Aussie FIRE | Financial Independence Retire Early

After the recent tax proposals, plenty of people were half joking about packing up and taking their money overseas. Enough of them were half serious that Dave and Hayden decided to make an episode out of it. This one is the broad overview of geoarbitrage (or "geo-FIRE"): why people do it, who it actually suits, where they tend to go, and what it does to your FI number. The technical side, tax residency, visas, and how to structure ...

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 investo...

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, minu...

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 j...

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 equit...

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...

What actually happens to your portfolio when the world feels like it's on fire? In this episode, Hayden and Dave look back at how share markets have responded to major global conflicts, from WWI and WWII through to COVID, and what that history can teach us about investing through periods of fear and uncertainty.

They walk through the data most people have never seen: markets that fell sharply in the first six months of a war, on...

When your landlord puts the property up for sale, the rent vs. buy question stops being theoretical. For Shyann and her husband, that moment became the push they needed to make a decision they'd been circling for a while.

In this case study episode, Shyann walks through how she and her husband approached one of the biggest financial decisions a FIRE-chasing couple can make, and what it actually looked like once they got the keys...

Today Hayden & Dave are unpacking an email they received from a listener. He's 29, originally from the UK, drives trucks for a living and keeps moving on after a year or two because the passion just isn't there. He loves to travel, wants to build wealth, but struggles to commit to investing when the next adventure feels a lot more appealing to him. He also lost his brother 13 years ago, which has really changed his outlook on t...

In this episode, Hayden and Dave dig into one of the most overlooked parts of the FI journey: what to do with your investments as you get closer to pulling the trigger. Does your strategy need to change? And if so, when and how?

They cover:

👉 Whether you actually need to de-risk your portfolio before retiring, or whether it's just a psychological thing

👉 The difference between accumulation and drawdown, and why the same portfoli...

The episode was updated on the 30th of May to remove some comments around assumptions around tax losses in the new budget if an asset underperforms inflation, as well as removing some comments around tax deductions which were oversimplified.

The dust has (somewhat) settled on the Federal Budget, and Hayden and Dave are back to go beyond the initial reactions. This week they dig into the real numbers, the philosophical tensions b...

The Australian federal budget just dropped and there is a lot to unpack. Hayden and Dave dig into the changes that matter most for everyday investors and the FIRE community, cutting through the political noise to focus on what actually affects your money.

They cover:

👉 The switch from the 50% CGT discount to indexation

👉 The surprise 30% minimum tax floor on capital gains that nobody saw coming, and who it really hits

👉 Why the ...

The federal budget is coming, and there's already noise around two policies that could shake up the investment landscape: capital gains tax and negative gearing.

Hayden and Dave break down what's actually being floated, and what it could mean for your portfolio.

They cover:

👉 How governments "soft launch" policy changes before they're official, and why it matters for investors right now

👉 The current CGT discount rules and th...

Chris is at a crossroads and unsure which way to go. He's spent time in his career working in real estate, and now he's trying to decide whether to buy a family home, double down on investment properties, or pivoting entirely into a more aggressive share portfolio.

He's got a good case of analysis paralysis, and Hayden & Dave are here to help him work through some of the numbers and thinking behind it all.

In this episode...

Got a property and wondering if it's time to sell, rent it out, or just… hold on? In this episode, Dave and Hayden tackle two listener questions that a lot of people are quietly sitting with. First up is a listener who bought their first home two years ago is now craving more flexibility to make some big career moves, and wants to know whether to sell or become an accidental landlord.

Then, they dig into the age-old quest...

What happens if the market crashes as soon as you hit FIRE? In this episode, Hayden and Dave get into one of the most practical and underrated challenges of early retirement: actually living off your portfolio when things get rocky.

They cover:

👉 The stage of retirement where you're most at risk from market volatility

👉 The psychological shift from receiving a paycheck to relying on a portfolio, and why it's harder than it sound...

What happens when a government equity scheme starts to feel like a trap? In this episode, Hayden and Dave sit down with listener Steve to unpack his property situation and map out a path forward.

Steve is a self-employed sports coach earning around $120,000–$130,000 a year, with a partner on $100,000. He owns an apartment worth roughly $570,000, holds a $200,000 ETF portfolio, and used the Victorian Homebuyer Fund to get i...

In this week's episode of Aussie FIRE, Hayden and Dave are unpacking some listener questions around:

👉🏼 Selling shares to invest in solar panels at home

👉🏼 The 5% deposit scheme for first home buyers

👉🏼 Vanguard ETFs

👉🏼 And investing for high growth with a 5-8 year timeline

As always, they'll unpack it, share their thoughts, and come at it from a few different angles. Hope you enjoy it!

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FI Case Study...

What would you do if $1 million landed in your bank account tomorrow? In this episode, Hayden and Dave get hypothetical and things get interesting fast. From taking on a gelato giant to debating whether a swimming pool counts as a financial decision, this one's a little different. But buried in the fun are some genuinely useful ideas about how people at different stages of their FIRE journey think about sudden wealth.

Ask a Ques...