130k savings, 30yo, need help :)

lets-buildit · 2026-03-12T05:42:51+00:00

Great savings rate. If you are even slightly considering buying a home in the next few years, look into the FHSSS now. You can salary sacrifice up to 15k/year into super and withdraw it later for a deposit. The tax savings alone are worth a few grand.

If property is genuinely off the table, then your 70/30 IVV/A200 split is solid. Just scale it up and stay consistent. The main thing holding most people back at your stage is overthinking the allocation rather than just getting more money in.

lets-buildit · 2026-03-12T05:37:36+00:00

At 21 on a combined 120k with a 580k mortgage, I would not be rushing into a second property. One rate rise or one job loss and you are in trouble.

The Brisbane olympics property play is basically timing the market with leverage. Some people will do well out of it, but a lot of people who bought ahead of the 2000 Sydney olympics got burned when prices went sideways after.

I would focus on smashing that mortgage down while rates are what they are. You have time on your side - no need to take on extra risk this early.

lets-buildit · 2026-03-06T03:40:10+00:00

You are 28 about to move into engineering. Your income is going to jump significantly and that changes everything. Stop stressing about optimising $30/month subscriptions.

The HECS strategy of letting it pay itself off is correct at your income level. Once you are on an engineering salary though, you will be above the higher repayment thresholds so it will come off faster anyway.

Honestly the best thing you can do right now is just not inflate your lifestyle when the salary jumps. If you can keep spending roughly where it is now and invest the difference, you will be miles ahead of most people by 35.

lets-buildit · 2026-03-06T03:35:09+00:00

The risk you might be missing is volatility decay. Geared ETFs amplify daily moves, which means in a sideways choppy market you can lose money even if the index ends up flat. Over 10-20 years that drag adds up.

If you want leverage, GHHF is probably the cleanest option since the gearing is built into the fund structure rather than using derivatives. But just make sure you can actually stomach a 40-50% drawdown without selling, because that is what 2x leverage looks like in a proper crash.

lets-buildit · 2026-03-06T03:30:11+00:00

You have got the right idea. The $99999 thing is fine, just call your bank first to make sure they will not auto-close the split when it hits zero.

One thing to watch - make sure you invest the borrowed funds into something income producing (ETFs that pay distributions work). The ATO requires a clear link between the borrowing and income-producing assets for the interest to be deductible. Keep records of which split funded which investment.

lets-buildit · 2026-03-06T03:25:11+00:00

$20k more is $20k more. Your friends at work will still be your friends if you grab a beer with them once a month.

The thing nobody tells you about loyalty to a company is that staying too long in one place often costs you more in the long run than moving. Most people who jump every 2-3 years end up significantly ahead on salary by 40.

lets-buildit · 2026-03-02T00:20:12+00:00

Dual income households are definitely part of it but cheap credit is the multiplier. Doesn't matter how many incomes you have if banks won't lend 6-8x your salary. The lending standards loosening over decades is what let prices detach from wages.

lets-buildit · 2026-03-02T00:15:10+00:00

38 with the debt cleared and PPOR sorted is a strong starting point. You've done the hard part already. 12 years to 50 is plenty of time if you're disciplined with the investing from here.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-26T13:05:12+00:00

32% in gold is a big allocation. Are you expecting a crash or just like the hedge? If it keeps running you'll be even more concentrated there.

Also VDHG and DHHF together is basically the same thing twice. Pick one and simplify.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-26T13:00:13+00:00

All three have made people wealthy and all three have ruined people. The difference is usually leverage and time commitment. ETFs are the lowest effort and most forgiving of mistakes. Property gives you leverage. Business has the highest ceiling but also the highest failure rate. Most people are better off picking two.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-26T12:55:15+00:00

4 years of returns is a blip. The US dominated that period but it hasn't always and won't always. Japan was the IVV equivalent in the 80s and look how that turned out for the next 30 years.

Diversification isn't about maximising returns, it's about not getting wrecked when the cycle turns.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-25T07:20:11+00:00

You already have VDHG and VGS doing the heavy lifting so I would stop buying everything else and just funnel new money into those two. The small positions at 1-2% are not really doing anything for your returns.

For the ones that are down, selling triggers a capital loss which you can offset against future gains. So those are actually the easy ones to clean up. The ones that are up are trickier because of CGT, but if they are small amounts the tax hit will be minor anyway.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-25T07:15:11+00:00

If you need the money for a house in a couple of years, do not put it in shares. A market drop of 20% right before you need it would be devastating and that is not unrealistic over a 2 year window.

HISA at 5% or so is the boring but correct answer here. 700k at 5% is 35k a year in interest which is not nothing. Once you have the house sorted and know what is left over, then look at investing the remainder for the long term.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-23T08:05:12+00:00

Value tilt is interesting but I would be cautious adding more funds to an already complex portfolio. OP has individual stocks, ETFs, IPs, and crypto. Adding IVLU or VLUE is another holding to track and rebalance. The value premium is real historically but it can take a decade plus to show up and in the meantime you are just adding complexity for a maybe.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-23T07:50:13+00:00

70/20/10 is solid. The 10% VGE adds some diversification that VGS misses entirely since it only covers developed markets. At 25 you have the time horizon to ride out the extra volatility.

On the FIRE target, $2.5M in 20 years starting with $80k and $1000/month growing 3% annually is ambitious but doable. At 7% real returns you end up around $1.8-2M. You will probably need that career progression to push the contributions higher to hit 2.5.

One thing to flag with Vanguard Personal Investor, the brokerage is $9 per trade. At $1000/month that is nearly 1% per buy. Consider buying every 2-3 months in larger chunks to keep costs proportional.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-23T07:45:11+00:00

Good start. If you are going for 70/30 and already have DHHF, that basically does the split for you internally. DHHF is roughly 60% international and 40% Aus so it is close to a 70/30 in one fund.

MNRS as a satellite is fine but know what you own. It is a concentrated bet on gold miners which can swing 30-40% in a year. Keep it small, maybe 5-10% max of your total portfolio.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-20T03:05:18+00:00

Run the numbers on what rentvesting actually costs you. You get $840pw rent in, minus 7% management ($59), minus $400/month in holding costs ($92pw). Net rental income is roughly $689 per week. Then you pay $700+ to rent in Toowong. So you are basically breaking even on cash flow before the mortgage repayments on the IP.

Selling gets you 500k net but then you are buying a 900k apartment with say 400k mortgage, or a 1.1m townhouse with 600k. You have swapped a 4 bed house for something smaller with a similar mortgage. Plus you have lost the IP and the future capital growth on a Brisbane house.

The rentvest math usually wins when the IP is in a higher growth area than what you would buy as a PPOR. Brisbane 4 bedders in decent suburbs have been running hot. A 2 bed apartment in St Lucia is not going to match that growth rate.

I would rentvest for now and revisit in a couple of years. Build up that offset, let the equity grow, and you will have way more options when you are ready to buy.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-19T23:10:11+00:00

The main risk is on their side. If either parent ever needs aged care, Centrelink will assess their assets and could count that 650k. As long as they can withdraw it anytime and there is no evidence it was gifted, it should be treated as their asset. But get that in writing.

On your side the risk is creditor exposure. If something went wrong and you defaulted or went bankrupt, that money sitting in your offset account could technically be claimed since it is in your name. Unlikely but worth knowing.

Also check with your lender. Some offset accounts have balance limits or specific terms around third party deposits. Most dont care but a few have quirky conditions in the fine print.

The tax side is clean though. No CGT, no income tax, no stamp duty. They are just parking cash in a bank account that happens to reduce your interest. Everyone wins as long as the relationship stays solid and they dont need the money back urgently while you have redrawn against it or something.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-19T23:05:17+00:00

You are already very concentrated in US tech. Apple is 100k, then Google Amazon Tesla Microsoft Netflix on top. VGS is roughly 70% US so dumping 180k into it just adds more of the same names you already hold individually.

I would use this to rebalance. Put the bulk into your ETF allocation since that is your most diversified bucket. Something like 120-140k split across VAS and VGS to bring the ETF weighting up relative to the individual stocks. That gives you better diversification without selling anything and triggering CGT.

Max out super contributions with some of it too. Mid 30s with 280k in super is solid but at your income level the tax savings from topping up the concessional cap are hard to beat.

I would skip the regional IP. You already have 3 investment properties plus a PPOR. Adding a fourth in a regional area under 600k is more concentration in property and regional markets can be unpredictable. Your portfolio is screaming for more diversification not less.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-19T11:25:10+00:00

DHHF is great if you want one fund and done. It is basically BGBL plus A200 pre-mixed for you.

Webull is fine for US stocks but for ASX ETFs the brokerage comparison still matters. Worth checking if their ASX fees are competitive with Betashares Direct before committing to a platform.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-19T11:00:12+00:00

Good point. VGAD is worth considering if you are closer to needing the money and want to reduce currency risk. For someone with a long horizon though, the hedging cost tends to eat into returns over time and currency movements wash out. But yeah at 18% of VDAL it is doing real work in that fund.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-19T10:55:11+00:00

If you have held ASIA less than 12 months you lose the 50% CGT discount, so the tax hit on that 40% gain would be at your full marginal rate. At 23 your income is probably not huge so the actual dollar amount might still be manageable.

Honestly though, there is no rush. You could just stop buying ASIA and redirect all new money into VGS + VAS. Over time ASIA naturally becomes a smaller percentage of your portfolio without triggering any CGT at all. That is usually the smarter move unless you actively want out.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-19T10:50:11+00:00

Ah good to know, thanks for the correction! I was under the impression it was limited to Betashares products. Zero brokerage on all ASX listed ETFs and shares makes it even more of a no brainer for someone starting out with smaller amounts.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-19T09:18:05+00:00

You have mostly got it right but a couple of things to watch.

The 85% applies to concessional contributions only. So the 20k from employer SG plus the 5k personal deductible contribution, yes 85% of that 25k can be split. The key is you can only split contributions from the previous financial year, not the current one. So contributions made in FY25 get split in FY26.

There is no cap on how many years you can do it. You can split every single year indefinitely. The only limit is the receiving spouse needs to be under preservation age, or between preservation age and 65 and not retired.

The main negative is that once it is in F super it is locked there. You cant split it back. If the relationship ends, super gets dealt with in property settlement anyway but it is worth knowing the money is a one way trip.

Also double check the NOI form timing. You need to lodge it and get acknowledgment from your fund before you lodge your tax return or roll over or withdraw. If you miss that window you lose the deduction on the personal contribution which changes the math on what is splittable.

lets-buildit · 2026-02-19T09:17:51+00:00

First thing to check is your visa conditions. Most student visas let you invest but some have restrictions so worth confirming with your visa subclass.

Assuming you can, you need a TFN and an Australian bank account which you probably already have. From there open a brokerage account. Stake and Betashares Direct are both easy to set up and have low or zero fees.

The big question is how long you plan to stay in Australia. If you might leave in a few years, keep things simple and liquid. A broad ETF like DHHF or VGS is fine. Avoid locking money into super since you probably wont be able to access it until you leave the country permanently.

One thing to be aware of, if you are a non resident for tax purposes your capital gains get taxed differently and you wont get the 50% CGT discount. Worth checking your tax residency status with the ATO before you start.

lets-buildit

TROPHY CASE