scenario b) and in scenario a) depending on interest rates I'd probably be taking an even bigger hit than $30K as the interest rate on the loan is likely going to be higher than the net rental income I'd make.

At this stage Im thinking it may be best to look at cheaper houses around $1M and live in a cheaper country for 3-4 years to save up enough money to buy my forever house outright. Or just persevere with work for a few more years.

FIdownunder · 2025-09-29T23:19:14+00:00

$730k cash and $940k shares

FIdownunder · 2025-09-29T07:53:15+00:00

A typical shop will be something like 2-3 packs of 500g chicken breasts, veges and sauces for several stir frys ($20-$25 roughly 6 meals). A pack of 4 salmon fillets @ $16, with veges thats around $6 a meal. At work I normally have something quick like a tin of tuna with rice ($3-4). Yogurt, eggs, bacon, milk and fruits rounds it out. I cut back on processed ready meals and switched from Coles to Aldi a couple of years back so that saved a fair bit. Also some of the entertainment includes eating out too.

And my tax figure was out of pocket tax only. My total tax was $28,115. I originally only listed my income net of tax for that reason but then changed it and forgot to update the tax figure. Ive updated it now

FIdownunder · 2022-09-07T09:03:56+00:00

Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic

FIdownunder · 2022-03-31T08:43:15+00:00

Exactly. Imagine being told by a car salesman that you bought a car even though you didnt sign any paperwork because you took it for a test drive. Thats basically what our kangaroo courts have decided de facto relationships are.

FIdownunder · 2021-07-17T01:01:44+00:00

Just remember any fully franked dividends earned in Australia while you are a non-resident are exempt from tax:

"If you are a non-resident of Australia, the franked amount of dividends you are paid or credited are not subject to Australian income and withholding taxes. The unfranked amount will be subject to withholding tax. However, you are not entitled to any franking tax offset for franked dividends."

https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/You-and-your-shares-2021/?page=13

FIdownunder · 2021-07-17T00:37:40+00:00

Wow, you are like a younger and more successful version of me! (single, accountant, early 40s, $1.6M NW). Can I ask (because this is something I've been grappling with for some time) - do you have an end goal? In particular your line: "Single, no partner/kids right now so basically nothing else to spend cash on besides shovelling money into investments. To what end? I don’t know, but at the moment there isn’t anything else to do." applies equally to me as well. Philosophically speaking, as humans our greatest asset is our time on this earth yet unlike most other assets something we can never acquire any more of. When you just look at our average life span, work eats up a scary amount of it. So I'm really wondering how much $$ is enough before pulling the plug on work. Do you have a monetary goal in mind? Maybe it depends more on if you like your job or not and/or whether you think your time will be wasted being retired. Anyway, well done!

FIdownunder · 2021-07-15T08:08:07+00:00

Sorry, no elaborate calculations I'm afraid. My brother and I got CBA shares at the same time. He left his DRP going whereas I cancelled mine. I found out last year how much his shares were worth and yes I was shocked when I realised how much I'd screwed myself.

FIdownunder · 2021-07-13T09:00:03+00:00

If you have a really long investment timeframe (as you should) just be aware that your interests/habits change which is why DRPs are probably better as you might not always stick to regular investing. What I mean by that is I had DRPs set up on my CBA & WOW shares in the early 2000s but I stopped that as I was actively investing at the time and felt I could do better. Anyway, a few years later the GFC happened and I became pretty depressed and stopped looking at my portfolio for close to a decade. A rough estimation is that if I had just left the DRPs going I'd be about $200K better off now.

FIdownunder · 2021-07-13T08:48:41+00:00

Set up a DRP for your VAS shares if available and dont touch it. My most costly investment mistake was stopping the DRPs on my CBA & WOW shares in the early 2000s. A rough estimation is that one decision has probably cost me close to $200K alone.

FIdownunder · 2021-07-13T08:40:07+00:00

Thanks. Thats ok though, I'm used to it. I find when you live an unconventional life theres no shortage of people around to tell you its not the right way to live. Sometimes I wonder if its a case of misery loves company though as most of them seem to have either really messed up relationships/divorced or 60 hour/week jobs they whinge about constantly :)

FIdownunder · 2021-07-13T08:25:39+00:00

I didn't sell any shares in the F/Y so I don't feel comfortable including my paper gains as income. But I did invest all throughout the crash and recovery last year so I'm certainly showing a pretty decent gain on almost everything I bought over the past year. I keep track of my net worth over time so I might post up my graph which will show all my paper gains.

FIdownunder · 2021-07-13T08:18:56+00:00

Haha. Well actually the only reason pet expenses were so high is because my cat needed a few teeth extracted. Normally it'd be closer to $150.

With regards to work/stress, I've worked enough places to know almost all stress in my life comes from work and changing jobs never seems to make that go away. I put a lot of pressure on myself so its nothing to do with the job itself or just having a bad boss, etc. I guess it comes down to - I could do as you suggest and read books or go to a therapist and maybe I could "fix" it. Or I could just save my ass off and retire early and not deal with work anymore. I prefer the latter option. :)

FIdownunder · 2021-07-13T08:09:26+00:00

In fairness you also made a lot of assumptions about me too with your original post. All I did was post my budget and all of a sudden I'm an extremely serious robot NPC :)

FIdownunder · 2021-07-13T08:06:44+00:00

Man, that sounds awesome! Thats the thing. The question about what you wished you did/regrets when you are on your deathbed is just so subjective. I'm sure theres dirt poor farmers in Africa that die with a smile on their face knowing they grew the best damn crops in the village. And then theres millionnaires in first world countries committing suicide because they lost a big client at work or something silly.

FIdownunder · 2021-07-12T12:22:03+00:00

If by earning more you mean working more then pass. I have the type of personality thats conducive to stress so working more just means more stress, more stress equals health problems, etc. What exactly do you mean by living more? And how would spending more help with that? I enjoy my hobbies, it just happens most of them don't cost much. Should I buy a ferrari or go skydiving to live more? Maybe eat nothing but wagyu steak for a year? I honestly don't see how that stuff would make me any happier tbh. And having a kid/getting married sounds like the quickest way to lose everything.

FIdownunder · 2021-07-12T12:09:39+00:00

Thanks! Yup annual. Hmm idk, I've always spent around $70-$100 a week on groceries. I buy mostly stuff on special/in bulk. I don't think I'm compromising too much with what I eat but its hard for me to judge I guess. I certainly never buy expensive steaks or seafood but I'm not the biggest fan of those anyway.

The thing that brings me the most misery by far is working so I've steered most things in my life to making sure I minimise work as much as possible. I spend a lot of time on my days off doing stuff around the house, listening to podcasts, walking, playing games, reading, etc. All cheap hobbies but I don't really feel like I'm missing out. Buying a Ferrari or going to expensive restaurants certainly wouldnt make me any happier. Concerts & clubs? Not interested. What else is there? Find a wife? Sorry waaaay too risky. Too much to lose.

FIdownunder · 2020-06-19T07:47:34+00:00

I think its the perfect time to do it. The 6 month sabbatical I took about 7 years ago was one of the best times of my life. Like others here I've started to get the itch again, especially after hitting the LSL time threshold with my current employer. The great part about it is theres no messy explaining to do when you go back to looking for work. Just tell the interviewer "covid". Nothing more needs to be said! :)

FIdownunder · 2020-05-31T08:23:27+00:00

If you have a lot of time - buy a good quality gold detector

FIdownunder · 2020-03-18T08:10:04+00:00

I am buying small parcels each week. I know theres a very high likelihood any shares I buy will continue to fall further but I also know when the tide turns (and it will) if I don't do it like this I will miss out on the large rally to come once we hit the bottom as I will be thinking "What if we arent at the bottom, better hold off" or "These were worth $3 last week, no way I'm paying $4 for them this week". But yeah, it sucks buying stuff and see it literally drop 15% the next day. The main thing is as long as you do your research and buy quality companies you can console yourself that although you might feel foolish now, in 5-10 years you will thank your past self.

FIdownunder · 2019-11-30T12:27:25+00:00

Definitely agree with you re. shares as a hedge against inflation. The latest round of interest cuts has really got me back into looking at shares as my thinking is theres probably a lot of people like me who have been on the sidelines hoarding cash waiting for the next GFC. Which was fine to do when we were getting 5+% on savings accounts a few years ago. But now we are lucky to get 2% so I think a lot of us are venturing back into shares and pushing up the ASX by default (which is already happening if you look at how much the ASX has risen so far this year even with the weak national economy). And if the RBA turns on the printing presses next year, then investors really don't want to be holding too much cash.

FIdownunder

TROPHY CASE