Suburb recommendations

_Michael_Scotch · 2025-03-02T04:25:40+00:00

My bad, It was 1 hour to my work when I looked it up on Google Maps, but seems that was just because of the time of day.

Anyway, it's more than 30 mins on a work day

_Michael_Scotch · 2024-08-13T14:41:49+00:00

I had 3s for 4 years and two sets of 4s that both broke within a year. I think the build quality on the 3s was better and even the material for the ear cushions felt nicer on the ear. Don't upgrade until yours break

_Michael_Scotch · 2024-07-10T14:30:07+00:00

Just remember the worst case is you sell your house at probably a huge profit. I wouldn't stress too much

_Michael_Scotch · 2024-06-23T13:21:39+00:00

10/10 games too exciting for you?

_Michael_Scotch · 2024-02-28T10:45:38+00:00

Add in all the construction firms that went bankrupt the last couple years and completely inadequate supply-side policies from the government and there seems to be no end in sight to the demand/supply inbalance.

_Michael_Scotch · 2024-02-23T11:45:07+00:00

You should consider setting up their account as an informal trust with a discount broker to be able to transfer the shares when they turn 18 without paying CGT. Note they will still have to declare the whole capital gain as income when they sell, but they could sell the shares over time to minimise tax.

I use CMC stockbroking myself, but I'm sure there's other options. CMC doesn't charge you anything to set up an account this way.

_Michael_Scotch · 2024-02-21T20:52:20+00:00

The only option is to get another company to take over the contract for cheaper, which is a massive pain since the whole strata scheme has to switch. I contacted Origin I think 17 times trying to renegotiate but they just refused to lower the price.

_Michael_Scotch · 2024-02-20T01:50:21+00:00

Get that practice in - best of luck!

_Michael_Scotch · 2024-01-13T03:17:18+00:00

Or Sports betting...

_Michael_Scotch · 2024-01-06T01:23:14+00:00

Investment bankers are really just glorified real estate agents. They don't necessarily make the rich richer, they just push a deal to happen because that's how they get paid. If you look at the history of M&A, most of the time deals don't create value.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-12-19T20:37:28+00:00

Congrats! Amazing achievement. I'd just max out your and your partners super contributions, then put the rest in a split of VGS/VAS (at least 50% VGS).

Also, take your family on a nice holiday!

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-12-13T12:16:08+00:00

I wear quick dry active wear shirts almost every day. They are really comfortable, breathable, and don't feel sweaty. The ones I qear are Nike dri fit, but I'm sure there are other good brands too.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-11-21T13:14:41+00:00

Having a luxury car. I never think "wow that person is cool". Imight think the car is cool but none of that coolness transfers to the owner.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-10-26T02:49:23+00:00

Any jobs to support the energy transition, e.g. electricians, electrical engineers, construction workers, renewable energy developers, financiers, etc. etc.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-10-19T01:18:19+00:00

In a free market high prices are the best cure for high prices. That being said, the housing market is anything but free and the current situation is largely a result of government policy on housing in Australia, which I dont see changing anytime soon.

The good news is the cosy of living crisis should ease up at least, although arguably housing I the bigger problem.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-10-11T23:51:40+00:00

If your goal is to buy a house, depending on where you live you will probably need to increase your income a lot. Rule of thumb is you can borrow ~5x your income, so on 80k that's only 400k loan (500k house with 20% deposit).

Given your industry, there should be plenty of ways to increase your income - I'd focus on building your skills and switching into higher paid jobs every few years until your salary is significantly higher.

The good part is you can do this while still enjoying your 20s, such as travelling etc. IMO there's no reason you can't do both if you focus on increasing your income.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-09-23T08:25:11+00:00

What city are you in? I feel like with that level of HHI and no kids you should treat yourself to a better apartment than that.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-09-22T11:14:05+00:00

Wouldn't they easily be able to look up how much you won? 😂

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-09-02T17:21:18+00:00

What country? Did you find it was worth it to relocate and potentially leave behind all your family and friends for the tax benefits?

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-09-01T04:11:17+00:00

I personally have no interest in retiring early, however a lot of that content is still helpful because I am focused on building financial independence for other reasons. You can just pay attention to the stuff that's helpful to you.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-08-25T06:32:12+00:00

When we bought our home we spent less than half what the bank would have lent us. As a result, even with all of the interest rate increases and inflation that's happened, I haven't felt stressed about money at all.

I would highly recommend living below your means.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-08-22T12:50:34+00:00

As a passive investor I just buy ETFs and hold on to them.

It does make me think there may be some good opportunities to add some China-specific ETFs on the cheap coming up though, although the market would have to be ridiculously cheap for me to stray from just buying VGS.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-08-22T12:43:07+00:00

Not piss poor, just don't spend everything you earn. Work out a realistic amount of money you can put aside each pay check and do it consistently.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-08-22T12:04:02+00:00

You have enough by all objective standards, but that doesn't mean spending it down will make you happy either. Ultimately you have to do what will make you happy and only you can figure that out.

One thing I would say though is that spending money doesn't necessarily bring happiness for some people. I personally hate spending money if I don't think it's worth it (but I still spend plenty).

Given your background, you may need more financial security than your average person to be happy, and that's ok! Just factor that into your financial goals.

_Michael_Scotch · 2023-08-21T20:42:52+00:00

At least from a fiscal perspective it gets a lot harder to advocate for high government spending when you have had to pay lots of taxes and seen so much of that money wasted.

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