Introduced as part of the 2017-2018 Federal Budget, the First Home Super Saver (FHSS) scheme aims to make housing more affordable for first home buyers. Essentially the FHSS scheme allows you to save money in your super fund that will go towards your first home.

If you are making either concessional or non-concessional contributions into your super fund, you will be able to apply to have your voluntary contributions, as well as associated earnings, released to help you purchase your first home. Since your concessional contributions are taxed at 15% as opposed to your marginal tax rate, the FHSS scheme can be an effective tool in helping you save for your first home.

When making a withdrawal from super to help purchase a home, you are able to withdraw total voluntary contributions of up to a maximum of $30,000 across all years, with a maximum of $15,000 from any one financial year. The contributions are ordered by a first-in first-out approach. For example, Joe has made $10,000 of eligible non-concessional contributions each of the past 3 financial years. He finds a house he would like to buy. He can withdraw a total of $30,000 to purchase the house as each year he has stayed within the maximum of $15,000 per year. If Joe had made eligible non-concessional contributions of $20,000 and $10,000 in the past 2 financial years, he would be limited to only withdrawing $25,000 (maximum of $15,000 from the first year and $10,000 from the second year).

Once your first FHSS amount has been released to you, within 12 months you must do one of the following:

– Sign a contract to purchase or construct your home – you must notify the ATO within 28 days of signing the contract
– Re-contribute the assessable FHSS amount (less tax withheld) into your super fund and notify the ATO within 12 months of the first FHSS amount being released to you.

There is a strict set of criteria you must satisfy in order to be eligible for the FHSS:

– You must be at least 18 years old when you request a release from your super account
– You must never have owned property in Australia (this includes investment property, vacant land, commercial property, a lease of land in Australia or a company title interest in land in Australia).
– You must not have previously requested the Commissioner of Taxation in Australia to issue a FHSS release authority in relation to the scheme.

You may be eligible for the FHSS even if you do not satisfy the above conditions. More details of this can be found here.

There is also criteria on what you cannot purchase through the FHSS and these include:

– Any premises not capable of being occupied as a residence
– A houseboat
– A motorhome
– Vacant Land

One thing to note is that just because it can be done, doesn’t mean that every super fund offers it so if you believe you are eligible and would like to explore it further, it would be worthwhile contacting JBS.

Spring is a great time to give your finances a once over to see how those goals you set back in January are tracking. Reviewing your financial situation, starting afresh this spring and making sure you aren’t spending more money than you need to.

Below are a few tips to help organise and freshen up your finances:

Start with a Budget: if you haven’t tracked your spending for a while, it is likely that your income and expenses have changed. There is potential for you to save money by simply making a few small adjustments.

Automatic payments: everyone has been guilty of not paying a bill on time and this often incurs additional fees. Automatic payments could be extremely beneficial and scheduling a direct debit is one way to avoid these extra fees especially for regular payments like utilities.

Check your bank statements: running your eyes over your monthly bank statements for mystery charges. By doing this you may come across charges that are not yours or old subscriptions that you may have forgotten about.

Eliminate non-essential items: small inexpensive items add up over a month. If you didn’t purchase that morning coffee or afternoon snack every day you could save yourself over $1,000 a year. Look for cheaper alternatives – if you can’t leave the house in the morning without your coffee, purchase an eco-coffee cup and start making your coffee at home to take to work.

Protect what you can’t afford to lose: If something is important and you can’t afford to lose it – it needs to be protected. Your income is imperative to your financial freedom, you need to ensure it’s adequately protected.

You work hard for your money, so make it work for you. Creating a budget and monitoring your expenses doesn’t mean you miss out on all the fun stuff. It’s about knowing where your money is going so you stay in control.

If you struggle to stick to your budget or your financial situation is becoming a bit overwhelming, JBS has a program that can help give your finances that spring clean feeling. Contact us today to discuss how Cash Coach can help you.

What makes you want to get out of bed every morning and makes you do that you love? What is that thing that you wouldn’t mind doing everyday for the rest of your life? Yes probably that thing is called passion. But I feel passion shouldn’t be limited to one particular activity. Some of us are passionate about few different things and I don’t think that’s wrong.

For me, I have a couple of passions:

– My work

– Trekking

1) My Work – So since childhood whenever someone asked me what I wanted to become when I grow up, my answer was a Pilot! But slowly I found myself getting interested in the business and finance news section of the newspaper that came home daily (and I realized how hard the science subject in school was!) Coming from a nation (India) where financial literacy is weak, I became interested in ideas that would help people understand finance in a way that is more than just their salary. So long story short, after completing my studies in finance, here I am at JBS trying to help our clients manage their wealth better along with a team that is equally passionate about the client’s best interest. Every time we witness clients achieving their financial goals, I realise how our passion helps others better their life. It’s a win-win for all. I haven’t ever thought twice about waking up and going to work because I go to bed at night looking forward to it!

2) Trekking – Being a part of the Scouts group at school gave me the knack for trekking, camping and trail hiking. I went on my first hike as an 11 year old and I don’t think I am going to stop till my legs give up. As I mentioned at the start that some of us are passionate about few different things and so I can’t go on treks or hikes daily but I have made it a point I do it as regularly as possible so that it fills up my hunger for trailing the outdoors. Be it climbing forts and mountains tops in India or camping in tents under chilling winter or just bushwalking around different trials in Victoria, there is not one aspect of it that I have or will hate. Reaching the top of a mountain peak gives me a high that makes the trek worth it.

I have tried to share 2 of my passions in a very short manner, but I would like to add that yes I am not the best at them yet. There are people who do the above better than me and have far more experience in it, but that does not deter me to stop pursuing these. For me my passion is about enjoying and loving what I do even if I am not the best at it, yet! I may not have climbed the Mount Everest, but will that stop me from going on treks? No. I may not be a finance expert yet, but will that stop me from learning more and working for my clients? No. These are my passions and I will pursue them because they make me happy 😊

– Aakash Mehta –