EP - 15 Budget Review

If you were not aware already, last week, the government released their budget for the next financial year and outlined what they plan to do to maintain the Australian economy at a reasonable position. Now for most people, trying to stick to their budget is pretty tricky, so you can only imagine what it must be like trying to stop the whole country from spending more than it earns. Now besides the budget creating enough headlines to keep the media jumping up and down for the next couple of months. There are some critical things that Young Australians need to be aware of when it comes to how the budget affects our generation. So in today’s episode of the Young Money podcast, I am going to give you my 2 cents of the federal budget and what it means for us young Australians.

First of all, why do we need to have a budget?

The Australian Government budget sets out the economic and financial outlook for Australia and includes expenditure and income estimates for the current financial year, the budget year and three forward financial years. It shows the Government’s social and political priorities and how the Government intends to achieve these. So basically the government are trying to prove to the public that they have a plan for the coming years and if their party remains in power here is what you can expect. One of the things that are important to remember is that this a proposed budget and the changes still need to be passed through all of the levels of parliament before it is put into place. So it may be a couple of months before we see any of these things come into effect. And by then we may have had a new government put in place who will overhaul the budget entirely, and we will be back to square one.  Nevertheless, There weren’t many Major budget factors that may have a direct impact on our generation, but there were a few things which you need to be aware of.

Changes to the Craft Beer Tax yewww!

Now maybe not a majorly significant change, but hopefully something that will help to reduce the cost of craft beer in Australia. The current beer tax that slugs craft brewers 40 percent more for using smaller kegs will be axed by the government. The current two-tier tax system means draught beer sold in 50-litre kegs are currently taxed at $34 a litre, but beers in kegs under 30 litres are slugged $49 a litre. So this hopefully means cheaper craft beer for everyone, and we will no longer have to pay 25 dollars for a four pack of craft beer like we currently do.

There have to be proposed changes Ensuring Australians keep more of their retirement savings. 

The Government plans to reunite Australians with lost super and safeguarding Australians’ superannuation savings from unfair fees and inappropriate insurance arrangements. So it is important that you understand what you currently have in place in regards to your super funds and also your insurance which can be part of your superannuation fund. Now you might be thinking that I am young why would I need insurance anyway, and yes that might be true, if you have no children, depends or any debt that your need for LIFE insurance is minimal right now, but there is also Income protection which is sometimes held by or funded through your superannuation fund, which is something important that any young working person should have in place. Most people will insure their cars, mobile phones, but there don’t insure the most important asset which is themselves. So be sure to double check what you have in place right now and how many funds you currently have so you’re not affected by these changes.

Unfortunately, the last weeks budget did not provide much regarding housing affordability for us young Australians. Rather the government has stated that in previous years budget, the housing affordability issues were addressed and by introducing the superannuation first home owner scheme was put in place. Which in my opinion doesn’t go far enough to assist young Aussies to get their foot in the property market, especially for those who live in capital cities. But again, being the one to make this decision isn’t a job that I would want so, without going into a political rant, we will just leave it at that.

If you do want to know more about the first home owner superannuation scheme or how you may be affected by the budget as a young Aussies, be sure to in contact with me at the links below and I will be sure to try, and answer it for you. Also, I would love to hear your thoughts on what you thought about the budget.