[tom]

Ill get the ball rolling;

We have 2 FHSA one in my name and one in my wifes. They are both with commonwealth bank and both contain the full 5k for year one. We set them up a fortnight before the end of the financial year, i.e. June 09.

A few observations:

1. Thus far there is a total of $3.15 interest paid on the deposit in both accounts.
2. The accounts say the 5k is available funds when clearly it should not be.
3. No government co contribution yet. I am expecting that I will get a letter telling me this did not get in in time for 08/09 financial year...
4. The interest rate has moved from 3.5 to 3.75 and now 4% which all comes up when you look at history and still no interest except that initial $3.15 has been paid.

Now I am sure I will get whats coming to me eventually, but has anyone got an account that has actually grown since starting. The $3.15 we got in the first couple of weeks led me to believe it was all in order, but clearly this was to lol me into a false sense of security.

If this is supposed to motivate you to save for your first home, from my perspective it is pretty ordinary. We have got a princely sum of $6.30 no doubt for the last two weeks of last financial year with interest paid annually? I am guessing.

Maybe they are onto me, I am using it for the savings factor myself, as I thought if I have missed out on the house price boom I might as well milk this for what it is worth over the next 2 and a bit years putting in 40k for a gov contribution including tax saved of about 8k. And if house prices remain out of my "comfort zone" than I will just continue to put 5k per annum into the 2 accounts till they max out in 8 odd years then let it sit, maybe buy my first home when I retire up the coast somewhere.

[staringclown]

tom, on 23 November 2009 - 05:36 AM, said:

Ill get the ball rolling;

We have 2 FHSA one in my name and one in my wifes. They are both with commonwealth bank and both contain the full 5k for year one. We set them up a fortnight before the end of the financial year, i.e. June 09.

A few observations:

1. Thus far there is a total of $3.15 interest paid on the deposit in both accounts.
2. The accounts say the 5k is available funds when clearly it should not be.
3. No government co contribution yet. I am expecting that I will get a letter telling me this did not get in in time for 08/09 financial year...
4. The interest rate has moved from 3.5 to 3.75 and now 4% which all comes up when you look at history and still no interest except that initial $3.15 has been paid.

Now I am sure I will get whats coming to me eventually, but has anyone got an account that has actually grown since starting. The $3.15 we got in the first couple of weeks led me to believe it was all in order, but clearly this was to lol me into a false sense of security.

If this is supposed to motivate you to save for your first home, from my perspective it is pretty ordinary. We have got a princely sum of $6.30 no doubt for the last two weeks of last financial year with interest paid annually? I am guessing.

Maybe they are onto me, I am using it for the savings factor myself, as I thought if I have missed out on the house price boom I might as well milk this for what it is worth over the next 2 and a bit years putting in 40k for a gov contribution including tax saved of about 8k. And if house prices remain out of my "comfort zone" than I will just continue to put 5k per annum into the 2 accounts till they max out in 8 odd years then let it sit, maybe buy my first home when I retire up the coast somewhere.

I'd be making some enquiries if I were you. They'll probably tell you that your money will be there when you need it. But that's what the government of Albania said.

[tom]

staringclown, on 23 November 2009 - 09:02 AM, said:

I'd be making some enquiries if I were you. They'll probably tell you that your money will be there when you need it. But that's what the government of Albania said.

I rang the Commonwealth Bank earlier tonight. They tell me it will be paid on the 1st of January and annually thereafter. A bank account in 2009 that pays interest annually. I assume it is calculated more often but who knows?

Gawd annually is even worse than that bank in Mary Poppins, at least they paid interest twice a year...

[savagegoose]

I get PAID MONTHLY in my account, and the interest is about %6,p.a. with members equity. the gov payment comes at end of financial year. you can roll it over to different bank,s as long as it stays in a FHSA . whAT SORT OF ANNUAL RATE DO COMMBANK PAY?

[tom]

savagegoose, on 23 November 2009 - 04:21 PM, said:

I get PAID MONTHLY in my account, and the interest is about %6,p.a. with members equity. the gov payment comes at end of financial year. you can roll it over to different bank,s as long as it stays in a FHSA . whAT SORT OF ANNUAL RATE DO COMMBANK PAY?

It is 4% now initially 3.5%. I set this up before I went hunting folr rates. Back when I used to have the rest of my stash in ING at 3.5%.

[savagegoose]

tom, on 23 November 2009 - 11:55 PM, said:

It is 4% now initially 3.5%. I set this up before I went hunting folr rates. Back when I used to have the rest of my stash in ING at 3.5%.

yeah I hear you. I set mine up with 1st bank i had an account with that offered one. I didnt shop around either. I think i get the total interest shown in account for some reASON, MAYBE MAKES IT LOOK BETTER. anyhow $5k a year locked away for ever you really want the best interest rates you can. if comsuck aint doing it for you , take the business elsewhere.
you cant take the money back , but you canmove it to a more rewarding bank.

[tom]

savagegoose, on 24 November 2009 - 10:21 AM, said:

yeah I hear you. I set mine up with 1st bank i had an account with that offered one. I didnt shop around either. I think i get the total interest shown in account for some reASON, MAYBE MAKES IT LOOK BETTER. anyhow $5k a year locked away for ever you really want the best interest rates you can. if comsuck aint doing it for you , take the business elsewhere.
you cant take the money back , but you canmove it to a more rewarding bank.

The number of times over the years I have vowed to never use comsec again and yet I keep coming back for more.

and all becuase of my dollarmite account, they really do have the market stitched up.

Anyway members equity sounds like a beuty that is higher interest than U bank!

[savagegoose]

yeah but not for long, its only 6% on the fhsa ,their normal accounts are lower than ubank. its 6% plus the gov 15% or what ever they give. ill let you know how it gets added , come tax time. i had hard time deciding over how much to deposit. but the not being able to withdraw for any reason clinched it at a min deposit of $1k a year for me.

[SomeBrissyChick]

Well, tax time has passed... in that the tax I owed has left my account. Does anyone know when to expect our little government gifts to arrive in the FSHAs?

When I opened my FSHA just under a year ago I thought the government contributions would show up at the end of the year (July). My first grab for a government handout has been a bit disappointing.

BTW I am with MEBank. The "customer help" person told me that it would be paid in after tax time...

[tom]

SomeBrissyChick, on 30 November 2009 - 02:52 AM, said:

Well, tax time has passed... in that the tax I owed has left my account. Does anyone know when to expect our little government gifts to arrive in the FSHAs?

When I opened my FSHA just under a year ago I thought the government contributions would show up at the end of the year (July). My first grab for a government handout has been a bit disappointing.

BTW I am with MEBank. The "customer help" person told me that it would be paid in after tax time...

Commbank is paying it in the new year. (Early January)

Commbank also only pays interst at the same time, annually.

[SomeBrissyChick]

tom, on 30 November 2009 - 03:14 AM, said:

Commbank is paying it in the new year. (Early January)

Commbank also only pays interst at the same time, annually.

Thanks, must be the same time for MEBank then.
An annual interest payment with 6+ month offset seems more than a bit dodgy to me.

[tom]

SomeBrissyChick, on 30 November 2009 - 04:21 AM, said:

Thanks, must be the same time for MEBank then.
An annual interest payment with 6+ month offset seems more than a bit dodgy to me.

It does not make that much diffence to the amount paid on say 5k, but it does not really promote savings, as it is encouraging to see it gradually grow, and just to have it sit languishing doing nothing is not encouraging at all. It is like they are doing everything to make these accounts unnatractive.

MEBank is members equity? As savagegoose says at least they are paying a very high interest payment! 6% is very competitive. Combank is "paying" 4%, though I have not actually seen any interest yet!

[SomeBrissyChick]

Yup Members Equity. The interest going in each month is nice (6x0.85%), and knowing there won't be extra tax to pay on it is nice too. Just wish the rest of my savings were treated as well.

I dropped 40K in there thinking that it would only be two years (four financial years). The MEBank 'Customer Help' confirmed my interpretation of (financial year = six months) when I signed up, but the tax department didn't agree when I queried it again later at tax time.

[tom]

SomeBrissyChick, on 30 November 2009 - 06:12 AM, said:

Yup Members Equity. The interest going in each month is nice (6x0.85%), and knowing there won't be extra tax to pay on it is nice too. Just wish the rest of my savings were treated as well.

I dropped 40K in there thinking that it would only be two years (four financial years). The MEBank 'Customer Help' confirmed my interpretation of (financial year = six months) when I signed up, but the tax department didn't agree when I queried it again later at tax time.

You have me worried, I will be in biiiig trouble with the missus? This account is my way of keeping out of the Australian property market and I only just got it across the line as a 2 year proposition. This has been talked about frequently on GHPC and I am not the only one with the same interpretation. (I think correct interpretation too)

What do you mean, the tax department did not agree?

The legislation is for a minimum of $1000.00 deposited into the account in four seperate financial years.

Thid does not need to be for 6 months, nor even 1 month. You could (I hope because I did this) deposit your first 5k just before the end of the financial year say June 20th 2009, then again June 20th 2010, then in June 2011, then in July 2011 and you would have met the criteria? a total of 25 months. Out comes the saver account to buy your overpriced bricks and mortar.

[savagegoose]

hehe i got an email from my bank just before the end of financial year, bangingg on about the benefit of cramming as much into the account at end of financial year.

would be interested if that becomes misleading info. i dont recall reading much, except that ill never get to sniff my money again unless i buy a HOUSE. im lead to believe, even by my bank , than any money in a financial year, qualifys it as a full year.

but s to the 17% bonus interest id expect it tpo be applied ona pro rata basis.

ie , sure you get 1 year off the 4 year savings, for depositng 2 weeks before end of yer
but you also only get 2/52 of 17% interest for those 2 weeks.

[SomeBrissyChick]

I put my first 5K+ in at the end of 2008, expecting that would be provide my first financial year with an government $850 contribution. And did the same thing for the first and second halves of 2009.

The auto-fill feature of E-Tax filled in my account details for the FSHA account. Because you don't get a tax bill for those accounts I called up the ATO. He said to delete that auto-fill, so he understood that much. I also asked him when to expect my $1700 incentive. He said it would only be $850 because it is only one tax year. I argued that financial years were not the same as tax years and he didn't agree.

So I am kind of waiting for this contribution to arrive to see what's really going on.

It is supposedly doable to shift from one FSHA bank to another... Until you actually try it you don't know how easy it is.

Worst case Tom, you're in for three years instead of the one and a half years and I might be in it for three and a half years
Or our dodgy retirement funds get a boost.

I still remember feeling so indignant when Commonwealth charged me for my first transaction after finishing university. Got out of there quick smart and vowed never to bank with an Australian bank again. Now I am trialing UBank

[tom]

savagegoose, on 30 November 2009 - 07:14 AM, said:

but s to the 17% bonus interest id expect it tpo be applied ona pro rata basis.

ie , sure you get 1 year off the 4 year savings, for depositng 2 weeks before end of yer
but you also only get 2/52 of 17% interest for those 2 weeks.

I thought it was a co contribution not interest? It is fixed at 17% of the amount you deposit within a financial year up to $5000.00. Anyway the mystery of all of this will become clear when they pay both the co-contribution and the interest early in the new year.

[tom]

SomeBrissyChick, on 30 November 2009 - 07:38 AM, said:

I put my first 5K+ in at the end of 2008, expecting that would be provide my first financial year with an government $850 contribution. And did the same thing for the first and second halves of 2009.

A financial year runs from July to June, but it is still 12 months long.

At 6% interest though I would be tempted to crunch it too and put more than the 5k in anyway. It is 5k per financial year per account that recieves the special 17% bonus (I think, but savagegoose could be right and it is prorata like interest!).

Anyway if you put it in, late in 08, as I understand it I think that counts the same as if you had put it in say June 09.

Nonetheless you will still be able to get at it in July 2011, as long as you put more in next financial year i.e. after July 2010 and again after July 2011, you are over the line and can get at it. It sounds like you hammered the account in Financial year 08/09. As I said at 6% interest who wouldn't.

[SomeBrissyChick]

I know, I wish that 75K limit would disappear.

[tom]

SomeBrissyChick, on 30 November 2009 - 08:24 AM, said:

I know, I wish that 75K limit would disappear.

Hmmm, just thinking, what can they do if you put in 75k in year 1?

Would they:

a) lock up your account and say sorry, you have forfieted that till your retirement because you did not deposit over 4 consecutive years or

Allow you to go on depositing for 3 more years?

Reading it strictly I think you would be prevented from ever getting at your money, but this would seem brutally unfair, but who knows. The whole thing reeks to me. I had expected that shortly into this year I would already see the govs co-contribution, but nothing, a few cents interest for the last week of last financial year.

The next time pressure comes on property prices they will probably mandate we all use our savings accounts...