What is the best way to manage my money (Australia)?

Investing
#1

I’m a 23 year old Occupational Therapist in Australia. I have $150,000 in savings, $35,000 in superannuation and a $13,500 car which I paid for in cash. My only debt is a HELP loan (student loan) of $21,000 which will be paid over the next two years interest free.

I currently max out my super contributions ($25,000 per year) - which includes 9.5% my employer contributes.

Last year my salary was $150,000 however I am predicted to earn $125,000 for this financial year.

My plan was to put 20% down as a deposit for a home and the rest in an offset account. Keep in mind house prices in Aus are around 500k. But other that than I’m a bit lost with how to manage it.

I dropped some figures into a superannuation calculator the other day and included maxing out the 25k contributions per year, which only gets me 1.3 mil by retirements and is capped at 1.6 mil in Australia.

My girlfriend is still studying and is expected to finish up and start work at the beginning of 2022 on about $70,000. By then we should have tied the knot.

What are your thoughts? How can I manage this better? What else should I be considering?

Thanks

Jake

#2

Welcome @Jake!

Way to be killing it at such a young age! I would take a look at the phases of investing link below, and prioritize your money in that fashion.

It sounds like you might be on Phase 6, which means opening another investment account (in addition to your super) and putting all that excess money in so it can grow! The more that investment account grows, the earlier you are financially independent! I believe Vanguard serves Australia so it may be as easy as opening a Vanguard account, picking a few index funds and letting all that excess money compound grow for the next few decades! :slight_smile: