Aussie FIRE | Financial Independence Retire Early

To kick off our FY27 tax-time series, Dave and Hayden are joined by Navarre Trousselot, founder of Navexa — an investment tracking and tax reporting platform (if you've heard of Sharesight, it plays in the same space). Because here's the thing: most of us agonise over what to buy, then put zero thought into how we sell — and selling is the part where you actually get your money back. As Navarre puts it, too many investors are "selling in the dark" and handing the ATO far more than they need to.

In this episode we'll discuss:

💸 How the exact same sale can be a $30 loss or a $20 gain: why choosing which parcels you sell (not just what you sell) can save you thousands in capital gains tax
💸 The ETF tax trap most investors have never heard of: AMIT cost base adjustments, and why ten years of dollar cost averaging leaves you 120 parcels to adjust every single year (get it wrong and you've either overpaid tax or filed incorrectly — hello, audit risk)
💸 FIFO, LIFO, minimise gain, maximise gain and minimise CGT explained — including why everyone's a FIFO milk drinker, but nobody's a LIFO milk drinker
💸 When realising a bigger gain is the smart move: using a maximise gain strategy in a low-income year (career break, slow year for the business) to land in a lower tax bracket
💸 The NAB shares Navarre almost sold as a dud — until he added up the dividends and realised he'd made roughly 40% (why annualised total return beats staring at the share price)
💸 Why ChatGPT can't do your capital gains tax: LLMs still only score around 70% on maths benchmarks, and "ChatGPT said so" won't cut it with the ATO
💸 Record-keeping 101 for new investors: keep every contract note and AMMA statement, don't assume your old broker sends your trade history to your new one, and remember foreign dividends (Apple, Tesla and friends) don't prefill with the ATO

Navexa is offering Aussie FIRE listeners 20% off their first year, plus a two-week free trial — head to navexa.com/aussiefire to check it out.

Happy EOFY from pearler! Sign up in July using the code AUSSIEFIRE for 12 months worth of free trades 💸
And for existing customers, sign up to a new pearler product and you'll get 12 months worth of free trades too! 💸
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Pearler
Strong Money Australia
Original Aussie FIRE e-book

Dave's books on Amazon and Spotify

Disclaimer
Any advice is general and does not consider your financial situation needs, or objectives, so consider whether it's appropriate for you. You should also consider seeking professional advice before making any financial decision.
Pearler is an Authorised Representative #1281540 of Sanlam Private Wealth Pty Ltd AFSL #337927. Read the FSG available from https://pearler.com/financial-services-guide
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you sell your ETFs just to save 0.1% a year in fees? In this episode, Hayden and Dave unpack some of the newest additions to the ETF marketplace, and work out where (if anywhere) they'd fit in a long-term portfolio.

They cover:
👉 BGBL vs VGS: half the management fee for basically the same portfolio, and why switching isn't free once tax enters the picture
👉 VDAL, Vanguard's answer to DHHF: all-growth and all-in-one, minus VDHG's 10% bonds, and when one-fund portfolios make the most sense
👉 EMKT and factor investing: why this emerging markets fund has outpaced VGE, and the catch of paying guaranteed fees for an unguaranteed outcome
👉 Currency hedging, finally explained: what HNDQ actually does differently to NDQ, and who might genuinely need it
👉 V500 and A300, the new cheap rivals to IVV and VAS, and whether brand power beats a lower fee
👉 Old-school LICs trading at 15% discounts: buying a dollar of assets for 85 cents, and the risks hiding in the bargain

Happy EOFY from pearler! Sign up in July using the code AUSSIEFIRE for 12 months worth of free trades 💸
And for existing customers, sign up to a new pearler product and you'll get 12 months worth of free trades too! 💸
Follow us on Instagram
Watch on Youtube
Ask a Question
FI Case Study Request Form
Pearler
Strong Money Australia
Original Aussie FIRE e-book

Dave's books on Amazon and Spotify

Disclaimer
Any advice is general and does not consider your financial situation needs, or objectives, so consider whether it's appropriate for you. You should also consider seeking professional advice before making any financial decision.
Pearler is an Authorised Representative #1281540 of Sanlam Private Wealth Pty Ltd AFSL #337927. Read the FSG available from https://pearler.com/financial-services-guide
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens to your job, your income and your investments when intelligence becomes almost free? In this episode, Dave uses Hayden as his window into the tech world, unpacking what AI actually means for jobs, businesses and long-term investors.

They cover:

👉 How AI went from "write me a poem" to breaking big problems into bite-sized steps, and why the last 12 months surprised even the tech insiders
👉 Which parts of your job are actually at risk: why AI disrupts skills rather than whole jobs, and why the alone-at-your-computer work is the exposed bit
👉 The graduate problem: starting uni in a booming industry and finishing in a shrunken one, faster than the industrial revolution ever managed
👉 Whether AI is a bubble, a 20 to 30 year megatrend, or both, and what that could mean for indexing, Aussie property and white collar incomes
👉 Why your best hedge isn't a hot AI stock: keep earning, keep upskilling, and use the cheap intelligence everyone's worried about to your own advantage

Happy EOFY from pearler! Sign up in July using the code AUSSIEFIRE for 12 months worth of free trades 💸
And for existing customers, sign up to a new pearler product and you'll get 12 months worth of free trades too! 💸
Follow us on Instagram
Watch on Youtube
Ask a Question
FI Case Study Request Form
Pearler
Strong Money Australia
Original Aussie FIRE e-book
Dave's books on Amazon and Spotify

Disclaimer
Any advice is general and does not consider your financial situation needs, or objectives, so consider whether it's appropriate for you. You should also consider seeking professional advice before making any financial decision.
Pearler is an Authorised Representative #1281540 of Sanlam Private Wealth Pty Ltd AFSL #337927. Read the FSG available from https://pearler.com/financial-services-guide
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Would you sell a property that's grown from $280k to $800k, even if it meant a six figure tax bill? In this episode, Hayden and Dave sit down with listener Lachlan to work through a big financial decision: whether to sell his investment property or keep holding on.

They cover:
👉 The equity Lachlan has built up on his investment property, and what selling would actually cost him in CGT
👉 Debt recycling and whether redrawing equity could achieve the same goal without triggering a tax hit
👉 Why simplifying from property to shares might reduce stress, even if it's not the highest returning move
👉 What semi-retirement within a decade would actually require from Lachlan and his wife's finances
👉 The pull of sentimental value and FOMO, and how that shapes decisions that are supposed to be purely financial

Happy EOFY from pearler! Sign up in July using the code AUSSIEFIRE for 12 months worth of free trades 💸
And for existing customers, sign up to a new pearler product and you'll get 12 months worth of free trades too! 💸

Follow us on Instagram

Watch on Youtube

Ask a Question

FI Case Study Request Form

Pearler
Strong Money Australia
Original Aussie FIRE e-book
Dave's books on Amazon and Spotify

Disclaimer
Any advice is general and does not consider your financial situation needs, or objectives, so consider whether it’s appropriate for you. You should also consider seeking professional advice before making any financial decision.

Pearler is an Authorised Representative #1281540 of Sanlam Private Wealth Pty Ltd AFSL #337927. Read the FSG available from https://pearler.com/financial-services-guide
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if one of the biggest leaks in your budget is sitting in your fridge? In this episode, Hayden and Dave get honest about how much they're actually spending on food right now, and running through some hacks to eat on more of a budget on your path to FIRE.

The gap between a $15 and $25 daily food spend might not feel like much. But compounded over 20 years, that difference could be huge.

They cover:

👉 How much each host is actually spending on food right now (one answer is going to raise some eyebrows)
👉 The slow creep of "brand drift" and food waste that inflates your grocery bill
👉 Why skipping breakfast might be the easiest budget and health hack you're not using
👉 Cheap protein swaps, bulk cooking and home brand experiments worth trying
👉 Whether it's worth shopping online
👉 How to tell if your food spending actually reflects your values

Whether you're deep into your FIRE journey or just starting to question where your money goes each week, this episode will make you look at your next supermarket run a little differently.

Happy EOFY from pearler! Sign up in July using the code AUSSIEFIRE for 12 months worth of free trades 💸
And for existing customers, sign up to a new pearler product and you'll get 12 months worth of free trades too! 💸

Follow us on Instagram

Watch on Youtube

Ask a Question

FI Case Study Request Form

Pearler
Strong Money Australia
Original Aussie FIRE e-book
Dave's books on Amazon and Spotify

Disclaimer
Any advice is general and does not consider your financial situation needs, or objectives, so consider whether it’s appropriate for you. You should also consider seeking professional advice before making any financial decision.

Pearler is an Authorised Representative #1281540 of Sanlam Private Wealth Pty Ltd AFSL #337927. Read the FSG available from https://pearler.com/financial-services-guide
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.