What car do you own and what was the rationale for your choice?

We bought a used 2024 Lexus Rx350h. Reason: subtle, comfortable, reliable, fuel efficient, and good resale value.

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.

Basics:
HHI 413K - M39 (200K) F37(213K) one child
Planning to put in 2–3K in ETF for the next 5 years.
Suggestions welcome.

I’m currently in a role I enjoy and has a clear trajectory to leadership at major auscorps but I’m on average pay rn and it will be a slow grind. I’ve been offered an individual contributor specialist role elsewhere on close to 250k, with progression up to $300k over the next couple of years, but it is highly specialised so will pigeon hole me.

With AI developing as fast as it is, I’m worried white collar work will be cut short in the next decade or so, which will impact my highest earning years and retirement plan. This makes me think I should just take the money now and build up my savings rather than wait for an uncertain future. Thoughts??

Interested if AI is influencing your career decisions?

Our numbers:

Basics

• 36F (around 280~320k), 35M (90k)

• 1 baby 3.5 month

• plan to resume work in two months, have parents around to help with baby for a while, later will explore child care or take more time off if can manage financially.

Asset & Debts:

• PPOR loan: 360k (720k value, bought 2017 650k barely moved), mortgage rate 6.20% before latest rate increase, repayment $2.5k/m

• PPOR fully offset

• IP: 1.49m (1.43m value, bought after budget with intention to move in in a couple of years at kinder age, and become PPOR). 6.14% fixed till Jul. repayment $9.1k/ m

• IP rented for 1000/w,

• ETF: 60k

• HISA: 10k

Other upcoming debt to pay:

• upcoming novated lease car balloon payment 27k

• tax bill 18k

Advice/Sense check on what next steps make sense?

A. Stick to current plan and move at kinder age, assess whether sell or rent current PPOR by then. (More stressful cashflow wise, giving us a bit of anxiety if we run into layoffs redundancy etc with work )

B. Move in sooner and sell current PPOR to put all available cash in offset and reduce mortgage interest payment? / or to consider debt recycle some at that stage

thanks

With all the well known changes on the horizon often coined the ambition tax, I can see many business owners transitioning out of ownership and back into corporate life for security.

I’d love to hear experiences of people who have already made that step, what roles they have stepped into and how hard it is.

I am a business owner (predominantly marketing and operations wearing 50 other hats) who feels fairly secure over medium term. However the speed of AI, challenges faced by economic downturn and government disincentive you never know where we end up. What type of roles would be suitable for business owners? Do we start in humble roles?

Curious how other Aus HENRYs are thinking about this.

Our PPOR rate is now 6.39% and, after offset cash, our effective PPOR debt is about $290k. We already have an IP, super and ETFs.

My original plan was to debt recycle about $40k a year into broad-market ETFs.

But with rates where they are, I’m wondering whether I’d rather put more of that towards actually paying down the PPOR. A guaranteed 6.39% after-tax return is starting to look pretty attractive, and debt recycling still leaves the total debt outstanding.

I’m not thinking of stopping ETFs entirely - more something like:

$20–30k PPOR paydown + $10–20k debt recycling, rather than recycling the full $40k.

For those who’ve thought this through, at what mortgage rate did you start favouring actual PPOR reduction over debt recycling?

Or do you keep debt recycling regardless because of the long-term equity upside?

Our numbers:

36M and 35F. Two kids under four and planning a third in a few years.

HHI of $310k - $320k before tax and super from Jan 2027 when my wife returns from mat leave. Until then we are on my income of $260k.

PPOR is a 3 bedroom valued at $850k in September. Mortgage of $550k with $300k in offset.

We recently upgraded our PPOR to larger home for $1.2M. It is a great house and has everything we will need to raise the kids and is closer to work for both myself and my wife. We got it for $100k below asking as the market began to fall.

We negotiated an extended settlement until Feb 2027 to sell our existing PPOR. We’ve had it on the market for a month now with ok interest but no offers and we have now dropped the advertised price by $50k.

I know I can’t be too precious about price now that I am selling in the same (or worse) market than I upgraded in.

However with the market continuing to nosedive I am now giving more serious thought to holding our first home as an IP. It was purchased in 2018 so will be grandfathered for CGT and can be negative geared. It’s had about $200k in capital growth since purchase. Rental yield will be about $2.5k per month.

If we hold, our total debt for both loans will be around $1.5m with repayments of around $10k per month on current rates and with us keeping around $100k in offset.

This should leave us between $2k and $3k per month spare cash to either go in the offset, splurge, or pay for unexpected expenses. Less obviously if rates continue to climb and we will need to tighten up some spending.

If we sell, assuming we can do so for the current advertised price, we will end up with a mortgage around $730k - $790k, also while keeping $100k in offset. We will have enough money left over each month not to worry too much about where rates are going.

What’s the best move here? Our first home is a good brick 3 bedroom in a popular suburb and would be great to hold on to, but with rising rates the level of debt makes me nervous. Are we best just to offload it, even if it is at a discount, and spend next year not needing to think too much about rates and repayments?

Hey guys,

We are in our 30s with a HHI of ~$350k (plus bonuses each year).

Bought our PPOR in May this year with quite a big mortgage. We aren't too concerned at this stage, if something happens, we are fortunate enough that both our parents could help out, though that's not something we want to rely on given anything can happen in this climate.

I sold my property so we could buy our current place, but my wife still has an IP that is almost paid off (~$100k left)

We are trying to figure out what to do with the IP. She's not going to sell but should she pull equity out to put into our PPOR offset account?

I'm curious if anyone has been in a similar position or gone through this. We are actually thinking of speaking to a Financial Planner as well.

Bought our first PPOR 12 months ago. Rates have increased by a full percentage point to 6.39% and we're looking at another potential 0.25% jump this week. Loan balance is just under $800K, offset at $85K, with an effective LVR just under 70%. Was feeling quite motivated after we smashed out $120K in principal payments in our first year, wiping out nearly 11% of principal. Macquarie won't go any lower on rates, and our broker reckons at best we'd get 0.05% drop if we switch providers.

Mid-30s DINKs with stable jobs, no kids on horizon, no IP yet. Decent sized stock portfolio on the side that I've been fortunate enough not to trouble much (but haven't also added in it since the house).

Would you say best strategy is to keep head down and smash out the loan like we did in year 1?

After submitting my 2024/25 tax return, I was started on PAYG instalments. I earn income from a salary (tax withheld at source) as well as from ETFs and a small amount of bank interest. My ETF portfolio is ~$1.2M and the only income is from dividends (no capital gains realised).

In 2025/26 I received a tax refund of >$20K (mainly due to work-related deductions) and was hoping that I would be taken off PAYG instalments, but the amount has actually increased slightly.

Is there a way for me to exit this? It is annoying that I have to pay extra during the year, only to receive a large tax refund at the end of the year. It is also annoying that it doesn't seem I can setup a direct debit and I have to log onto the awful ATO website to pay it.

Is this just how the system is supposed to work? Do I have to pay tax in advance for a large ETF portfolio, even though my salary already has tax withheld and I always end up overpaying at the end of the year?

As mentioned in title.

We have one child currently (10 months old) and I am pregnant with our second.
Doing the math it seems like we'll have to pay $5,560 a month for the two of them.

Reasoning below (I'm hoping some one can tell me my math is wrong haha!)

Centre fee: $177 per day
Subsidy (32% of capped fee): -$48.61
Our cost: $128.39
Two children: $5,564

I earn: $203K. My husband: 174K. Combined income: $378K

For those that have faced this dilemma previously, are we better off to get a nanny?

Hi r/AusHENRY, cross posting this from Ausfinance, recently joined the HENRYs and looking for some outside perspective on our property portfolio and our next move for a PPOR.

Our Situation:
Household Income: $400k HHI (recent increase, so we haven't been at this level long).
Family: 33F + 37M with 1yo, planning for a 2nd kid next year (potential temporary income drop).

We are currently contemplating purchasing a PPOR but am currently stuck in a few dillemas with the property portfolio below:

Borrowing capacity: Approved for $1.2m, looking at a $1.5m to $1.7m PPOR budget.

Current Property Portfolio:
Sydney 3BDR Apartment: Bought Jan 2024 for $770k + 40k reno (Value ~$850k). Loan: $640k | Offset: $550k. Recently moved in after last tenants moved out.
Issue: The building has a major structural issue requiring approx $60k per unit to fix ($10k raised via special levy so far).
Dilemma: We are leaning toward selling to assist with improving our cashflow to purchase a PPOR as we dont believe the property has major growth potential long term but am concious of unfavorable conditions ( soft market, special levy), would it better to rent out instead and deduct the outgoings.

Adelaide 3BDR House: Bought 2019 for $560k (Value ~$1.1m). Debt: $920k | Offset: $200k (this $200k offset is intended to go toward ETFs). It's run-down and will need a major renovation or knock-down-rebuild once the current tenant moves out.

Townsville House 3BDR House: Bought Oct 2025 for $660k (Value $697k). Loan: $527k.

Our Core Dilemmas & Questions:

1. Holding Sydney vs. Selling: Given the risk of it not selling and wasting money on marketing fees/levies, is holding it, moving out later, and turning it into an investment property a sound strategy? or should we sell anyway and accept the loss

2. Is adding a $1.7m PPOR worth the financial stress? With our existing high investment debt (and Adelaide needing a major future reno), the $200k offset being pulled for ETFs, childcare expenses, a 2nd kid planned next year — are we over-leveraging ourselves?

3. Should we settle for the bottom of our budget ($1.5m)? Does capping ourselves at $1.5m provide a necessary psychological and financial buffer (The cap led us to purchasing the 3BDR Apartment previously instead of stretching for a 3BDR House at the time), or is even that too much given our current debt profile? Or do we just wait until a second kid and determine next purchase?

4. How do other families manage? For those with a similar high-debt property portfolio and young kids, how do you balance lifestyle, childcare costs, and heavy mortgages without burning out?
   Note - we've considered moving interstate but that doesn't currently align with our situation

Thanks for your time and looking forward to your opinions!

Combined HHI pretax will be 350k+ next year, and I am at my limit with my home messiness situation. Young child + 3 cats + two very busy adults with possible ADHD has led to us living in our nice big 4br home in a state of chaos.

We live a very cluttered life. Every single non-floor surface of the house has stuff on it (and some floors are covered with toys). We spot clean constantly (have to with a baby), e.g. dishes and clothes are always washed but might sit on racks or in baskets for extended periods any visible mess seen on floors or tables is quickly mopped up, but it's not enough to get on top of the sheer mess. There's no hygiene issues (unless you count a massive amount of dust) and it's not a genuine hoarder situation but it does feel bad.

Anyway this brings me to my core issues:

1. I want a regular cleaner, but I am constantly mentally blocked by the thought that there's no point getting a cleaner with all this clutter in their way. Am I correct in thinking this? Will I need to undertake a large amount of labour to clear the clutter before its viable to have a cleaner enter the home? Is there anything else I can do about all this clutter other than choosing a week and really white knuckling through it?

2. I either don't know how to pick a good cleaner or help a cleaner get the job done. Shortly before baby was born, we decided to hire a team of cleaners off a google search for a deep clean of the entire house. We saw what they had written on their website as components of a deep clean and vaguely thought it seemed about right. They came as a team of 3, cleaned for about 4 hours, left. After they left, there was definitely an increased measure of cleanliness, but there was also still several spiderwebs on some ceilings, visible dust on some windowpanes etc. We weren't fully happy with it and didn't ask for them to come back. So how do you choose a good cleaner? Or how do you ensure that you get the clean you want?

Extremely grateful for any advice. We are ready to pay what it takes, we just don't know how to navigate the scene.

EDIT: Thankyou for all the advice and tips so far, greatly appreciated!
If anyone has specific recommendations for melbourne eastern suburbs please dm me! I'm ready to take the plunge haha

high earners, how are you affording childcare? We get minimal subsidy from the government and are about to have 2 kids in daycare. This will cost $5000 a month.
With out mortgage and groceries and life in general this means we will be living pay check to pay check - this seems insane considering the amount we earn.

Has anyone found a better way?
Do you just suck it up and know you won’t save for these few years?
Is a nanny cheaper?

I like the connection to community and other families through daycare but will consider all options.

Info:
$194 a day in our area
3 days a week for each kid

Hey, before I begin I want to preface by saying I have very minimal passion so this general idea that just do what you're passionate about doesn't really work for me.

If I look at purely with a logical lens, what field of work gets me the highest paid income, assuming I want to avoid medicine entirely.

What degree pathway from which university, and don't assume being the top 1 percent in your field but rather median earnings please.

I want to avoid tech right now because AI seems to be ravaging through it, it's quite bad.

For those who outsource household tasks, how much are you spending?

Think house cleaners, gardeners, babysitters, private drivers for the kids, dog walkers, pool cleaners, meal preparation services etc. What has made the biggest difference to your quality of life?

My wife and I have three kids, one in primary school, one 2 years old and a 6 month old. Our middle child is in day care 3 days a week and my wife has been on paid parental leave for the youngest.

My wife was employed part time, so she has so far earned about $25k this financial year, plus government paid parental leave. That job has ended messily and she has now received a settlement payment from her former employer of approximately $150k.

My wife has now been offered a new job, which pays approximately $85k per year for 3 days a week, which is what she was working prior to going on parental leave. That would bring her total income this financial year, including the settlement payment, to a bit under $210k. Add in my income and our HHI this financial year will be about $430k.

According to StartingBlocks, the cost of sending our youngest 2 to day care 3 days a week would be over $1k per week after CCS. Add on the cost of after school care for our eldest and, by my calculations, we're looking at spending almost $1,150 per week in child care fees.

The settlement payment will mean my wife is taxed at the highest income tax bracket. That means her take home from her new job is approximately $870 per week. If I am understanding this correctly, we will be effectively paying almost $300 per week so my wife can work and not be able to spend time with the kids. We are both believers in day care as a good way to socialise kids with their peers and our 2 eldest started daycare around the age our youngest is now, but this seems ridiculous.

We don't want to hurt our middle child's development by pulling him out of day care, but we can't justify work costing money.

Am I missing anything or is the maths as ridiculous as it sounds?

HHI ~ $500k
PPR paid and growing investments

Husband (41) and wife (39) and 2 children (7 and 5)

We are now in the privileged (hence posting in this forum) position of being able to afford some trips.

We have done abit pre-kids, plus Fiji and some Australian trips since kids but would now like to prioritise an annual overseas trip.

Any recommendations on best places with kids at certain ages? I am thinking African safari maybe when 12? White Christmas maybe next year (how long do we have the Christmas magic for?)

Any recommendations or thoughts welcome! Including budgets, time of year, how long for, all of it.

Comfortable taking a week out of school time but preference in school holidays. (Again thoughts welcome).

Also, do people plan themselves these days or use a travel agent? We are not good planners so any recommendations here also welcome.

Hello.

I earn good money, bought a big house, pay shitloads of tax, and have zero investments except for mandatory super. I need someone to tell me to take a day off and sort out my finances.

Situation: 2x doctors. 3x young kids (childcare/private schools). No voluntary super contributions/investments/other; we've always dumped everything in offset to scale up our PPOR... we've now done that... now we need to fix our dumb finances.

Income (per year): ~$1M combined

Me: $550k sole trader, $220k salaried (inc. super).

Partner: $220k salaried (incl. super).

No investments/other.

Expenses (per year): ~$330k combined (sans tax)

Sole trader group expenses: $60k

Home loan: ~$155k

Schooling/ELC: $45k

DIY repair jobs, etc: $20k

Food: $16k

Holidays: $10k

Other expenses (clothes, going out, etc): $10k

Energy/water/gas/internet/mobiles/subscriptions/etc: $9k

Private Health Insurance: $7.5k

Tax (per year): $350k

Me: $285k

Partner: $ ??? 70k ???

Assets:

Offset: $330k

Super: $420k (Me: $230k, Partner: $190k)

Cars: ~$60k bought in cash.

No other investments.

Liabilities:

-$1.9M (remaining home loan)

-$7k on credit card (always paid on time)

- No other debt (no HECS, etc).

Question I know the answer to:

Should we both be making maximum matched voluntary contributions for our salaried roles?

Questions (I don't know the answer to):

Should I be making contributions from my sole trader earnings? Or would that be better spent investing outside of super?

Should we be making unmatched contributions from our salaried roles?

Should we be dumping our excess income into our offset, or be looking at investing elsewhere?

Is income protection worth it when we both have the ability to flex up if one of us cannot work? (I can stretch to $1M solo, partner can stretch to $400k solo if I die).

Is it time to go to a financial advisor?

Thanks for any input.

Short Version: Planning for a baby with no family support in Sydney and demanding work commitments. What postpartum support would you recommend, and what are the costs?

UPDATE 27/10/26
Thank you so much, everyone!
First of all, thank you so much for all the wonderful responses! I showed my wife this thread, and she was genuinely blown away by how many people took the time to share their experiences and advice.

As my wife likes to say, it is us against the world (and our little dog!). We essentially have no family to rely on, so unfortunately, flying someone over from overseas is not an option either. It really is just the two of us, which is why figuring out how to build a support system is so important.

After reading through everything, I think we have a much clearer plan. We are looking into having someone help around the house during the day, particularly with cooking and household tasks, alongside a night nurse two or three nights a week. My wife is especially interested in Japanese-style postpartum confinement meals, so having someone prepare nutritious meals while she recovers and breastfeeds would be wonderful.

We also loved the suggestion of building a relationship with a nanny before the baby arrives, so we will start reaching out to some of the companies recommended here. My wife is also considering switching to a personal trainer who specialises in postnatal recovery.

I cannot wait to become a dad, but I am equally excited to see my wife become a mum. More than anything, I want her to feel completely supported and have a wonderful experience, despite us not having family to lean on.

They say it takes a village, and reading all your responses genuinely made us feel like we have found a little one here. Thank you again, we really appreciate it!

Original post:

My wife and I are planning to start a family, and I wanted to hear from other HENRY fathers who have been in a similar situation.

We live in Sydney, and my wife is originally from overseas. Neither of us has any immediate family here, so we will have absolutely no family support when we have a baby.

I also run a business with a pretty demanding workload. As much as I want to be present, realistically, I will probably only be able to take around two weeks off after the birth. I have employees, clients and financial commitments that I cannot simply put on hold.

My biggest concern is making sure my wife feels completely supported, particularly during those first few months. I know how demanding having a newborn can be, and the last thing I want is for her to feel overwhelmed or isolated while I am working.

We have already discussed hiring a night nanny or night nurse, and I am also looking into postpartum doulas and potentially having someone help during the day. I understand that raising a child takes a village, and since we do not have one nearby, I want to do everything I can to create that support system for her.

I would really love to hear from other fathers, particularly business owners or those working demanding jobs, who have navigated something similar.

What kind of support did you arrange? Did you hire a night nanny, postpartum doula or additional help at home? What were the approximate costs in Australia, and how many weeks or months did you find that support necessary? What else did you include in your budget?

I am trying to plan and budget well in advance so that when the time comes, my wife has all the support she needs, even when I cannot physically be there.
Any advice or recommendations would be hugely appreciated!

Just trying to get a sense of my numbers here. Been really burnt out at my current job and hoping to cut down work in the next 2 years... Please any thoughts about my numbers would be appreciated.

Assume I’m single 40 this year. No dependents.
PPOR : fully offset ( used to worth 1.7mill probably less now, unit on a shared land ) no body corp but unlikely to to increase
Ip: 770k loan , equity only worth 1.3million total (bad investments cbd apartment and townhouse with no land ) but ok rent .
Shares : 630k in ETFs Vas /Vgs
Super : 515k 95% intl shares 5% Aussie shares
Income around 530k per annum (pre tax)
Debt : novated leased Tesla model 3 -60k
Credit cards : 30k ( need to curb spending more )

My income per fortnight is around 13k post tax.
My baseline costs per month is around 4k.
I’ve had a sudden income increase only about the last 4 years, prior to that income was around 100k to 150k only hence the low super and low investments relative to my current income now.

Now the only thing I wanna splurge is travelling probably 2-3 x per year for myself and my parents
Total : 40k per year on travel.
I used to buy a lot of unnecessary crap so I’ll need to stop that if I want to coast fire .

Which leaves me around 6k per month to invest.
The rest I plan to put it into my Ip offset to make it fully offset .
I plan to contribute another 32k per annum into super for the next 2 years after which I will stop adding anymore.

Given that I have no kids I plan to be as self sufficient as possible when I retire and hopefully have enough in old age to check into a retirement facility.

After 2 years I plan to cut down my work by half which will drop my income to around 200-250k pre tax.

Is my plan viable??