[savagegoose]

just got my statement as at dec 1

balance =$838.18
interest YTD = $14.57
interest rate %6.25

FHSA withodling tax $1.28

I can afford more but the tie it up for ever thing keeps me going for min amount. $1k a year is min required to get a gov co contribution so its a goal. and $40 x 26 is my goal. ie 1040. my share on rent here is $80 a week, if i put that in [ which i cant really afford.] would be 4x or $4k a year. but would be that $18 k i mentioned over in the no LVI thread. on a cheap bush house. ie %20 deposit. yeah thats sure do able, i should look at $40 being the min i put in not the max. still i want an amount i dont really notice and $40 i dont notice. maybe ill up it to $50.
its still a good savings practice and failing ny major global finance crisis over next four years, good savings means you get a loan.
if people cant wait 4 years they really cant buy a house anyhow. bit of luck the market will be dead by then and places will be cheaper.

[tom]

savagegoose, on 08 January 2010 - 02:02 PM, said:

I can afford more but the tie it up for ever thing keeps me going for min amount. $1k a year is min required to get a gov co contribution so its a goal.

I reckon that is prudent savage. Once you get the four financial year deposits under your belt if you know you will eb up for buying a home you can smash the account then without fear of buying within the four year time frame and locking it away in super.

[Easy Tiger]

I'm glad that I gave the FHSA a miss. I had put a lot of thought into doing it but the lack of knowledge displayed by the banks that I talked to, the lack of precedence, the fact that you had to lock it in for a minimum time, the fact that there was a cap, the fact that you could never access the money for anything other than as a deposit on a house and the big one the fact that I have a distrust of the government to not try to (1) steal my money (2) change the rules before the end and that the government had another conflicting policy that made the FHSA nothing more than a token gesture the First Home Owners Grants in all their guises.

Seriously - the government at all levels get a F for Fail unless their goal was of Machivelean in nature.

[Silver Surfer]

Easy Tiger, on 10 January 2010 - 12:30 AM, said:

I'm glad that I gave the FHSA a miss. I had put a lot of thought into doing it but the lack of knowledge displayed by the banks that I talked to, the lack of precedence, the fact that you had to lock it in for a minimum time, the fact that there was a cap, the fact that you could never access the money for anything other than as a deposit on a house and the big one the fact that I have a distrust of the government to not try to (1) steal my money (2) change the rules before the end and that the government had another conflicting policy that made the FHSA nothing more than a token gesture the First Home Owners Grants in all their guises.

Seriously - the government at all levels get a F for Fail unless their goal was of Machivelean in nature.

+1, Agree. Better to set up an Usaver account at UBank ...

[sydney3000]

The governments and businesses still have a lot to learn. Gen X and Y and thereafter value their time like no generation in history and hence only the simplest of product and service proposals will be a hit.

UBank = Simple = Success
FHSA = Complex = Failure

[Easy Tiger]

sydney3000, on 10 January 2010 - 02:21 AM, said:

The governments and businesses still have a lot to learn. Gen X and Y and thereafter value their time like no generation in history and hence only the simplest of product and service proposals will be a hit.

UBank = Simple = Success
FHSA = Complex = Failure

You could be onto something there Sydney3k. I'm Gen-X and as a general rule I prefer simplicity and ease of use.


As an example I refuse flat out to spend money at a shop where they make it hard for me. If I can't find what I'm looking for I'll leave. If I think for a moment that I will be waiting at the check out for any length of time I'll leave (I'm prepared to abandon a trolley full of shopping and go elsewhere / come back another time). If a car park is full(ish) I'll drive on by. If parking is a pain in the proverbial I don't even consider shopping there.

[sydney3000]

They opened a new Woolworths recently. I checked it out last week. They still don't have unit pricing. Would it be too much to ask to be told in simple terms when I am being screwed?!? I'll never go there again.

[savagegoose]

well i dint know where i posted all my gripping about not getting my gov contribution but it finally arrived

19/01/2011FHSA Govt Contribution $135.00
$1040 deposited last financial year, and only 6 months to actually give me %13.5 of my deposit. i guerss it was pro rata, so much for $5k on the last day of financial year. theese guys are way ahead of you.

im over half way to next years $1040 and was seriously just letting the account lapse into insignificance. 6 months waiting for their cash . 5.5% intererst at the bank there is nothing good about it. only $500 to go for this years qualification, but ... ehh h how a gov can make giving out fee money so unappealing i dont know but they managed it. think ill keep the cash in my owen account. screw them and screw their 6 month wait and screw their %5.5

oh and screw their %15 tax on interest in the account

[tom]

savagegoose, on 21 January 2011 - 11:18 AM, said:

oh and screw their %15 tax on interest in the account

Im in for a penny now so to speak so am forced to follow up with the pound this year.

I am so close now being approx 6 months from having to drop 10k in in june and another 10k in july between our two accounts and they are ready.

It feels every year like an expense to us as our savings account gets hammered and we kind of forget about these.

And sg why did you only get 13.5% gov co contribution. We eventually, after a long wait got $850 from the government on our first deposit of 5k per account which was put in less than a month or so before june 30th? Still waiting on the second lot but I expect it will come eventually.

All told over 4 years the gov gives a couple $850.00 x 8 over four years if you contribute the maximum per annum. Do it over 8 years and of course the amount doubles. But if you pay a low marginal rate of tax on your savings anyway the 15% is then a rort though that siad I imagine it does not contribute toward your income threshold for centrelink etc? Not sure on that?

[savagegoose]

i put $40 ina fortnight, so im assuming they work out the payment pro rata based on some formula unknown to mere mortals.for half the year i only had less than $450 in there etc. so only half a years bonus cash. really im just miffed at the %4.75 return on my account. and well ... i got credit cards to pay off the $40 ea f/t night dollars are better deployed on them.

[Easy Tiger]

</h1>

Quote

Savers cling to great Australian dream

FIRST-HOME buyers might be taking a break but first-home savers are stepping-up their activity with a large jump in the number of people signing up for the Government's First Home Saver Accounts.




Latest statistics from the Australian Prudential and Regulation Authority reveal the number of new account holders has jumped 16.5 per cent in the three months to June to total almost 32,000.




The amount of money being saved in these accounts is also rapidly growing, with a total of $230 million now stashed away in the government-sponsored savings scheme, a 33 per cent increase during the three-month period and almost $100 million more than nine months ago when APRA first reported account balances.

LINKYMEJINK

This post has been edited by Easy Tiger: 03 November 2011 - 04:25 AM

[ummester]

Easy Tiger, on 03 November 2011 - 04:25 AM, said:

</h1>[b]



LINKYMEJINK

I LUNKEDAYOURJUNK:) Read this and posted it in the other FHSA thread.

Just did that maths - seems only 7k per account, over 31k people. I'm starting to think it is more of a spruik article - like the FHSA accounts are going to save the RE industry because they have 230 million stashed away:) That only pays for 500 houses at todays asking prices, or is only a 20% deposit on 2500 houses at same prices - nothing near what the 31000 savers need.

Even when mine and Mrs ummester matures, it's only going to be around 80k between us and, by that time, I hope most banks are only lending to those who have 20 odd percent or more - meaning the average house should be 400k or less.

Still think its a safe(ish) place to let savings grow - if you want to buy a house with those savings.