I share these net worth updates to stay accountable, seek feedback on our strategy, and prove that achieving financial independence in Australia is feasible without relying on extraordinary luck or wealth. The table below tracks our journey from $36K in debt to reaching our goals. 🔥
December was a whirlwind of activity, as it always is—a month packed with festive vibes, catch-ups with friends returning to the country, and plenty of summer barbecues.
A highlight for us was hosting our co-space’s first-ever Christmas party. Honestly, moments like that were a big reason we started this business in the first place—it’s all about building a community!
We rang in the New Year down in Sorrento VIC, which was great fun! But honestly, one house, four families, and a bunch of kids? It was… lively 😅. Coming back home to work felt like its own kind of holiday.
Looking back, 2024 was a massive year for us as a family. Our daughter turned one (still can’t believe that 🎂), we launched a co-working space in our hometown, and the data business kept growing, with new clients signing on recently.
2025 is already looking like another big year. Honestly, the pace can feel a bit daunting at times, but I’ve come to realise I’m just wired to keep building/creating stuff.
This year, my main goal is to help the data businesses stand more independently so it’s not relying on me as heavily. Here’s to a year of growth, finding balance, and maybe even carving out a little more breathing room!
Net Worth Update
Significant changes this month!
First off, let’s talk about the major shift in our cash position compared to last month…
We sold all our VAS units (~$144K) and combined that with some cash from our holdings to purchase ~$180K worth of A200 shares.
This move has been on my mind for a while. The main goal was to simplify our portfolio since VAS and A200 are so similar. The bonus? Lower management fees—A200 is 0.03% cheaper, and given how alike they are, I’d rather go with the more cost-effective option.
I decided to switch about a year ago but held off until our PPoR loan came off its fixed 1.99% rate in August last year.
With the loan now variable, instead of directly investing the $180K into the market, we paid down our PPoR loan to $0, redrew the funds and used them to buy the shares.
This tax strategy is also known as debt recycling, and I’ve written about how it technically works here.
This also marks the first time we’ve bought shares in over two years. It feels great to be back in the investing game, but I don’t anticipate us putting more into the markets anytime soon.
As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve reached the phase of our FIRE journey where we’ve shifted to consumption. These days, we spend our dividends and focus on enjoying life outside the spreadsheet. Those 12 years of intense focus on saving and investing have given us the freedom to make these choices now—precisely what FIRE is all about, in my opinion.
You’ve probably noticed the increase in our expenses in these updates. Over the last year, we spent just over $63K, a significant jump from our usual levels. But honestly, this is what life looks like for us now, and I’m completely okay with that.
.
*Expenses include everything we spend money on to maintain our lifestyle. We do not include paying down our PPoR loan as an expense, only the interest
*Investment income is simply 4% of our FIRE portfolio divided by 12
.
Shares
The above graph was created by Sharesight
We sold our VAS shares and bought $180K worth of A200, as explained above.
Networth
Happy New Year mate. And good to read about your ongoing progress in the business, finances and life – well done!
One qn – given you are not planning to invest anymore for time being, is your long term plan still to resume investing at some point to reaccp.h a state where dividends will cover the annual expenses? Thanks
G’day AF – also a long time lurker. Thanks for keeping us all inspired!
I had a similar question to the above. What is your long term strategy if your income is not covering expenses? Is this simply the price to be paid while you get your businesses up and running?
Hi Moy,
Thanks for your kind words!
As for investing, not at this stage. The portfolio is on track to snowball to our FI number without any additional contributions. I’d prefer to start enjoying the dividends now rather than rushing to hit a number on the spreadsheet sooner.
Thanks AFB and upward and onward to you – i think there’s no right or wrong but what makes sense to you given your unique circumstances. Good luck!
Long time lurker. I like your posts. Quick question: do you think you are over weight in Australian shares?
Cheers, Squiggle,
You’re probably right, at least from an investing theory perspective. That said, our high allocation to Australian shares isn’t without reason. Psychologically, we prefer dividends over capital gains—it’s just how we’re wired. For some reason, I find it much easier to spend dividends than to sell down units and use that money. I can’t fully explain why, but it works for us.
Are we sacrificing some returns? Probably. Do I mind? Not really.
The best investment strategy is the one you’ll stick to!
Nice, Debt recycling without changing your core strategy. But lets face it, you did it just to stop the “Why do you have VAS and A200” questions. I’ve been a little surprised that VAS hasn’t dropped more to match A200 but when you look and realize that A200 is $6.59b vs VAS $17.69b then you realise that Vanguard don’t need to drop their fees, they’re doing just fine.
😂😂😂
Ya got me!
Just wondering whether you’re liable to pay CGT on the sale of VAS shares? Or am I missing something?
I am wondering this also! We’d consider selling our shares to start debt recycling, but the tax bill would be substantial, and not sure if it’s worth it?
My guess would be that his income last financial year was actually minimal. Data business income might have stayed in the business and coworking space income was also reinvested. All a guess of course. His wife would have been stay at home with lower income too, in which case now was as good a time as any to do this
Also love to know 🙂
Ah, yes! I forgot to mention capital gains in this article.
The trust did have to distribute the capital gains, but this wasn’t an issue for two reasons:
I realise how lucky we are to be in this situation!
Thanks for the post, I enjoying reading. Just curious to know more about your data business. What is it exactly?
Hi Cathy,
We provide data models to businesses to support their data science and analytics initiatives. Think webapps, dashboards, KPI’s, reports etc.
Happy New Year mate! Thanks for the detail on your portfolio!
I’ve never made an ETF purchase greater than $20K due to DCA so am curious about your process of making such large purchases. For example, did you do the $180K A200 purchase in one go? How, just set a limit order for the number of units you can get at the current price (as per the listing on your online trading platform)? I usually do limit orders up to 3 cents higher than the current list price to make sure I don’t get caught be a rising price and miss out on some units but there’s probably a better way.
Basically what you said. We just put the order in at the live dollar amount and it went through. I just use at market price. I used to try and time it a bit but I don’t bother anymore.
Cool. It was on my mind as I’m considering moving super for my wife and I to a low cost SMSF provider like Stake with a VAS/VTS/VEU portfolio and the rollover purchases could be huge! Have you looked into this at all? Stake, iCare and Grow SMSF sound like decent options but there’s a lot to consider.
Happy New Year. In your last update, you talked about getting a Tesla. Did any of the funds from the sale of VAS help with that?
If you haven’t already purchased, buying an EV through your business might be a better move. You can get the EV FBT exemption, which means you can use the car for personal use without paying FBT (If the car is under $85k). This can save you a bunch in taxes. Plus, your business can handle the depreciation. I did this for my EV after speaking with my accountant as it made the transaction much better than taking it on personally.
Personally, I’m watching from the sidelines with EVs to see how much the prices drop after July 1st when the first of the 3 year FBT exempt novated leased EVs hit the 2nd hand market. Battery replacement is a bit of scaremongering IMHO, real world shows these batteries are good for over 400k with examples north of 600k in the real world. NRMA did an article predicting a Tesla 3 battery cost in 2030 to be $10k replacement (link below). They also compared the costs of a normal car too (gearbox, gasket, cylinder heads etc) to show the costs aren’t that much more. Lots of options already for a Model 3 in the low $30ks on carsales, check the redbook value to see early model 3s are in the mid $20k. Early adopters have paid a price with massive devaluation, which isn’t an issue if you buy and hold, but the 2nd hand EV market is going to be very hot in late 2025 onwards. https://www.mynrma.com.au/electric-vehicles/owning/cost-to-replace-ev-battery
Happy New Year, Nat!
Funny you mention this—
We just ordered the new Model Y! 😁🥳
We’re getting it through the business to take advantage of all those benefits you mentioned.
Did you lease or buy outright? I’ve got enough cash in the business to buy outright, but there are some great leasing deals around too. If you leased, who did you go with?
Why not just get rid of the HECs debt this year, you have cash sitting on side lines?
Yes cash is earning 5.5% vs 2.8% annual inflation but earning is taxable and HECs indexation is non-deductible so after taking that into account difference is very minor.
One less thing to manage and worry about.