Own your home? Wondering how the recent budget announcement may impact?

Perhaps you’re planning to upgrade, move, or buy again one day?

Then don’t miss this.

Because under the proposed budget changes, properties owned before the announcement date may still be grandfathered for negative gearing.

Translation?

The home you live in today could become a very useful investment property tomorrow.

But here’s where people accidentally shoot themselves in the foot…

They smash down their owner-occupier loan as fast as possible.

Sounds smart, right?

Maybe.

But if you later move out and turn that home into an investment property, the loan attached to that property may become deductible.

So if you’ve paid the loan right down…

Less debt attached to the property
= less interest to claim
= fewer potential negative gearing benefits

This is why many savvy investors use an offset account instead.

If you’ve been following along you’ll know I recently sold my old family home in Balmoral, Brisbane. 

I moved out of it about 6 years ago and turned it into an investment property but I’d always had an interest only loan on it as suspected one day I’d upgrade into a bigger home. I sat all my extra cash in an offset account against the loan, so I didn’t pay interest on it. 

Rather than pouring every spare dollar directly into the loan, I:

✔️ Made minimum repayments
✔️ Parked extra cash in the offset
✔️ Kept flexibility
✔️ Preserved the loan balance

A strategy many of our clients are using. 

Then, if you later move out and buy another home, you may be able to use the offset funds for the next deposit…

While keeping the larger loan attached to the original property.

Same cash discipline.

Very different long-term outcome.

And with proposed policy changes on the table, getting the structure right early could matter more than ever.

This isn’t personal tax advice – but it is the kind of conversation worth having before you make big loan decisions.

Discover more insights on these topics: