You might be considering buying your first home or renovating the one you’re living in; having children, taking an amazing holiday or looking at how you can better organise your finances so you have more freedom to choose.

Your likely priorities at a glance:

  • Considering property (investment or own home)
  • Budgeting and saving: your income is rising with experience
  • Your Superannuation fund is starting to grow
  • Minimising risk and securing your finances against illness and injury

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It’s the great Australian dream for a reason – residential property has shown strong steady growth historically and the residential home is generally exempt from capital gains tax. Owning your own home means not getting caught in a rental squeeze and having a place to call your own.

You should consider how long it will take to save a deposit for a house, but don’t let that put you off. It just means you have to plan for it.

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1. Spend less than you earn

Spending less than you earn is crucial if you want to accrue wealth during your lifetime. However, it does not mean your average monthly earnings must exceed your average monthly expenditure at every point in time during your life.

2. Protect your capacity to earn

With opportunities come risks. Some risks cannot be avoided entirely so you may need to look at transferring these risks by taking out an insurance policy.

3. Pay off non-deductible debt first

Non-deductible debt is debt that you pay off with after-tax dollars. This means you bear the entire cost of borrowing, including the interest. Unlike tax-deductible debt (i.e. an investment property loan), non-deductible debt simply costs you money.

4. Make your money work for you

Two common ways to make your money work for you is by investing in shares that earn dividends and property that pays you rent

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You can generally choose which fund your super is paid into – millions of Australians can. Making the right choice now could boost how much you get later.

Is your super working as hard as it should be?

You will usually be better off making regular contributions to your super over a long time as there are annual limits on super contributions which may restrict your ability to make large contributions closer to retirement.

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Your insurance checklist

What would happen if you were suddenly unable to work, or something worse?

Planning for the unexpected could save a lot of potential financial pain and pressure, especially if you have dependants or debts.

What’s what?

These are the key types of insurance you should consider:

Income protection (or temporary salary continuance) insurance provides up to 75% of your regular income if you have an illness or injury that prevents you from working.

Disability (or total and permanent disablement) cover provides a lump sum which can be used to help cover living expenses and rehabilitation costs.

Trauma cover provides you with a lump sum payment if you suffer one of a number of specified conditions. Trauma cover is not available through your super

See our Insurance page for more information and examples of how these types of cover work in practice.

This website contains general advice only. You need to consider with your financial planner (or adviser), your objectives, financial situation and your particular needs prior to making an investment decision. Shartru Wealth and its authorized representatives do not accept liability for any errors or omissions of information supplied on this website.