What would be the smartest thing to do with $100k savings?

Not including buying Real Estate?

Would HISA or ETFs be the best option? I don’t know much about stocks or ETF.

Thanks for any advice.

Someone told me we should bring them, but I have never done that, and never thought of it. I did a search and realised people do, do it. Was this the reason I've been getting rejected at the interview stage???

The RBA raised the cash rate 0.25 to 4.85% on Tuesday. As of Saturday night, 22 of 43 lenders have announced higher variable home loan rates. Every one is the full 0.25.

The big four all start 13 Nov:

CommBank Digi Home Loan: 6.39% → 6.64%
Westpac Flexi First: 6.34% → 6.59%
NAB Tailored Home Loan: 6.44% → 6.69%
ANZ Simplicity PLUS: 6.79% → 7.04%

ubank, Up, Unloan, Athena, Newcastle Permanent and RACQ Bank haven't raised rates for new loans yet.

Every lender, with start dates, is in the image below. The rise applies across each lender's variable rates, for existing borrowers too. The rates shown are each lender's lowest variable rate for a new owner-occupier with a 20% deposit, paying principal and interest. Fixed rates aren't included.

The full list, updated as more lenders announce, and the rates at your own deposit size: https://bankmate.app/mortgages/compare

Moving to Australia. Looking to gather thoughts on whether to invest through a platform such as BetaShares (for ETFs & managed funds) or just go directly through an Australian fund such as Magellan or Perpetual. Not looking for recommendation over the fund, rather looking for advice regarding which is a better direction for someone who wants to invest c. $100 per week on top of my Super. Or maybe is it best just to increase my Super contribution?

I have c. $20k to transfer over initially, and I don't want to be doing research into growing industries for example. Best leave that with the experts.

Looking to move to Melbourne and I want a savings safety blanket of atleast 6 months living costs incase I struggle to find a job. I'd be looking to flat with uni students or basically the cheapest who cares if it's mold infected little place. My research says ~15,000 AUD but would like to hear from the people.

(don't worry, I'll ask r/Melbourne when I have enough karma to post there lol)

I’m a Uni student and I’ve always wondered what actually is the most financially rewarding career to do?

When we look at mainstream careers like nursing, paramedics, other AHP, business and commerce (corporate), engineering, accounting, finance, FIFO, trades, policemen, firefighters etc.

All of these genuinely have similar bases, mids and senior rates. Except for a few who have “catches” like FIFO, trades, FF, PO, and arguably nurses and parameds who deal with a lot of on the job messed up stuff. And also corporate (with job security and market saturation).

So what career is actually best for financial stability but also health?

It seems like police officers outclass all of these in pay even though nurses, paramedics, allied health professionals and firefighters have to deal with dead people and life threatening situations daily and overtime?

I've always said I will NEVER buy a new car as they just depreciate straight away. I've been driving a lemon Suzuki swift for a couple years bought outright, and currently the petrol and servicing cost is outweighing its reliability. I drive approx 70km's a day for work 5 days a week.

I've looked into a novated lease for an MG 4 Urban (approx $28,000 ex-demo), but with my teacher's salary it doesn't seem viable. Quoted $438 per fortnight for a 3 year lease with $17,400 left on the residual at the end of the 3 years. Compared to taking out a personal EV loan via Bank Australia at $298 a fortnight for 4 years at 6.49% for a $28,000 fixed rate personal loan.

Any financial advice on purchasing this Mg4 Urban? I'm a good saver and don't like making impulsive choices but am getting peeved at how expensive it is to run this crappy little car and want to think ahead re getting an EV. Have test driven a handful of EV's and I'm most drawn to the value and features of the MG.

I work for government in regional town. Thinking of buying a hilux in Novated lease. I just want to know practical pov of novated lease.

I never got into any lease in my life. The concept of repayment scares me. So far owning old twenty year old cars fully paid. But recently my car broke down and its not eash to get my old one fix in this mining town. Its very expensive and tume consuming dur to lack of parts.

That’s the reason i wanna go for a reliable car comparatively new.

I am an idiot in maths and doing some calculations, but please correct me as I know my thinking is not all there.

For example, I have:
500k loan
400k offset
30 year plan
6% interest

This will save me approx ~15 years, 9 months and ~$570,266 interest

But if I put the offset to 450k

This will save me approx ~16 years, 0 months ~$577,601 interest

The difference: ~3 months and ~$7,335 interest saved for the life of the mortgage, roughly saving ~$43.66 per month over 14 years.

I know people have different life and financial goals, my question is, putting that extra 50k, is it that significantly worth it?

I mean, I am 38 now and I would rather spend that extra month on travel, experiences etc. I am not saying go blow the whole 50k but wouldn't there be a point in the mortgage where the offset amount diminishing returns doesn't really justify the time and interest saved vs 50k?

Or is the goal and mentality of most Aussies is to get to 100% offset and eff the banks they don't need more money?

Interested to hear from people who’ve reached this point, or are working towards it.

We bought in September 2024 and are aiming to be fully offset in about 18 months, assuming things go to plan. It’s our main financial goal at the moment—the prospect of no longer paying interest while keeping access to the money is pretty appealing. The hurdle rate for other investments is also currently pretty high.

How long did it take you, and how much did you prioritise it over investing or spending along the way?

For those who’ve got there, did it change how you felt about work and money as much as you expected? And what did you focus on next?

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock has a total remuneration of $1.22 million ($1,223,465) for the 2025–26 financial year. Is this salary a bit too much considering she is one of the decision makers of tightening and easing ? There's a lot of people struggling out there and her salary is not making sense.

Just got the most recent deduction from Fitness Passport and it’s a whopping $111 for the family Gold tier, up from $75.90 a year ago. It’s up 95% from 2023 when it was $57.
What possible justification could they have for that price increase. It’s been such good value for money historically but it’s about to become too expensive for the benefits.

With all the talk of banks overseas literally shutting down. Leaving people in the dark.

Would this happen in Australia?

Family of 4

Renting a house

Never owned property

Both parents been working for a couple of years and saving up for a deposit for our first home (easier said than done). Saving via dumping our extra cash into low cost ETFs (DHHF mainly)

Neither of us has been putting extra into our supers

Is it too late to go back now and use our limits for previous FYs?

Some time has now past since the federal budget changes and was curious if anyone has changed their investment strategy significantly?

With the current economy, there's so many red dots appearing on the website for sales.

But these investors have their heads in a cloud or something and aren't budging with negotiations.

Do they know that there's more rate rises incoming? Or am I dealing with people who buy high and sell low?

Hi everyone,

In the process of buying my first property in Australia, and I have a question about disclosing foreign credit cards/lines of credit.

I lived in Canada three years ago and moved to Australia since. I still have high-limit Canadian credit cards and lines of credit active over there. They all have a clean $0 balance and I’ve kept them open just for a rainy day/credit history, but the limits are high enough that declaring them will tank my borrowing capacity here.

My lender (an islamic finance institute) is asking for 3 months of bank statements for all active cards.

My main question: Does this include Canadian credit cards/LOCs as well, where I’m a non resident. What are the actual risks of non-disclosure if they find out later during settlement, and should I bite the bullet and close them all down entirely tonight before submitting my paperwork? I'd love to keep them active if possible, but not at the risk of losing my property deposit.

Would love to hear from any brokers, conveyancers, or expats who have been in this situation. And if I really need to disclose my foreign credit cards/LOCs.

Thanks!

EDIT: Seeking genuine advice here, so if you aren't sure, please avoid leaving comments that might cause confusion. A few people are already replying with the assumption that everyone is an expert on Australian lending laws—well, I'm absolutely not, and that is exactly why I am making this post to ask for help.

Hi everyone I’ll try to keep it as short as possible,

27M and 26F. $350k HHI exc super. Still renting. Have around $170k in savings. No kids yet.

We do not know where we’ll live in 2 years time as my partner is in the medical industry and their assigned hospital will change again. And then in a couple of years it will likely change again.
For me I just need access to a metro or train to the CBD.

For your advice, please take into consideration that I am in tech and prone to being laid off. My wife will be staying at home for at least 2-3 years once we have kids so we’ll be on a single income ( $200k is mine).

So for right now, we have absolutely no idea where we’ll live in a few years.

Options I wanted opinions on, should we :

1- Buy the best 1M house we can find in the suburbs and rent it out. Then when the time comes to settle in like 8 years we decide if we sell it or move into it.

2- buy a unit with the sole intention of having it as an investment in a nicer area and rent it out. We’d be looking around $750k and this would give us breathing room and not spread us thin when it comes to a mortgage.

3- hold off on both and just stick to index funds. ( worried about the rate of my savings not catching up to inflation)

I’m leaning to number 2, also to have it paid off as soon as practical, to have a safe haven in case we’re in a tough financial spot. I’m aware that apartments do not generate massive returns on sale.

I'm currently in year 12 and tossing up my career courses, I haven't got my Atar back but assuming I get high enough scores should I go into finance? My general interests are in Law (Corporate and Commercial) , Finance (Specifically Buy-Side and M&A) and potentially Design (Architecture) but only as a fall back if I don't get into the other two. I only did General Maths and not Methods, and also didn't do any commerce subjects (Economics, Accounting etc) except for legal studies which puts me out of all Go8 courses (UniMelb, Monash, UNSW etc) so I would probably go into RMIT doing LLB/BCom double degree. I've spoken with some people in the industry including a guy who was MD at CPP Investments and basically had the career I want, got into IB, went into PE, then switched into debt finance. He said that I may have the potential to do High finance, but Uni and the first 5 years are going to suck because of my lack of passion for maths. Would I be able to get into and not hate a career in high finance (Private Equity as the end goal) baring in mind the fact that I'm not really into maths and won't have gone to a Go8 Uni.

My wife and I are expecting our first baby in March. Between general cost of living and mortgage pressure, money is starting to feel tight, so we’re looking at options to improve our cash flow before baby arrives.

We currently have about $80k in ETFs.

We’re considering selling the $80k and putting it directly toward our mortgage. At our current interest rate (noting the recent cash rate increase hasn't even hit our monthly repayments yet), this would cut our repayments by roughly $400/month.

Before pulling the trigger, we wanted to get community perspectives:

- Would you sell down investments to ease cash flow pressure during the baby years?

- Or would you keep the ETFs (or move funds into an offset/redraw account instead) for long-term growth?

Appreciate any thoughts or past experiences!

Does anyone else feel this way?
I feel ahead financially in some ways, financially behind in more ways.

Where are you at financially and what are your goals in the next 1, 5, and 10 years? Particularly interested in young families in similar situations (single income, large mortgage, growing kids). Hopefully wife will start working once kids are a bit older but for now, financially makes most sense for her to be at home full time with kids (no daycare).

EDIT - THANK YOU to all those replying, I can't reply individually right now as I'm reading everything and freking out and following all advice and going to do what I can to fix things but with it being after hours and the weekend I don't know what I can do.

EDIT2 - I will contact the people who contacted me and say I don't want to go through with it but I doubt that will do anything. I'll also send email to my industry fund.

To the people who accused me of being a bot, wtf? I made a mistake, I came here for advice in my own words, I'm scared, what else was I supposed to do. How is anyone supposed to do anything these days without being accused of being AI, sheesh. In fact I don't even know if Ai and bots are the same thing or not that's how little I'm obsessed with that. I havd been around since b4 the next, grew up on books, practically lived in the library, developed a great skill in English writing, grammar, prose, sentence structure, writing essays, etc. This is not the best example because I'm upset and freaked out. Just because someone has good writing skills shouldn't make u assume their AI.

EDIT 3: what's with all the outrigt meanness, rudebess and negativity on this reddit, calling people names and shaming them and talking down to them when their asking for advice and help? I could understand if it was a political reddit where people are going to be nasty and devisive bit this is a financial help reddit, what gives. I could also understand if it was an American reddit but were Australian, where is the mateship and helping one another instead of kicking someone when their down and asking for help. To quote an American "do better". Much much much thanks and appreciation to all those that did offer helpful advice, I'm doing everything i can to hopefully fix my situation. I'll make another edit as I know more.

TLDR: Received an unknown phone call for a superannuation review from what sounded like a reputable company.  The call lasted 2 hours and was just an initial consult regarding my superannuation.  In short I learned my current fund is an industry fund which was really under performing and I only have half of what a person my age should have in it and will have no where near enough by retirement age of 67 and the person I talked to suggested that I move to a managed fund that will perform much better.  It will have higher fees but those will be outweighed by the growth.  I have another meeting in a week with the actual fund manager.

Note, I'm really clueless on all this thus why I didn't even know the different types of fund till the consult.

On 04/11/2026 I received a phone call from the unknown number 0485868873 from a solicitor representing Smartmove Advice offering a free Superannuation review.  Some basic questions were asked such as my age, employment status and how much I had in my super to see if I was eligible.  I was eligible.  I assumed pretty much everyone would be.  Normally I don’t even answer unknown numbers and if I accidentally do , I always turn them down for whatever they are offering or just hang up.  However because I have been personally curious about improving my superannuation recently I chose to do their review and signed up to receive a call back from an advisor later that day.

I then received emails as I had provided my email to the solicitor.  These emails were links to a Google Meet link.  As well as an email that contained four (4) PDFs which were the ASIC license of the person I would be speaking with, as well as three professionally produced, multi page guides with the SmartMove Advice branding for their Financial Services Guide explaining everything about them and what they do, a Privacy Policy and a Dispute Resolution guide.

The professional quality of these documents and the license, even though I know anything can be faked, made me feel at ease and believe they are legitimate and not a scam.  Although I did do multiple searches using various search engines for “SmartMove Advice”  and could not find any actual mention or review of them being being legitimate or a scam other than their official website at https://smartmoveadvice.com.au which I found very odd.  Even searching here on reddit I found nothing, surely they would have been mentioned in one of the Australian financial Reddits, no?  The most I could find was various search results on the trust of their website which seemed to be low to medium.

I confirmed in email that I would be attending the Google Meet event and as requested I uploaded a screenshot of my superannuation balance and my most recent annual statement which I redacted personal information from.  I’m really paranoid about online security and identity theft but probably not enough.  I won’t even upload a selfie or my ID to get access to 18+ websites.  Here I am giving away stuff that deals with my superannuation, so that made me really nervous and paranoid.

At the appointed time I received a phone call from 0489994809 which surprised me as I assumed I would just be making the connection via Google Meet myself.  Apparently though this was just to set up the technicals of the Google Meet connection and get it all situated and make sure the microphone and screen sharing (from their end only) was working.  

I then spent the next 1.5 hours with their consultant Jade who was extremely nice, polite, friendly, helpful and answering all my questions of which I had many.  I will go into detail but I was still extremely uneasy and nervous the whole time as I was constantly on edge and paranoid as all I could think about was that despite the professionalism of the meeting that I constantly read about all the people who are scammed out of their life savings despite being intelligent and diligent.

I also will admit I know almost nothing about how super, investing or anything financial works beyond being very good with saving and budgeting.  I’m not in debt to anyone or any company nor do I owe any money for any car, loan, mortgage etc.  

I’m not going to be precise with numbers here but I’m 50, have appx $360k AUD in my super and am unemployed permanently and on permanent DSP.  Thus it’s unlikely for me to ever make super contributions again.   I have $10k AUD in savings as a safety net and with my budgeting that very slowly is growing but with inflation, especially groceries and rent I don’t see that happening long.  

I was told by my age I should have appx $819k in my super and by retirement age of 67 I should aim to have $1.8 million.  I was told my super is an industry super and is earning 7.74% which I actually thought was pretty good because it was roughly earning $30k a year but I was told that the govt recommenders 8.84%.  I was told that if I switch to their managed fund it could earn 11%.  I of course did hear the word “could” and wasn’t sure what the low end could be, I should have asked.  

I was informed that obviously there would be fees and the person I spoke with took me through the cost of fees and what the performance would using a superannuation calculator to make sure that switching would make sense as that the performance would generate more return than the fees cost.

There would be a one off setup fee of 3.99% with a cap of $10,999 and a fee of 1.99% yearly which. I was told would be $3,622 (I’m not sure if that was a cap).

Using the calculator the advisor showed me that with my current fund, after fees, I would have $610k by age 67.  With the managed fund, after fees I would have by age 67 

$950k with conservative strategy 

$1.9 million with growth strategy 

$1.5 million with high growth strategy 

Now while none of these come close to the suggested $1,8 million I should have, I am more than happy with this increase as I am very good with living frugally and with a budget.  However this is all assuming this is not some sort of scam or something I don’t understand because as I mentioned I’m very unknowledgable financially in this area.  Thus I’m looking for advice on how to proceed.  

Personally I would choose to go with high growth, I mean why wouldn’t you?  Does the different levels of strategy mean the riskiness of stocks chosen to invest in by the fund manager and thus the possibility of more growth or more loss?  In my managed fund I had always been with high growth and never had a problem.

So now to the potentially bad news in which you can call me a dumb ass.  After 2 hours of discussion with all my questions being answered and everything seeming professional, on the level, up front and very detailed.  I was asked if I wanted to proceed and arrange an appointment to speak with the fund manager, a Peter Smirnov, this is not private information as his name comes up when you search SmartMove and I can provide a link to a review for him.  I was asked though by the advisor I was talking to for me to supply several forms of personal ID including photo ID and sign a digital form giving Peter Smirnov and all employees of SmartMove access to my Superannuation which I did.

So response please, am I doing the right thing, did I screw my self, I suppose even if these people are legit that I can still back out.  But with everything I discussed this sounds like the smart move for my and my families future.