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How our son saved for a car and his first home Our son left school at 15 to start an apprenticeship as a chef. He didn’t have to pay ‘board’ so long as he put half of his pay into a savings account/term deposit for his first car and then a home deposit. By the time he was old enough to get his licence, he had enough to buy a decent secondhand car for $10,000. By the time he was 20, he had saved another $95,000 and – with the assistance of a first home buyers grant and stamp duty exemption – was able to buy a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Gosford on the NSW Central Coast for $485,000. He is now 22. His unit is valued at $560,000-plus, giving…

TOM WATSON Senior journalist It won’t come as a surprise to learn that as a 34-year-old who has spent most of the past decade working in consumer finance, I regularly check my super. It’s part of a monthly review of my savings, investments and mortgage. I make sure that both employer and personal super contributions have gone through. I wish I could say I was just as diligent about checking my insurance in super, though. See Tom’s story on green loans on page 62. POOJA ANTIL Research manager As a research manager cum analyst at Rainmaker, I look at my superannuation fund way more than the average person would. Thanks to my job, I automatically find out my fund’s performance on a monthly basis. However, I consciously log into my…

Anyone running an ice-cream shop knows there are always a few flavours that get consistent sales. The owner would be foolish to take them off the menu. Then there are flavours that come and go. As a child I was an ardent fan of chocolate mint for a time, before going back to vanilla. I thought my choices were the result of independent decision making. It is only now that I study investment funds flows for a living that I realise that my ice-cream decision was not independent. I was following the crowd. This is also something that ice-cream shop owners know. They keep selling the familiar and rotate other flavours in and out of the line-up. Funds managers do the same thing. When something is out of favour, they…

Every now and then, a mythical creature appears in the startup world – a unicorn. These privately held companies, valued at $US1 billion ($1.6 billion) or more, are the gold standard in business, and Australia has some shining examples. While ‘Aussie-corns’ such as Airwallex (valued at $8.7 billion), Immutable ($4 billion) and SafetyCulture ($2.5 billion) have emerged in recent years, Canva, the web tool, is perhaps the prettiest of them all. The design titan has surged to a valuation of $63 billion, acquiring the AI tool Leonardo.Ai, reaching 200 million users and expanding its leadership team. If Canva goes public, it will join Atlassian and Judo Bank as Aussie exicorns – companies that successfully launched on the market. Had you invested $10,000 in Atlassian at its IPO, it would be…

Recent headlines highlighting management shortfalls in founder-led companies underscore the need for rigorous corporate governance. While founder-led companies often deliver superior returns for investors, related risks can reduce shareholder value, and it is essential that investors are clear-eyed when assessing the risks and benefits of such ownership structures. Founder-led companies possess distinct advantages that contribute to their impressive performance compared with professionally managed companies. Founders typically have significant ownership stakes, aligning their interests with those of shareholders. This alignment encourages long-term value creation as the company’s financial success is tied to the founder’s success. However, to benefit from the range of positive outcomes of investing in founder-led companies including the founder’s alignment with shareholders and deep expertise, shareholders must remain vigilant in overseeing corporate governance. To this end, investors should…

As we head towards tax season, many people are turning their minds towards the preparation of their 2025 return. It’s well known that the cost of getting your tax return prepared by a tax agent is a tax-deductible expense. Less well known is that as well as the cost of paying your agent to prepare your return, you can also claim any incidental costs that relate to having your return prepared, including accommodation, meals, taxi fares and travel insurance. Great care needs to be taken when claiming those costs, however. Guidance issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) highlights that any such costs are only fully deductible where the sole purpose of the trip is to meet your tax agent. If you combine the trip with a private purpose, such…

BOOK OF THE MONTH WORTHY & WEALTHY by Emma Lagerlow (Grammar Factory, RRP $24.95) This self-development book is the brainchild of wealth and mindset coach Emma Lagerlow, who explores what she refers to as the five pillars of a worthy and wealthy life: self-worth, purpose, wellbeing, financial empowerment and time freedom. The author invites the reader to redefine wealth: true wealth is more than just money. Worthy & Wealthy offers a holistic approach to living a fulfilled life beyond money, it’s about cultivating a rich, meaningful life that nurtures your spirit and enhances your overall wellbeing. Ten readers can win a copy. In 25 words or less, tell us what ‘wealth’ means to you. Enter online at moneymag.com.au/win or send entries to Worthy & Wealthy, Money, Level 7, 55 Clarence…

▶ MORE MONEY STORIES ON P56-61 25% The number of people who said they had no private health insurance. Source: Finder survey of 1012 people. Millions of Australians are expected to ditch their private health insurance this year as premiums surge, according to new research by the comparison site Finder. From April 1, policy holders were hit with an average 3.73% increase in premiums – the biggest rise in seven years. This will push the average single-person policy up by $72 a year to around $1848, according to Finder, forcing many to reconsider their coverage. A Finder survey of 1012 people found that 16% – proportionally equivalent to 3.3 million people – plan to cancel their policies in 2025 to seek better deals. Only 41% said they would stick with their…

The prudential regulator, APRA, has proposed changes to how banks assess Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) debt when evaluating home loan applications, in a move that could improve borrowing opportunities for millions of people. According to the tax office, nearly three million Australians had HELP debt in the 2023-24 financial year, with repayment times increasing. The average time to pay off a loan in full has grown from 7.3 years in 2005-06 to nearly 10 years in 2023-24. Around 501,000 people owe between $20,000 and $30,000, while 39,000 have debts up to $90,000. APRA’s announcement comes amid concerns that banks have been overly cautious in assessing home loan applicants with HELP debts. Currently, lenders factor these repayments into debt-to-income (DTI) calculations and mortgage serviceability assessments, limiting the borrowing capacity of…