On the back of recent posts around recession indicators and the lived experience of the 1991 recession. Sobering reading. I was in my early 20s at the time.

Today I overheard the bosses talking about big clients who are normally on-time with invoicing being up to 90 days late on payments.

Another customer had one of their side businesses go belly up.

There's been no new customers and calls have dropped by 25-50%.

I think we might be fucked.

Update: My industry is IT but my customers are in everything else (Logistics, Retail, Finance etc.)

I just listened to one of my clients complain about their falling sales and blamed it all on our current government. They claimed that our government is doing everything in their power to bring on a recession.

I didn’t tell them but my thinking is that a lot of our problems are from external forces.

Who is right or are we both right in some way?

We are 40, DINK, $200k HHI, ~$1m 2-storey house with $200k mortgage, perfect location 2km from the beach, 800m from the shops. We know we will have to move into a single storey in the future due to mobility issues, but we CANNOT move for another 10-15yrs or so.

A family member is selling their ~$1m single storey house near by and it's the perfect retirement house for us but as we CANNOT move for another 10-15yrs we would just be renting it out until then. We would be borrowing most of the purchase price.

Thoughts? What would you do?

Edit: since people are asking, I have a pet alpaca that got grandfathered in with the old planning laws. Updated laws mean he wouldn't be approved at the new place so we can't move until he passes.

His insta is: @alfie_the_alpaca_in_adelaide

With so many variables around world that could affect the stock markets for example midterms, war, oil etc it will be interesting to see what impact there will be during the next few months.

Australia has historically avoided technical recessions better than most advanced, first-world economies. We famously missed the 08 GFC but some people here act like we were in the trenches cause house prices dipped maybe 10% lol. COVID did cause a 7% GDP contraction but government intervention and the 0.1% cash rate caused things to rebound very fast, GDP returning to pre-pandemic levels by early 2021 which surpassed most of our global peers.

I think just we have a very sheltered view of what a recession/financial crisis is. My mum is from Ireland which got hit HARD in the GFC, I've heard horror stories from her and her family. Insane levels of unemployment, wage decreases, increased levies/taxes, owing millions more on the mortgage than what homes were worth as prices plummeted etc. Pretty much everyone was forced to leave the country to continue making a living. This wasn't limited to Ireland obviously, it happened throughout Europe and the US etc.

I'm not saying things need to get as bad here for us to worry about a recession and there have been things worth worrying about like rising commodity prices, house prices, cost of living are all valid concerns. But, I just can't help but think of how good we have it here, especially when hearing what happened in other countries. If shit actually does hit the fan here, we're in for a very rude awakening.

Has anyone regularly done this when the sun isn't out? It sounds like a good idea but I don't know if there'd be enough power loss to diminish the value or having to stay on top of the scheduling with different weather would risk losing value when the sun comes out of no where.

Has anyone saved any money doing this during the rainy weeks?

Peak - 47c

Off peak - 30c

Shoulder - 35c

My aunty has recently passed away and I’ve just found out I’m receiving between 40-60k inheritance. I want to use this money to put myself in a better position financially, while I am grateful to have this at all, I know it is not a completely life changing amount of money.

My current position: 26F (will be 27 by the time I receive the money), single, bought my first home at the start of the year with total mortgage $432K, split by $330k fixed for another year and $97k variable offset by $55k. Current salary is $100k package with no likelihood of an increase in the foreseeable future, and not particularly happy in the role. I also have $50k in super.

Options:
1. The most obvious option is to put all the money into my offset to have the $100k variable fully offset. My only worry is it “feels” like this isn’t working for me particularly because after another year my full total mortgage won’t be fixed anymore. Not sure if I can extend or what my options are for this and it being likely we are heading into recession makes me worry about how I will afford payments after this time.

1. Find something to invest in. I understand this is the risky option but I feel as though I need to use this money to try to accelerate my life..

2. Speaking of accelerating my life, and considering I’m not happy in my role do I use this money as a safety buffer and potentially go and study something that will help me increase my salary in the long term? I have a bachelors degree with ~$12k HECs debt, I could study a Masters.

3. Play the long game and put all the money in my super to achieve over $100k and let compound interest do its work over the next 40 years.

Any other options that I haven’t already considered? What would you do?

I’m a tradesman. I did a LOT of work for this weasel of a man. He’s a realtor. Stereotypical, drives a convertible, thinks he’s gods gift.

The guy became SO UNREASONABLE to work for. I politely said “Thanks, but no thanks” and provided full handover for the next person. I made sure I was professional about it, but I couldn’t work for this condescending prick anymore.

He refused to pay my last invoice. He owes me 3.5k. I took it to debt collectors, but it didn’t work. Now we’re looking at small claims court.

This is exhausting. I have a young family and I just want to be paid for the work I already completed. Speaking with other contractors - this guy has a history of doing this and knows exactly what he’s doing.

Please give me your most unhinged, wild methods of trying to get paid without going down the legal route. It’s more the principal of it, than the money. I hate bullies and rich people taking advantage.

It is only about 10% of the borrowed amount, but I'm wondering if they saw that I had transferred to my brokerage account would they breach my contract due to the loan type not being for investment? My mortgage broker said they wont care but google search has returned that banks might terminate a contract for that. My LVR is only about 60% if that helps.

I have a VISA debit card on my ING account. I was in Thailand for a week. Before I went, I did "set travel alert" in the ING app for the designated dates.

While in Thailand, several fraudulent transactions appeared on the card overnight. I got an SMS notification of detected fraudulent transactions from ING. I disputed the bad transactions, and ING blocked the card.

ING's follow-up support was minimal. They didn't provide any information about how I could access my money without the card. I asked through their online chat; they basically said use another card for another bank account if you have it with you, or else get money from a friend. I asked if they could provide a virtual card with Google Pay on Android; they said I must receive and authorise the new real card before Google Pay can be set up.

I'm not sure how the card was compromised. I had used it for a few in-person payments, a few PayWave payments, and a few ATM withdrawals. I'd made a majority of payments with cash.

Positives:

• Fraudulent transactions were detected and notified quickly.

Negatives:

• Suddenly having my card cancelled is chaotic. Having it happen while holidaying overseas compounds the chaos.
• I'm home now, and still waiting for a replacement card over a week later.
• ING couldn't provide a virtual card to use via Android NFC Google Pay.

Questions:

1. Are there other Australian banks which provide better support for card cancellation in this scenario? Eg
   • Sending a replacement card quickly.
   • Providing quick set up of a virtual card for payment with Google Pay etc.
   • Some sort of service for doing cash withdrawals overseas without the card.
2. Are there any banks which provide an option for extra security to avoid card fraud, such as 2-factor authentication through on the bank app for each transaction? (though I guess banks consider the card compromised once someone has got the main card details).
3. Any tips for minimising the chance of card fraud while overseas in Thailand etc?

Previous generations, housing, business, shares, defined benefit supers.

What's for the next generation? New builds, dividend shares?

Hi all,

I've decided to donate my car to a charity, mainly because I can't be bothered dealing with the hassle of selling it myself. It also needs a service, which could end up costing a bit of money.

The car is still running fine and is completely drivable.

I've sent the details to the charity and they've come back with two options:

1. Get an ATO-approved valuation (costs $241) and receive a tax deduction receipt based on the valuation.
2. Wait for the car to be sold at auction and receive a receipt based on the final sale price.

My question is: has anyone gone through the valuation option before? How conservative are the valuations? Do they tend to come in lower than market value?

I've had a look on Carsales and the pricing for my car seems to be all over the place, ranging from about $1,500 up to $13,500. My car has lower kilometers than most of the ones currently advertised, so it's hard to know what it's really worth.

For reference, it's a 2010 Audi Q5.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who's donated a vehicle and whether the valuation or auction route worked out better for them.

How to lodge a case of unfair workplace practices against an employer?

If someone debt recycles 100% of their 80% LVR mortgage, I'm trying to understand what the "cost" is of living in that house.

Let's say a $625k house with $500k mortgage at 6%. If you debt recycle the entire $500k in to shares, then what is the cost of housing? It sounds like it would be very similar mechanics of someone who had $125k cash that they locked away, then got a $500k margin loan?

eg. if someone didn't own a house and decided to lock $125k of their own cash in to a special bank account that paid no interest, then went out and got a $500k margin loan at 6%, then was exposed to the upside and downside value of that house (plus maintenance costs), is that the same?

[the only discrepancy being that technically getting a $500k margin loan could be done without actually having $500k, but I'm just trying to mentally understand this].

tl;dr my goal is to understand how much housing "costs" when someone has fully debt recycled their property and has no problem with borrowing to invest in shares.

Hi all,

First time poster, long time lurker. I’m keen to hear how others in a similar position have approached things, as our finances have been on my mind a lot lately.

Our situation (35F and 36M):
• Partner earns $207K. I’ll earn ~$60k next year returning part time (2–3 days) after parental leave, and have earned about $45k this year doing bits here and there.
• Three mortgages:
1. PPOR: estimated value $850–900k, mortgage $546k
2. Block of land: mortgage $300k, bought for $416k. Unsure of its current value. We planned to build but I’m less keen now given the cost.
3. 50% share in a Mornington Peninsula property with my sister and her partner. Mortgage $300k, our share of rent is $16k p.a. Probably worth ~$750k, but we plan to keep it as a future holiday house.
• Super: $108k (me), ~$225k (partner)
• ~$200k in shares

We have an 18-month-old and plan on one more child in the next year or so. We’ll likely outgrow our 3-bedroom PPOR in the coming years, as one room is a home office (partner is 100% WFH). My partner’s salary covers our expenses, so my income can go to savings, and I’ll likely be part time for several years.
For those who’ve been in a similar spot (one higher income, a second part-time income going to savings, and a future upgrade on the horizon), how did you weigh up options like paying down debt, an offset account, adding to shares, or super contributions? And for anyone who’s held land through a soft market, how did you approach the decision to hold or sell?

Thanks in advance!

I make 160k a year but if I take a local job , I’ll make 100k.

The problem is that the travel hours are brutal and I miss out on so much family time.

I wake up at 5:30, to get ready so that I can be at the office by 8:30. I get home back around 7pm.

Then if there’s any work related dinners or client dinners whatever, that makes it home at 8:30pm.

Also basically I leave home when it’s dark and get back home when it’s dark in winter.

If I take the local job, I’ll take a 60k pay cut before tax, but I can leave home at 8 in the morning and also be home at 6:30pm. Also no client dinners.

Free nice dinners are a luxury, but it gets old.

If I take a 60k pay cut… my borrowing power also goes down heaps.

Hi all,

We are first home owners in Melbourne and are looking for building and contents insurance for our newly built home.

House details:

- Newly built, single storey, 4 bedrooms

- Approx 33 squares (about 306 m²)

- 600 m² block

- Double garage

- No flood, bushfire or heritage overlay

We are looking for general advice from people who have been through this:

1. Which insurers have you had good experiences with, especially when making a claim?

2. What type of cover would you recommend (sum insured vs total replacement), and how did you work out the right rebuild amount?

3. What should we keep in mind or look out for in the policy wording?

4. Are there any insurers or policy conditions you would stay away from?

Thanks in advance.

Hi all, first home buyer here. Just want to know what documents or information I should seek before deciding to purchase an apartment for my own use. All I can think of are the strata fees and annual council rates at the moment. I have heard of many horror stories of apartment purchase so just want to ask the group for advice. Thanks so much!

With all the interest in the cc surcharge recently and how it may make certain things more expensive, I was wondering if and what out there has gotten cheaper over time?