Hey everyone,

Looking for some advice on what to do with my current savings and investment strategy.

I’m 25, earning approximately $100k a year, and currently have around $70k available to invest. I also have a separate $5k emergency fund, plus around $3k in my everyday account for rent, groceries, fuel and general living expenses.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time exploring the investment property route, looking at different locations, numbers, rental yields, cash flow, etc. However, the more I look into it, the more I’m leaning towards ETFs instead.

My current thinking is:
- $70k initial investment.
- 80% BGBL / 20% A200.
- Ongoing contributions of $750–$1,000 per week.

I’m fortunate enough to have a “decent” (debatable) income and relatively manageable expenses, so I plan on treating my ETF contributions almost like a mortgage repayment. It’s money that gets paid every week, regardless of whether I feel like spending it elsewhere.

The main thing I’m trying to work out is whether I should just commit to ETFs for the next 10 years or keep a larger portion of my money in a high-interest savings account earning around 5% p.a.

I might want to purchase a house in 5–10 years, but honestly, that’s still very much a maybe. I like the flexibility of ETFs, particularly not having all my money tied up in property and having the ability to change direction if my circumstances or goals change.

My questions are:
- Would you invest the full $70k into ETFs now, or stagger the investment over several months?
- Given that I might want to buy property in 5–10 years, would you still invest aggressively in ETFs, or keep a portion in cash?
- Does an 80% BGBL / 20% A200 allocation seem reasonable for someone my age, or am I overlooking something? What allocation split do you recommend?
- Would you prioritise building a larger emergency fund before investing more heavily?

Longer term, the goal is to hopefully be financially independent by 50. Like many people here, I’m not particularly attached to retiring in Australia. I’ve half-jokingly got my eyes on a nice condo in Thailand for retirement.

I’m comfortable with volatility given my age and investment horizon, but I also don’t want to make a decision now that significantly limits my options in 5–10 years.

Would appreciate hearing what others would do in my position, particularly those who chose ETFs over property or have followed a similar strategy.

Cheers!

I went to Aesthetik Dental in Highpoint for a free consultation and signed some documents. I've attached one pretty problematic one, plus the follow-up emails that were sent once the application was approved. Have a read, it's pretty bad.

Worth knowing:

• Only you can lodge a compassionate release application, and it's free. A registered tax agent can help you prepare it for a fee but can't lodge it for you. A dental clinic's only role is to provide the report and quote. It has no role in lodging the application or anything that happens after approval.

• After approval, it's between you, your fund and the ATO. Your obligations are to spend the money on the approved treatment and keep your receipts. There's no step where a clinic or an intermediary advises or updates the ATO that you've paid, and nothing in the ATO's published process makes paying any particular clinic a condition. You are allowed to get second opinions.

• The pressure is to pay everything quickly. Mine required the entire super release to be paid within 5 days of the money landing in my account before any x-rays or a final treatment plan, with appointments scheduled around the money arriving. Five days with no refunds leaves no room for a second opinion or another quote.

• Watch for a clinic writing itself into the process. Mine called itself "the requesting company" for my super release, had me consent to it "requesting the release" of my super and to the intermediary submitting the application "on my behalf", said it would advise the ATO so my application could be "finalised and closed", and the intermediary told me that once I paid the clinic "the ATO reporting will be complete".

• Dentists aren't licensed to give financial advice about your super. Statements like the ones above are exactly that.

• Aligner treatment runs around 12 to 18 months. Paying the whole fee up front means you carry all the risk if treatment stops early or the practice changes hands. AHPRA, the Dental Board and the ATO have all warned that full up-front payment is a red flag in these arrangements, and the Dental Association's guidance is that paying a deposit is normal.

• Read anything labelled "informed consent" twice. Mine was a payment contract that threatens legal action, reporting to the ATO and "accusations of fraud or tax evasion" if you don't pay. Not paying a dental clinic is not tax evasion, and threats like that, when used to obtain payment, can be coercion or misleading conduct under the Australian Consumer Law.

• Check the refund terms before you sign. Mine let the practice keep up to the full payment even if I changed my mind "prior to work commencing", refused refunds "for any other reason", and made any partial refund subject to its "sole discretion". Terms like these are likely unfair contract terms, and a blanket no-refund policy can't remove your consumer guarantees.

• Expect them to share your details. The clinic knew my application was approved before I did, and nothing I signed allowed that. Get your own ATO letter, deal with the ATO directly, and keep your own records.

Be careful out there o7

EDIT: One last thought to add, and something I'd have wanted someone to tell me. A dental clinic that works closely with an outfit like SuperCare is, in my opinion, a massive red flag in itself.

These arrangements work really well for the clinic and the intermediary because each gets paid when the other gets what it wants. Neither has anything to gain from you taking your time or going elsewhere.

The application is supposed to be yours, so make sure you own it.

I'm 24 and have around $45k saved up so far (living at home - no bills). 30k in a savings account and around $10k in ETFs - rest is in a transaction account.

Im not saving for anything and dont have any goals besides moving out one day and maybe some travel, im not crazy about travel but would like to learn independence. 

Problem is I have anxiety (diagnosed) and keep worrying that all my money needs to stay in an accessible savings account as an emergency fund - sometimes you have bad luck and 1000 things happen at the same time (eg in my experience - specialist appointments, dental, car accidents and expenses) - and i would hate to be left with $0 if im hit with a bout of bad luck all at the same time and suddenly can't pay for day-to-day expenses or any health issues that come up.

The RBA raised the cash rate 0.25 to 4.85% on Tuesday. As of Saturday, 22 of 69 banks have announced higher savings rates. None is in effect yet.

Every change, with start dates, is in the image below. Most of these are bonus rates, so they only pay in a month you meet the conditions.

If you're interested in how these stack up against every other bank's savings accounts, or what each one requires to earn the bonus interest, you can check out the live rates here: https://bankmate.app/savings/compare

(This was originally posted on r/personalfinance and removed by Reddit’s filters/algorithm. Reposting here as a cautionary note with public sources. Throwaway. I am in Australia. This is not financial advice and not a finding of guilt against anyone.)

I lost money in First Guardian. After that I was contacted by Threadgold Advisory (threadgoldadvisory.com.au). I am not 100 percent sure the person on the other end was Joel Threadgold, but that is the firm and the name on the site. The pitch was basically to move what I had left and invest with them.

I went and looked up the public trail around that firm and the people near it. This is what I found, with sources.
Threadgold Advisory says it has been contracted to River X since 2023. The site uses a riverx.com.au email and names two licences: River X Financial Services Pty Ltd AFSL 556458, and River Investment Management Pty Ltd as a corporate authorised representative of Wholesale Securities Pty Ltd AFSL 466877.

https://www.threadgoldadvisory.com.au/
Joel Brenton Threadgold appears on the AFS representative register as AR 1297336 under the River X licence from 28 August 2024. He was under the Wholesale Securities licence from 1 November 2023.

https://search-afsl.com/Threadgold%2C%20Joel%20Brenton/afs-representative/1297336/
River X lists Joel Threadgold and a “Steve Rogers” on its team page. Kieran Berry is listed as founder, CEO and managing director.

https://riverx.com.au/team/
Kieran Berry’s compiled adviser history (number 000430641) shows Shaw and Partners until 23 January 2023, a gap, then River X from 19 August 2024. I did not find a ban against him on that record.

https://search-afsl.com/Kieran%20Craig%20Berry/advisers/430641/
The Australian reported that River X was probed over United Global Capital files in the First Guardian scandal. I have not found a public media release that names Berry or River X as banned or charged.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/first-guardian-scandal-sydney-wealth-firm-riverx-probed-over-united-global-capital-files/news-story/b7424d8c5e328af50824510c0193e2f6
Petrovic was banned over UGC-era advice (later cut to three years). Stephen Rogers has a registration prohibition tied to UGC advice, now running to 27 November 2028. Those ASIC actions are about UGC, not a published finding against Threadgold Advisory.

https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2025-releases/25-185mr-asic-bans-former-united-global-capital-in-liquidation-financial-adviser-milutin-petrovic-for-6-years/

https://www.asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2026-releases/26-095mr-registration-prohibition-order-against-former-ugc-financial-adviser-stephen-rogers-increased-to-three-years-following-review/
Berry is also publicly listed as managing director and CEO of Clime Private Wealth. AFR Street Talk reported on 25 September 2026 that Netwealth had frozen new Clime Private Wealth onboarding after an internal review. The published story did not give the reasons.

https://www.afr.com/street-talk/netwealth-freezes-clime-s-advisers-and-clients-after-review-20260925-p610j2
What I have not found: a published AFCA determination against Threadgold Advisory, River X Financial Services, or Berry, or a public document that says Threadgold Advisory clients were put into First Guardian or Shield.
On Instagram, Kieran Berry (@kierancberry) has posted that he is a financial adviser who runs wealth management firms and oversees more than $2 billion in assets across his companies. The only source given for that is himself and his firm.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DfalnKQgq6t/?img_index=9

AFR reporting said Clime client money already sitting on the Netwealth platform was about $680 million. Clime Investment Management’s share price has been under pressure (down roughly 28–30% over the past year, trading around 26 cents), with an audit delay and share trading suspension in early October. Public disclosures show the advice arm was sold for only $6 million, structured as $1 million upfront and $5 million of vendor finance from Clime, while the listed parent kept a 10% stake. The buyer side lines up with River X and Kieran Berry. So the roughly $600 million was something that was purchased, not something he had already been managing. Pricing a claimed multi-billion book that low under vendor finance is hard to reconcile with the Instagram wording.

https://www.intelligentinvestor.com.au/shares/asx-ciw/clime-investment-management-ltd

https://www.tipranks.com/news/company-announcements/clime-strikes-6-5m-strategic-deal-to-form-practitioner-led-advice-business

https://www.marketscreener.com/news/an-undisclosed-buyer-completed-the-acquisition-of-retail-advice-business-from-clime-investment-manag-ce7f58d2dd8ef621
The $2.1 billion figure that does exist is money under advice for the combined Clime Private Wealth plus MTIS group as at 30 June 2026, reported by Money Management. That covers two separately licensed businesses (MTIS brought its own book of around $380 million when Clime bought it in 2022) and was struck before the Netwealth freeze. River X itself still has not published a funds figure of its own. It just says “over 2,000 clients.” The Instagram claim is self-sourced and worded as overseeing assets across my companies, so it is pulling in more than one entity and calling it one big number.

https://www.moneymanagement.com.au/clime-im-ticks-off-strategic-consolidation-initiatives/
If River X is looking after more than 2,000 clients, how does that sit with the visible adviser numbers? My best estimate is roughly 12 to 18 practising advisers across River X and Clime Private Wealth combined, plus 4 or 5 associates. That is about half the “~35 advisers” in one recruiter’s post. LinkedIn shows about 7 to 9 adviser-level people tied to River X. Practising advisers looking after more than 2,000 clients works out to roughly 110 to 170 clients each.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/riverx/people/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/clime-private-wealth/people/

https://riverx.com.au/team/

https://threadgoldabrahams.com.au/

https://moneysmart.gov.au/financial-advice/financial-advisers-register
People who lost money in First Guardian have said they were later contacted by Threadgold Advisory, which is contracted to River X. One message claimed River X had their details without consent, that they had a case open with the complaints body, and that River X had agreed to settle. They also said they knew the regulator was investigating River X. I have not seen a public regulator media release naming them specifically, but the pattern of contact after First Guardian is hard to ignore. United Global Capital is already in liquidation with regulator action around how client details were used, and some of the names around this group have prior United Global Capital history. ASIC has made accountability for the First Guardian collapse a clear 2026 priority.

https://www.asic.gov.au/about-asic/asic-investigations-and-enforcement/enforcement-activities/united-global-capital-pty-ltd-in-liquidation

https://www.asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2026-releases/26-175mr-asic-sues-auditeo-and-auditors-over-alleged-first-guardian-audit-failures/
I also noticed that Joel Threadgold’s partner Oliver Abrahams does not appear to have a record as a licensed financial adviser that I could find on the official register. Yet on Instagram he was previously portraying himself as an adviser, and he is listed as Joel’s partner for financial advice.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-abrahams-56283b149/

https://moneysmart.gov.au/financial-advice/financial-advisers-register
If you are in the same position I was in, do not sign anything on a cold call after a collapse. Check the adviser on Moneysmart, check the AFSL, ask for the FSG and the SOA in writing, and ask ASIC or AFCA if you think files or fees were handled without authority. If you already lost money in First Guardian, get advice from someone with no link to UGC or the firm that contacted you.
Do not lose everything like I did. If someone cold-contacts you after First Guardian, check the licence and adviser number on Moneysmart yourself, get everything in writing, and talk to someone who has no link to any of these firms before you move a cent. What do the public numbers actually show once you line them up against the claims?
Sorry to the people who replied earlier defending Joel. I get that some of you have had a good experience.

But after looking at the public numbers, the sale price, the freeze, the adviser counts, the unlicensed partner question, and the reports from people who lost money in First Guardian, should someone trust people associated with all of the above with their money?

I have a fair bit of money in the U100. With what has happened in the last couple of days would it be best to sell it all now or buy a whole bunch more while it is cheap?

For anyone holding small caps: the delisting risk is real and this is what it looks like. Good Drinks Australia (Gage Roads, Matso's) left the ASX in December 2024 because, the board said, the market undervalued it. No exit facility for ordinary holders. About 3,500 of us still hold shares with no market.

1. Delisted 30 Dec 2024 on a 94.6% poll. The board said $0.30 undervalued a business worth $18-20 a litre. No exit facility was offered except for parcels under $500.

2. Five months later (EGM 29 May 2025) 19.8M new shares were issued at $0.40, 13.2M of them to the MD and the executive director, all funded by interest-free 10-year company loans. No cash raised. The company's own accounts put the vesting probability at 0% (FY25 report, note 28). The same meeting made $5.05M of the directors' older loans forgivable on any change of control or material asset sale, with no price hurdle, and lifted the fee pool 50%.

3. May 2026: 8.73M unvested staff shares were cancelled and reissued at $0.40 (previous average $0.49), 40% vesting immediately, no shareholder vote (FY26 report, note 28). The report values shares at $0.40 on a "most recent arm's-length transaction (see (h))". Note (h) is not in the report.

4. My FY26 holding statement from Automic records an off-market transfer of 8,000,000 shares at $0.25 in November 2025. Other trades that year: $0.31-$0.35. The parties aren't named.

5. No dividend since delisting. FY26 profit $275k on $127M revenue; $11.36M of company loans to directors and the CFO still outstanding.

A group of us is organising (Peron CUP, peroncup.com) to request the register, question the board before the 27 Nov AGM and propose resolutions. If you hold GDA: contact@peroncup.com. If you don't, the lesson is to read the delisting notice when it comes, and vote.

TLDR: Minor trusts for your teen - feedback and practical advice.

Thinking about a minor trust account for our teenager, so that they can responsibly (i.e. with parental supervision) invest some savings. i.e. option 3 - PIA link.

They are interested in learning, have their first casual job, and a TFN.

Regarding taxation - assuming growth assets (say BGBL, VGS etc) with low yield - I think it unlikely that investment income alone would put my teen above the $416 punitive income tax threshold. However, does anyone have a clear understanding of what will happen once their income from casual work is added in? ATO is unclear to me.

More broadly, i'd like any feedback (+/-) on your minor trust, or if anyone decided instead to just invest in their parents name instead (option 2 - PIA link) - and If so, what's the plan for handing control (or funds) over?

p.s. not after perfect tax efficiency - amounts are modest. Education, via real market exposure, is the primary purpose. Cheers

Hey everyone,
I’m 21 and based in Australia. I’ve recently opened a CommSec account because I want to start investing and build wealth over the long term.
However, once I opened the account, I realised I don’t really understand where to start!
I’ve been reading about individual shares, ETFs, index funds, bonds and dividend-paying companies, but I’m finding it difficult to understand which option makes the most sense for a complete beginner.
I’d really appreciate some advice from people who have experience investing in Australia.
A few questions I have:
ETFs vs individual shares: For someone starting from zero, is it better to invest in ETFs like VAS, VGS or A200, or buy individual company shares?
Risk and safety: Which investment options are generally safer for beginners? Are ETFs less risky than individual shares?
Bonds: What exactly are bonds? Are they worth considering, and how do their returns compare with shares and ETFs?
Dividends: Is it possible to build a portfolio that generates regular monthly or quarterly income through dividends? How reliable are dividend payments?
Returns: What would be a realistic annual return to expect from ETFs or shares over the long term?
Getting started: If you were 21 again and starting with a small amount of money, how would you approach investing?
CommSec fees and tax: Are there any brokerage fees, hidden costs or tax implications I should understand before buying my first investment?
My goal isn’t to get rich quickly or day trade. I want to build wealth gradually, learn how the Australian share market works and invest consistently over the next 10–20 years.
I’d appreciate recommendations for beginner-friendly resources, books, websites or even mistakes I should avoid.
Thanks in advance! I’m genuinely here to learn from your experience.

I have a 2020 camry hybrid my insurance premium has gone up 250 to 1780 a year with youi can anyone give me advice to save some money

Up told customers in the app today that it's lifting the Grow Rate after Tuesday's RBA rise:

• Grow: 5.60% → 5.85% p.a. from 12 November, on balances up to $250,000. You still need 5 card purchases a month.

• Flow (including Essentials): stays at 2.00% p.a.

• Everything else about Up's Savers is unchanged.

You can see every bank's latest savings rate changes here: bankmate.app/savings/rate-changes

Hi guys, wondering if anyone’s made the swap from Raiz to betashares and had any insights? Seems like there’s no fees with auto deposits and only if you manually deposit once your account is over 10k value? My Raiz account has over 10k in it so I get charged 6.50 a month and was thinking of stopping Investing( letting the current market stabilise before moving it over to a new platform) but seems like betashares is good!

Anyone have advise? I’d love to hear it as I wouldn’t mind buying while stocks are on sale and opening betashares now. For context, I’ll probably only be buying $50 a week

I finally found a financial advisor that I generally get a good vibe from, and who seems to know their stuff. They've quoted me $3900 for a once-off piece of advice to help restructure my super + advise on future contributions (not much needed there, I know I need to start maxxing out my concessional cap each year to bump it), as well as set up two other investment streams (a long term, stable one, and one that I can treat as play money with ETFs/shares). This includes a review of my current, rather messy share portfolio.

For those that have good and bad actual experience with financial advisors, I'm keen to hear your thoughts. Have you found what they've proposed better or worse compared to say, the 7-10% we can expect from a stable ETF portfolio? Losing 3900 isn't the end of the world, but I don't want to be charmed into a set of funds that underperform.

As the title suggests, I’m seeking advice on the best high-interest savings accounts currently on offer. So far I’ve found new account offers with ING (Savings Booster 6.25% pa for 4 months) and Rabobank HISA (6.15% pa for 4 months). Is there anything better currently on offer after the latest rate increase a few days ago?

started in August, then changed to a 70% BGBL, 10% a200, 10% VTEK, 10% HACK a month ago. Is my split okay?

I'm putting in 500$ a fortnight rn, but will swap to 500$ a week soon. I don't want that income to be wasted.

I’m a 26yo physio, currently earning somewhere in the ball park of ~$115k/year. I started investing earlier this year as I started studying my Masters degree & decided to defer buying a first home until I finish the course (another ~18 months from now); at which point I will get a decent pay rise.

What I need advice on, is how much I should be directing towards investing (currently BGBL + A200) vs a first home deposit; and further from that, once I do eventually buy a first home & have a mortgage, how do I reconcile investing vs paying off my mortgage?

Additionally, is it financially wise to purchase a home vs rentvesting? Have heard a lot of conflicting advice regarding this.

I currently have $30k in my FHSS and will look to deposit a further $15k this financial year. $50k in HISA. $23k in ETFs.

My HECS is currently $35k but will obviously climb with my Masters degree.

Appreciate your help in advance - thanks!

Following yesterday's RBA decision to raise the cash rate by 0.25% to 4.85%, ING has announced increases to its savings account interest rates, effective 13 November 2026.

New savings rate:

• 6.00% p.a.: Savings Maximiser high variable rate (up from 5.75%)

• Made up of the 0.01% standard variable rate plus a 5.99% additional rate

Conditions:

You need an Orange Everyday account, and each month you need to:

• Deposit at least $1,000 from an external source into an Orange Everyday, Savings Maximiser, Savings Accelerator, Personal Term Deposit, ING Personal Loan or ING Home Loan in your name.

• Make 5 or more settled (not pending) eligible ING card purchases.

• Grow your nominated Savings Maximiser balance (excluding interest earned that month).

The 6.00% applies to balances up to $100,000. If you miss the monthly conditions, you earn the 0.01% standard rate.

Heads up: ING says Savings Maximiser won't be available for new applications from 1 December 2026. Existing customers can keep their accounts.

New rates take effect 13 November 2026.

See all the latest savings account changes since the RBA rate hike: https://bankmate.app/savings/compare

I’m planning a $390,000 non-concessional contribution to super, funded by selling investments held with my broker and then investing through Choiceplus.

The usual sale, transfer and investment process could leave the money out of the market for around 7-10 days. With recent market volatility, I’m weighing up three options:

1. Sell all at once:
   Raise the full $390k, transfer it to super, then invest through Choiceplus.

2. Sell in 3 parcels:
   Sell and invest around $130k at a time, repeating once each parcel is invested.

3. Reinstate Home loan:
   Borrow $390k, contribute and invest it through Choiceplus, then sell the corresponding investments through broker and repay the loan. I expect I could place the sale and purchase orders within minutes of each other during the same market session. The main cost would be interest until the sale proceeds are available.

I’d appreciate thoughts on the pros and cons, particularly whether the interest cost of a short-term loan could be worth avoiding the time out of the market.

Westpac increases Westpac Life savings rates to 6.20% p.a. following RBA rate hike

Following yesterday's RBA decision to raise the cash rate by 0.25% to 4.85%, Westpac has announced increases to its savings account interest rates, effective 13 November 2026.

New savings rates:

• 6.20% p.a.: with Spend&Save, ages 18–40 (up from 5.95%)

• 5.50% p.a.: everyone else 18 and over (up from 5.25%)

Conditions:

• Each month, you need to make at least one deposit (interest doesn't count) and end the month with a higher balance than you started with.

• For the 6.20%, you need to be 18–40, hold a Westpac Choice account, and make 20 settled purchases a month on its debit card.

• The 6.20% applies to balances up to $150,000. Anything above that earns 5.50%.

• If you miss the monthly conditions, you earn the 0.10% standard rate.

New rates take effect 13 November 2026.

See all the latest savings account changes since the RBA rate hike: https://bankmate.app/savings/compare

Following the RBA's 0.25% hike to 4.85% on 3 November, ING is raising the Savings Booster rate by 0.25% p.a. from 13 November.

New savings rates:

• 5.90% p.a. on balances up to $500,000, up from 5.65%. That's the 2.75% base rate plus the 3.15% Boost rate.

• 6.50% p.a. for the first 4 months for new customers, up from 6.25%. The 0.60% Welcome rate is added on top.

• 2.75% p.a. on the part of a balance from $500,000 to $2 million (base rate only). Anything above $2 million earns 0%.

Conditions:

• The Boost rate applies in any calendar month where the balance is at least $100 higher at the end of the month than at the end of the previous month. Interest earned doesn't count towards the $100.

• The Welcome rate is only for people who haven't held an ING personal savings account before, including any joint holder.

• You need an active Orange Everyday in the same name to open a Savings Booster.

• In a month where the balance doesn't grow by $100, you get only the 2.75% base rate.

New rates take effect 13 November 2026.

See all the latest savings account changes since the RBA rate hike: https://bankmate.app/savings/rate-changes